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Learning Norwegian Numbers Posted by on Nov 1, 2011 in Language

I have found several excellent videos to help you learn your numbers in Norwegian:)

You can find one of them http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-iCrH5oWu4that will help you learn Norwegian Numbers.  Don’t be distracted by the woman’s sensual voice or the fact that she mentions her favorite number is 69.  Apparently she was not aware that the number 69 has a sexual connotation in the U.S…..In any case, the video is educational and I think very helpful.  You will probably notice a few things:

1) The number 7 is “sju” or “syv” depending on the dialect spoken

2) The “v” in “tolv” (12) is silent.

3) 6 is “seks” and is pronounced like “sex” but 16 is “seksten” and is not pronounced like “sex-ton” but rather “sigh-sten”  60 is back to the pronunciation like 6…”seksti” pronounced “sex-tee”

4) A similar progression occurs for the number 8 and it’s various forms (18, 80).  “Åtte” is 8 and is pronounced “oat-uh.”  “Atten” is 18 and is pronounced “ah-ten” (notice also there is no “halo” over the a like there is in the number 8).  “Åtti” is 80 and is pronounced “oat-ee.”

Another video, which is far less controversial and was posted by a very sweet sounding young girl .

I just discovered this website as well that has various games for you to play to help you learn the numbers.  They are pretty cool.  Check it out here!

I find the following information found on Wiki Books quite interesting myself.  You can learn a bit more about the history behind Norwegian numbers and where some of the spelling and pronunciations come from.  I hope you enjoy learning about Norwegian numbers!  It’s important to review them often to really learn them.

Numeral Literal Additional information
0 Null
1 Bokmål: én (masc.), éi (fem.), ett (neuter)
Nynorsk: éin (masc.), éi (fem), eitt (neuter)
In Bokmål, masc. and fem. are sometimes merged into a common gender (én). The common gender is inherited from written Danish and is therefore not allowed in Nynorsk, which has always used three genders. Origin: Old Norse einn (masc.), ein (fem.), eitt (neuter)
2 To Earlier tvo in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse tveir (masc.), tvær (fem.), tvau (neuter). Some dialects still uses tveitvæ and tvau.
3 Tre (tri) Earler tri in Nynorsk, still part of the official orthography, but not to be used by the authorities. Origin: Old Norse þrír (masc.), þrjár(fem.), þrjú (neuter).
4 Fire Earlier fjore in Nynorsk, before gradually being replaced by fire. Origin: Danish fire, Old Norse fjórír (masc.), fjórar (fem.), fjǫgur(neuter).
5 Fem Origin: Old Norse fimm.
6 Seks Origin: Old Norse sex.
7 Sju (syv) The spelling syv was banned from the official orthography in 1951, but re-introduced in 2005. Nynorsk has always used sju (originallysjau). Origin: Old Norse sjau, Danish syv
8 Åtte Earlier åtta in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse átta.
9 Ni Earlier nio in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse níu.
10 Ti Earlier tio in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse tíu.
11 Elleve Origin: Old Norse ellifu.
12 Tolv Origin: Old Norse tólf.
13 Tretten Earlier trettan in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse þrettán.
14 Fjorten Earlier fjortan in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse fjórtán.
15 Femten Earlier femtan in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse fimtán.
16 Seksten Earlier sekstan in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse sextán.
17 Sytten Earlier sjauttan in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse sjautján.
18 Atten Earlier atjan in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse átján.
19 Nitten Earlier nitjan in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse nítján.
20 Tjue Earlier tyve in Bokmål and tjugo in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse tjogututtugu, Danish tyve.
21 Tjueén Earlier én og tyve in Bokmål, ein og tjugo in Nynorsk (meaning “one and twenty”). As of 1951, tens are mentioned first (like in English “twenty one”). Old Norse used both tuttugu ok einn (“twenty and one”) and einn ok tuttugu (“one and twenty”).
22 Tjueto
23 Tjuetre
24 Tjuefire
25 Tjuefem
30 Tretti Earlier tredve in Bokmål. Origin: Old Norse þrír tigir (simplified and contracted to tretti), Danish tred(i)ve.
40 Førti Earlier førr in Bokmål, fyrti in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse fjórir tigirfjórutigi (fyrti, førti), Danish fyrre (førr).
50 Femti Origin: Old Norse fimtigi.
60 Seksti Origin: Old Norse sex tigir.
70 Sytti Earlier sjautti in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse sjautigi.
80 Åtti Earlier åtteti in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse áttatigiáttatiu.
90 Nitti Origin: Old Norse níu tigir.
100 (Ett) Hundre Earlier hundrede in Bokmål, hundrad in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse hundrað.
101 (Ett) hundre og én/éin May be spelt in one word (hundreogén).
102 (Ett) hundre og to
103 (Ett) hundre og tre
104 (Ett) hundre og fire
105 (Ett) hundre og fem
125 (Ett) hundre og tjuefem
200 To hundre
300 Tre hundre
400 Fire hundre
500 Fem hundre
1 000 (Ett) tusen Earlier tusund in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse þusund
2 000 To tusen
3 000 Tre tusen
4 000 Fire tusen
5 000 Fem tusen
1 000 000 Én million Origin: derived from Latin mille (“thousand”).
2 000 000 To millioner
3 000 000 Tre millioner
4 000 000 Fire millioner
5 000 000 Fem millioner
7 473 259 Sjumillionerfirehundreogsyttitretusentohundreogfemtini
1 000 000 000 Én milliard Origin: derived from French

 

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About the Author: kari

I attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, where I majored in Norwegian and History. During college, I spent almost a year living in Oslo, Norway, where I attended the University of Oslo and completed an internship at the United States Embassy. I have worked for Concordia Language Villages as a pre-K Norwegian teacher and have taught an adult Norwegian language class. Right now, I keep up by writing this Norwegian blog for Transparent Language. Please read and share your thoughts! I will be continuing this blog from my future residence in the Norwegian arctic!