Dutch/Vocabulary/The numbers
Counting is often the first thing one wants to learn when visiting another country.
0 to 10
[edit | edit source]| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 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
[edit | edit source]| 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
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
[edit | edit source]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.
[edit | edit source]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
[edit | edit source]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
[edit | edit source]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
[edit | edit source]- 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
[edit | edit source]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
[edit | edit source]Remember that Dutch uses a decimal comma rather than a decimal point.
- 6,7%: zes komma zeven procent.