One of the most basic skills you will need to learn is how to count. Take a look at the Dutch numbers, and see if you notice anything different from English…
| 0 |
nul |
| 1 |
een |
| 2 |
twee |
| 3 |
drie |
| 4 |
vier |
| 5 |
vijf |
| 6 |
zes |
| 7 |
zeven |
| 8 |
acht |
| 9 |
negen |
| 10 |
tien |
| 11 |
elf |
| 12 |
twaalf |
| 13 |
dertien |
| 14 |
veertien |
| 15 |
vijftien |
| 16 |
zestien |
| 17 |
zeventien |
| 18 |
achttien |
| 19 |
negentien |
| 20 |
twintig |
| 21 |
eenentwintig |
| 22 |
tweeëntwintig |
| 30 |
dertig |
| 40 |
veertig |
| 50 |
vijftig |
| 60 |
zestig |
| 70 |
zeventig |
| 80 |
tachtig |
| 90 |
negentig |
| 100 |
honderd |
| 200 |
tweehonderd |
| 578 |
vijfhonderd achtenzeventig |
| 1000 |
duizend |
| 1125 |
elfhonderd vijfentwintig |
| 1 000 000 |
een miljoen |
Did you spot the difference between Dutch numbers and English numbers? If you guessed that the second number in a double digit number is spoken first, you are correct. As a native English speaker, this has been a terrible task to remember, and no matter how far I get with complicated grammar, long complex sentences and academic level vocabulary, I always have to stop and think about the numbers. Just try to remember that the first number you hear is not the beginning of the number.
Vijfentwintig is 25.
Zevenhonderd zesenveertig is 746.
But don’t worry if you always find yourself counting, doing math, and thinking of change in your native language. For whatever reason, these are tasks that many people always return to their native language to do. As long as you can understand how much money the person at the checkout counter wants, it doesn’t matter what language you use to count your cash in your head. Nevertheless, try to count things in your head as much as possible. This should help get you acclimated to the “backwards” counting method.
Comments:
bedtimestorynyc:
same as in german
anita newton:
I don’t understand I taught 21 is zwei und zwanzig
Ewald:
@anita newton Yes, in German!
Andy:
@anita newton zwei und zwnazig is 22, not 21; you’re just ahead of yourself, but it is German.
In Dutch it would be een en twintig.
Ueritom:
Anita, 21 is eenentwintig, or “one and twenty”, according to “backwards method”.. 🙂
Nikola:
Dutch numbers are so easy.
For me..:D
Lynda:
I know German a lot better than Dutch. When I was learning the German numbers many years ago, it helped me to remember “four-and-twenty blackbirds” from the nursery rhyme Sing a Song of Sixpence”. This backwards counting must have been used in old English, too!
Tommy:
@Lynda Backwards counting’s not so old in English. My mother and all her generation (1920s) used it to tell the time: five-and-twenty past.. or five-and-twenty to the hour.
Incidentally, the hardest problem I have with numbers in Flemish (yes, I live in Flanders) isn’t counting, it’s phone numbers – ‘drieëntwintig, vijfenveertig’ for 2345
Graham:
@Lynda …back in the 80s my grandmother used to say the time was “five and twenty to three”.