How to count in Dutch (plus audio, pronunciation)
How to count in Dutch? With a lot of things in our life like time, money, travelling and business situations you need to be able to understand or say Dutch numbers.
For English-speaking people Dutch numbers have some tricky aspects.
We’re going to look at :
- Dutch numbers until 1-10:
- Dutch numbers until 11-20:
- Dutch numbers until 21-29
- Dutch numbers until 30-90
- Dutch Ordinal Numbers 1-10
Dutch numbers until 1-10:
As in almost any language you’ll have to simply learn the numbers until 10 by heart: sometimes you recognize elements of other languages, sometimes not.
0 nul | nuhl |
1 een | ayn |
2 twee | tvay |
3 drie | dree |
4 vier | feer |
5 vijf | fayf |
6 zes | zes |
7 zeven | zay-fern |
8 acht | akht |
9 negen | nay-khern |
10 tien | teen |

Dutch numbers until 11-20:
We see that some structure starts to appear. Starting from 15 to 19, notice the built up:
For example 15 is just Vijf (five)+ Tien (ten) = Vijftien
11 elf | elf |
12 twaalf | tvaalf |
13 dertien | dehr-teen |
14 veertien | fayr-teen |
15 vijftien | fayf-teen |
16 zestien | zes-teen |
17 zeventien | zay-fern-teen |
18 achttien | akh-teen |
19 negentien | naykh-ern-teen |
20 twintig | tvin-tikh |
Dutch numbers until 21-29
One of the most difficult things in the Dutch counting, are the numbers 21 till 99. Other than in English, the Dutch say the last number first. This structure repeats itself until number 99. (Complex numbers until 99 are typically written as one word)
21 (twenty one) is in Dutch: een-en-twintig (one-and-twenty).
Dutch starts with “één” and then adds “en twintig”.
Let’s practice number 22
Start saying “twee” and then add the rest: “en twintig”. Try to do this until 29
21 eenentwintig | ayn-ern-tvin-tikh |
22 tweeëntwintig | tvay-ern-tvin-tikh |
23 drieëntwintig | dree-ern-tvin-tikh |
24 vierentwintig | feer-ern-tvin-tikh |
25 vijfentwintig | fayf-ern-tvin-tikh |
26 zesentwintig | zes-ern-tvin-tikh |
27 zevenentwintig | zay-fern-ern-tvin-tikh |
28 achtentwintig | akh-tern-tvin-tikh |
29 negenentwintig | nay-khern-ern-tvin-tikh |

The numbers from 21 onwards we place two dots on the en (and) when it is preceded by a number ending in an e – twee or drie. So, twenty-two would be tweeëntwintig and eighty-three would be drieëntachtig. This ë, a so-called trema, is placed in a word to indicate that the second (or third) e should actually be pronounced separately and is not just a long vowel. So the word is drie – ën- tach -tig.
Dutch numbers until 30-90
With the Dutch numbers 30-99 we can apply the same structure as before.
So 31: één, add en, add dertig = eenendertig
The 30 to 90 are following:
30 dertig | dehr-tikh |
40 veertig | fier-tikh |
50 vijftig | fayf-tikh |
60 zestig | zes-tikh |
70 zeventig | zay-fern-tikh |
80 tachtig | takh-tikh |
90 negentig | nay-khern-tikh |
Dutch Ordinal Numbers 1-10
Hopefully by now you know the basic numbers. But there are also numbers for sequences that are called ordinal numbers. Ordinal numbers tell the order of things in a set: first, second, third, etc. they do not show quantity. Ordinal numbers show rank or position.
Here is a short summary of the Dutch Cardinal Numbers 1-10. Memorizing these Dutch ordinals will help you to express yourself in Dutch.
Here are the most frequently used ordinals:
1e eerste | ayr-ster |
2e tweede | tvay-der |
3e derde | dehr-der |
4e vierde | feer-der |
5e vijfde | fayf-der |
6e zesde | zes-der |
7e zevende | zay-fern-der |
8e achtste | akh-ster |
9e negende | nay-khern-der |
10e tiende | teen-der |
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