Dutch numbers from 1 to 100 and beyond

Dutch numbers from 0 to 20

The first twenty numbers have to be learned one by one, as in English. From 13 to 19 Dutch adds -tien (ten) to the unit, much like the English -teen, and two of them change the unit on the way: drie becomes der in dertien, and vier becomes veer in veertien. Elf and twaalf are words of their own, like eleven and twelve.

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Numbers belong to the everyday basics every beginner course teaches, next to the 1,000 most common Dutch words, which have a list you can download.

The tens: twintig to honderd

The tens end in -tig, said with a weak vowel, roughly “tuch” with the ch of Scottish loch. Most of them are the unit plus -tig, with the same changes as in the teens, and 80 has a surprise.

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21 to 99: the unit comes first

From 21 on, Dutch says the unit first, then en (and), then the tens, all in one word: eenentwintig is one-and-twenty, vijfenveertig five-and-forty. German does the same (einundzwanzig), and older English did too, as in the nursery rhyme “four and twenty blackbirds.”

When en follows a number that ends in e, the e of en gets two dots, a trema, so the reader sees where the new syllable starts: tweeëntwintig, drieëntwintig, tweeëndertig. Eenentwintig and vierentwintig need none.

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The order matters most when you listen. You hear the last digit first, so write it down first and put the tens in front when they come: zesenzeventig is a 6, then 70, so 76. This is how 67 and 76 get mixed up, in prices, house numbers and phone numbers alike.

Hundreds and thousands

Honderd (100) and duizend (1,000) usually go without een in front: honderd euro, duizend mensen. The hundreds and thousands put the number in front, in one word: tweehonderd, drieduizend. Miljoen and miljard are nouns and do take a word in front: een miljoen, twee miljard.

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Written out in words, a number is one word up to and including duizend. After duizend comes a space, and miljoen and miljard stand on their own, with a space before and after. That is the rule of the Taalunie, the body behind the official Dutch spelling: driehonderdvijfenveertig, tweeduizend zevenhonderdvijftig, drie miljoen tweehonderdduizend.

Between 1,100 and 1,999 Dutch often counts in hundreds, as English does with “fifteen hundred”: vijftienhonderd euro. Duizend vijfhonderd euro is just as correct.

Years

Years from 1100 to 1999 are said in hundreds: 1945 is negentienhonderdvijfenveertig, one word, because there is no duizend in it. From 2000 on, Dutch uses duizend: 2026 is tweeduizend zesentwintig, with the space after duizend. You will also hear twintig zesentwintig. In a sentence the year needs only in: in 1945, in 2026.

In a date, Dutch normally uses the plain number, not the ordinal: 5 mei is vijf mei. The days, the months and the way the Dutch write a date are on the page about days and months in Dutch.

Ordinals: eerste, tweede, derde

Ordinals (first, second, third) add -de or -ste to the number. Eerste and derde are irregular. Achtste, the tens from twintigste up, honderdste, duizendste and miljoenste take -ste; the rest take -de. In a longer number the last part decides: eenentwintigste (21st) and honderdste (100th), but honderdeerste (101st), honderdtweede (102nd) and duizendvierde (1,004th).

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Both short forms are correct. The letters stay on the line, with no hyphen and no raised letters needed: de 3e verdieping, voor de 2de keer. Floors count from the ground floor, de begane grond, so de eerste verdieping is one floor up: the second floor in American English.

Prices and the decimal comma

Dutch writes a comma where English writes a decimal point, and a period (or a space) where English writes a comma between thousands. So 1,5 is one and a half, and 1.500 is fifteen hundred. Price tags, receipts and bills use the Dutch signs.

In writing, the euro sign comes first, usually with a space: € 2,50. Say it as twee euro vijftig, or at the register just twee vijftig. A whole amount is often written with a comma and a short line, € 5,-, or as € 5,00. Cents on their own are cent: vijftig cent.

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Phone numbers

A Dutch mobile number has ten digits and starts with 06: 06 12 34 56 78, also written 06-12345678. From abroad the 0 drops and the country code goes in front: +31 6 12 34 56 78. Zero is nul, so every mobile number starts with nul zes.

There is no single way to read the rest. Some people say it digit by digit, others in pairs, so be ready for both:

• nul zes, één twee, drie vier, vijf zes, zeven acht (digit by digit)
• nul zes, twaalf, vierendertig, zesenvijftig, achtenzeventig (in pairs)

In pairs the unit-first order comes back: in vierendertig you hear the 4 before the 3. When a number goes too fast, ask Kunt u het nummer herhalen? (Can you repeat the number?) or Iets langzamer, alstublieft. (A bit slower, please.)

Telling the time: half vier is 3:30

The clock uses the same numbers, with one trap: half counts toward the next hour. Half vier is 3:30, half on the way to four, not half past four. Kwart over drie is 3:15 and tien voor zes is 5:50. In writing, Dutch uses the 24-hour clock, usually with a dot: 18.00 uur.

Typical mistakes

• Dertien or dertig. 13 and 30 sound close, and so do 14 and 40. Both are often stressed on der, so the stress does not help much. The reliable cue is the end: a full, clear ie in dertien, like English teen, and a short, weak -tig in dertig. If you are not sure, ask: Dertien of dertig?
• Vier, but veertien and veertig. Never viertien or viertig. In the same way drie becomes dertien and dertig. And 80 is tachtig, with a t in front, while 18 is achttien, with two t's in the middle.
• The tens first. Twintig een is not a Dutch number. It is eenentwintig: the unit first, one word.
• Een or één. The accents are needed only for the number one when it could be read as the article (a, an): Ik heb één kind is one child, Ik heb een kind is a child. Using them elsewhere is not wrong. When één starts a sentence it is written Eén (Één is also seen). Inside a longer number there are no accents: eenentwintig, honderdeen.
• Twee euro's. For an amount the unit stays singular after a number: twee euro, drie kilo, vijfhonderd gram, vijf jaar, twee uur. Euro's is for the coins themselves, Ik heb drie euro's in mijn zak (three euro coins in my pocket), and the plural is standard after honderden, duizenden and miljoenen: duizenden euro's. Months, weeks and minutes do take the plural: drie maanden, twee weken, tien minuten.
• The comma and the period. 2,5 is two and a half; 2.500 is two thousand five hundred. Read a Dutch bill with the Dutch signs in mind.
• Half vier as half past four. It is 3:30: half an hour to four.

See it in a text

The free texts on this site use numbers where a beginner meets them: at the checkout, at the market, on a door and on the clock. Each sentence below is quoted word for word from its text.

• Dat is samen 48 euro. That comes to 48 euro. (Kaart geweigerd, A1)
• ‘Ik heb alleen twintig euro,’ zegt Fatou zacht. “I only have twenty euro,” Fatou says softly. (twintig euro, not euro's. Kaart geweigerd, A1)
• ‘Dat is dan zes euro vijftig. Pinnen of contant?’ “That will be 6.50 euro. Card or cash?” (Op de markt, A2)
• ‘Eén,’ zegt ze. ‘Niet twee.’ “One,” she says. “Not two.” (Eén with an accent: the number, not the article. Controle, A1)
• Luca staat op zijn balkon, op de derde verdieping. Luca is standing on his balcony, three floors up. (De deur, A1)
• Om zeven uur maakt ze het ontbijt. Om kwart over zes gaat ze altijd weg. At seven she makes breakfast (at work, in a care home). She always leaves home at a quarter past six. (Een uur te vroeg, A1)
• Nu is het half zeven. Now it is 6:30. (half zeven: half on the way to seven. Geen stroom, A1)
• Op de deur staat: ‘Zondag geopend van 12.00 tot 18.00 uur.’ The sign on the door says: “Open on Sunday from noon to 6 p.m.” (Melk op zondag, A1)

Read next

Kaart geweigerd is an A1 story at a supermarket checkout, with audio and a glossary: a cart full of things for a child's party, a bank card that does not work, and numbers all the way through, from the six people in the line to the 48 euro at the register and the date on the card. Read it once for the story, then again and say every number out loud. More stories at this level are in the free A1 texts.

For a whole book at this level, Fairy Tales is the A1 volume of the Dutch Readers series: eight famous fairy tales, from Little Red Riding Hood to The Little Mermaid, retold in easy Dutch, with a glossary and questions after every tale. It is out now as a paperback.