How to Count in Dutch

One of the first difficult things I encountered right after moving to the Netherlands is figuring out the amount I need to pay in the store. To get by I peeked at the cash register to see just how much I have to give because I did not understand a word the cashier said when he announced the sum. That is why numbers are crucial to make you feel more comfortable in any setting in the Netherlands.

0 – nul 🔊 Listen
1 – een 🔊 Listen
2 – twee 🔊 Listen
3 – drie 🔊 Listen
4 – vier 🔊 Listen
5 – vijf 🔊 Listen
6 – zes 🔊 Listen
7 – zeven 🔊 Listen
8 – acht 🔊 Listen
9 – negen 🔊 Listen
10 – tien 🔊 Listen

11 – elf 🔊 Listen
12 – twaalf 🔊 Listen
13 – dertien 🔊 Listen
14 – veertien 🔊 Listen
15- vijftien 🔊 Listen
16 – zestien 🔊 Listen
17 – zeventien 🔊 Listen
18 – achttien 🔊 Listen
19 – negentien 🔊 Listen
20 – twintig 🔊 Listen

This is where the fun part starts. If you know a bit of German, the Dutch way of saying the numbers is familiar to you. If you do not – well it is backward. First, you have the single-digit term (1-10), then the Dutch word for “and” (en), and then the tens term. Essentially you are saying one-and-twenty. Takes a bit of practice but you will get it.

21 – eenentwintig🔊 Listen
22 – tweeentwintig 🔊 Listen

30 – dertig 🔊 Listen
40 – veertig 🔊 Listen
50 – vijftig 🔊 Listen
60 – zestig 🔊 Listen
70 – zeventig 🔊 Listen
80 – tachtig 🔊 Listen
90 – negentig 🔊 Listen
100 – honderd 🔊 Listen

And now it is time for yet another backflip in the logic. Guess what:

101 – honderd een 🔊 Listen

And when you get to 145 for example you go back to the way two-digit numbers are formed and just add the hundreds place to the beginning, so 145 is honderdfijfenveertig

200 – tweehonderd 🔊 Listen
500 – vijfhonderd 🔊 Listen
1000 – duizend 🔊 Listen
1500 – vijftienhonderd 🔊 Listen
2000 – tweeduizend 🔊 Listen
10.000 – tienduizend 🔊 Listen
100.000 – honderdduizend 🔊 Listen
1.000.000 – (een) miljoen 🔊 Listen
billion – miljard 🔊 Listen

It is good to note htat if the singles place ends in a vowel (twee and drie), the word en gets a diaeresis: ën. So 62 would be tweeën zestig , and 43 would be drieënveertig.

Now it is time to learn it all in practice. Here is your board, dig in and enjoy!

Photo by Bart Ros on Unsplash