Dutch/Vocabulary/The numbers

Counting is often the first thing one wants to learn when visiting another country.

0 to 10
Notice that the cardinal 1 (one) is usually written using stress marks as één to distinguish it from the unstressed indefinite article een (English a or an). However stress marking is only allowed in Dutch if otherwise confusion might arise. Thus the marks are not always written.

Zeven is sometimes pronounced as "zeuven" [zøvə(n)] to distinguish it better from "negen".

11 to 20
As in English the first two are irregular; they betray an ancient suffix -lif as in English.

The rest has -tien as a suffix with a few irregularities

20 to 100
The equivalent of -ty in English is -tig.


 * 20. twintig
 * 30. dertig
 * 40. veertig
 * 50. vijftig
 * 60. zestig
 * 70. zeventig
 * 80. tachtig
 * 90. negentig

The "z" of zestig and zeventig are usually pronounced as [s], not [z].

21, 22 etc.
In contrast to English the units come first


 * 21 eenentwintig ("oneandtwenty")

If the unit ends in a vowel and this collides with the vowel of "en" a diaeresis (trema) is used:


 * 22 tweeëntwintig

100, 200
In contrast to English, Dutch just uses "hundred", not "one hundred"


 * 100. honderd
 * 101. honderdéén
 * 200. tweehonderd
 * 201. tweehonderdéén
 * 300. driehonderd
 * 400. vierhonderd
 * 500. vijfhonderd
 * 600. zeshonderd
 * 700. zevenhonderd
 * 800. achthonderd
 * 900. negenhonderd

1000 to 100,000
This basically goes the same. Notice that Dutch uses periods as separators for factors of one thousand rather than commas. This notation is the reverse of the English one. Dutch has a decimal comma, not a decimal point.
 * 1000. duizend
 * 1001. duizend (en) één
 * 1012 duizend twaalf
 * 1524 duizend vijfhonderdvierentwintig or vijftienhonderdvierentwintig
 * 2000. tweeduizend
 * 5000. vijfduizend
 * 10.000. tienduizend
 * 15.324 vijftienduizend driehondervierentwintig
 * 20.000. twintigduizend
 * 50.000. vijftigduizend
 * 100.000. honderdduizend

For years the 'honderd' is often dropped, similar to English:


 * In 1355: in dertien vijfenvijftig.

All numerals up to 1000 are written as one word. After -duizend there is always a space.

Large numbers

 * 1.000.000. één miljoen
 * 1.500.000. één miljoen vijfhonderdduizend
 * 2.000.000. twee miljoen

For larger numbers Dutch uses the long scale rather than the short scale, which is currently used in all English-speaking countries. There are two suffixes -joen and -jard that alternate.


 * 1.000.000.000. miljard


 * 1.000.000.000.000. biljoen
 * 1.000.000.000.000.000. biljard


 * 1.000.000.000.000.000.000. triljoen
 * 1.000.000.000.000.000.000.000. triljard

The words miljoen, miljard etc. are always written as separate words with spaces on both sides.

Fractions
The ordinals are used to express fractions (as in English)


 * een derde - a third

Exceptions are:
 * een half - 1/2
 * anderhalf - 1 1/2
 * een kwart - 1/4

Numerators and denominators are written as separate words:


 * twee derde - 2/3
 * drie duizenste - 3/1000

But in compounds the general rule of compounding prevails:


 * een tweederdemeerderheid - a two thirds majority

Decimals
Remember that Dutch uses a decimal comma rather than a decimal point.


 * 6,7%: zes komma zeven procent.

Self-test
Dutch/Vocabulary/The numbers/Hover test