How to count in Dutch (plus audio, pronunciation)

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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 :

1. Dutch numbers until 1-10:
2. Dutch numbers until 11-20:
3. Dutch numbers until 21-29
4. Dutch numbers until 30-90
5. 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

Do you want to learn, speak and read more Dutch?

Being able to count is a big step towards interacting with people in Dutch. It will help you to get around and talk to and connect with Dutch people. People will appreciate that you are trying to speak Dutch. If you want to learn more common words and expressions, then please check out our other posts. 

If you are serious about learning Dutch and you want to master the basics in a short amount of time then check out our easy, fun and fast Online Dutch course. While it can take you a while to learn a language by searching things on google and using apps, – with this comprehensive language course, it will just take you a couple of weeks to see some real progress in your abilities. You will be surprised at how  quick you will be able to talk in Dutch and leave a good impression!