Dutch numbers share German's most famous quirk: from 21 onward, you say the unit first, then "and", then the tens. Eenentwintig literally means "one-and-twenty". You'll get used to it faster than you expect — and once you do, you'll have one of the most regular, exception-free counting systems in any West Germanic language. By the end of this page, you'll count from zero to a million in real Dutch.
What you'll walk away with
- Hear every Dutch number from a native voice
- Crack the backwards 21+ pattern — eenentwintig, tweeëntwintig, drieëntwintig
- Walk away able to read prices in euros, phone numbers, and dates
The foundational ten — 0 to 10 in Dutch
These eleven words are the building blocks for every Dutch number you'll ever say. Tap any to hear it spoken. Spend a minute here — the rest of the article assumes you've heard each of them.
- 0 — nul
- 1 — een
- 2 — twee
- 3 — drie
- 4 — vier
- 5 — vijf
- 6 — zes
- 7 — zeven
- 8 — acht
- 9 — negen
- 10 — tien
11 to 20 — where Dutch shows its character
Some of these are unique words you'll need to memorize; others follow a pattern. Tap any to hear it. Pay attention to the rhythm — the teens often have a distinctive cadence in each language.
- 11 — elf
- 12 — twaalf
- 13 — dertien
- 14 — veertien
- 15 — vijftien
- 16 — zestien
- 17 — zeventien
- 18 — achttien
- 19 — negentien
- 20 — twintig
The tens — 20, 30, 40… up to 100
Once you know these, you can build every two-digit number using the combining rule below. Tap any to hear it.
- 20 — twintig
- 30 — dertig
- 40 — veertig
- 50 — vijftig
- 60 — zestig
- 70 — zeventig
- 80 — tachtig
- 90 — negentig
- 100 — honderd
How to count backwards (the Dutch way)
From 21 onward, Dutch fuses three pieces in one word: unit + "en" + tens. Eenentwintig (21) reads as "one-and-twenty". Tweeëntwintig (22 — note the diaeresis), drieëntwintig (23). The unit always comes first, then en, then the tens — same logic as German. Hundreds and thousands work like English: honderdvijfentwintig (125), tweeduizendvierhonderdzevenenzestig (2,467). All written as one word.
Big numbers — 100, 1,000, and 1,000,000
These three words unlock everything from prices to populations to budgets. Tap any to hear it.
- 100 — honderd
- 1000 — duizend
- 1000000 — miljoen
Six insights that make Dutch numbers click
These will save you hours of confusion when reading prices and times.
- The unit comes first. Vierenzestig (64) = "four and sixty". This rule never breaks for two-digit numbers.
- Watch for the diaeresis. Tweeën (twee + en), drieën (drie + en) get the umlaut-looking dots to mark separate vowels. Without the diaeresis, the eë would visually fuse into a single sound.
- *80 is tachtig, not achttig. Old Dutch dropped the t — tachtig not achttig. Same for zestig (60), zeventig* (70) — the dropped sound is just historical erosion.
- Decimals use a comma, thousands use a period — like German and the rest of continental Europe. €1.234,56 = 1234.56 in English.
- Years are split into pairs. 1985 is negentienvijfentachtig ("nineteen-five-and-eighty") — read as 19+85, not as one large number.
- Phone numbers are read in pairs of digits, like French. 06 12 34 56 78 reads as nul zes, twaalf, vierendertig, zesenvijftig, achtenzeventig.
Why Dutch counting clicks faster than you think
Dutch numbers look intimidating because of the backwards rule, but the system is fully regular. There are no irregular tens, no vigesimal jumps, no special words for 70 or 80 — just a consistent unit-en-tens pattern. Three days of practice and you'll wonder why anyone calls Dutch numbers hard.
Ready to count in real conversations?
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