Dutch cardinal (counting) numbers: 0 to 100 and beyond

Ik heb drie broers. (I have three brothers.) Here drie tells you how many. Words such as nul (zero), een (one) and drie (three) are cardinal numbers. Learn the short forms first, then combine them to write larger numbers.

Learn 0–20 by heart. Elf (11) and twaalf (12) are separate forms. The numbers 13–19 end in -tien. Notice the changed spellings dertien (13) and veertien (14).

Normally, write 1 as een. Add acute accents to both e's—één—when the number needs emphasis or could otherwise be read as the article een (a/an): Ik heb maar één appel. (I have only one apple.)

The numbers 20, 30, 40 and so on end in -tig. Four spellings change: twintig (20), dertig (30), veertig (40) and tachtig (80). You cannot form tachtig by adding -tig directly to acht.

For 21–99, except exact tens such as 30 or 40, use three parts. Write all three as one word.

1. Start with the unit: vijf (five).
2. Add en: vijf + en.
3. Add the ten: vijf + en + veertig → vijfenveertig (45). The same pattern gives eenentwintig (21), zevenentwintig (27) and negenentachtig (89).

When twee or drie joins en, the vowels meet. Put a trema (two dots) on the e of en to mark the boundary: tweeëntwintig (22), drieëndertig (33), tweeënveertig (42). These forms are still one word. Other units need no trema: vierentwintig (24), vijfentwintig (25).

For 100 and above, build the number from largest part to smallest. The key words are duizend (thousand), miljoen (million) and miljard (billion). Use the joining rules in the table.

Before a following unit or tens part, en is optional after honderd and duizend. For 101, both honderdeen and honderdeneen are correct. For 1,001, both duizend een and duizend en een are correct. Notice the spelling: after honderd, the optional en stays in the same word; after duizend, it is a separate word. Do not add en between a thousand group and a following hundred group: tweeduizend vijfhonderd (2,500).

• Counting and quantities: Ik heb drie broers. (I have three brothers.)
• Prices and amounts: Dat kost vijftien euro. (That costs fifteen euros.)
• Years before 2000: negentienhonderdtachtig or the shorter negentientachtig (1980).

Related lessons: ordinal numbers · telling the time · trema (two dots)

For 145, begin with the largest part: honderd (100). Then build 45 with the 21–99 pattern: vijf + en + veertig. Because the number is below 1,000, join the parts: honderdvijfenveertig. Put the unit first only inside the 21–99 part. Build the whole number from largest part to smallest.