If you are relatively new to learning the Dutch language, then one of the first things you probably want to learn is how to count.  A good goal, especially as knowing the numbers really does open doors.  For example, you’ll be able to understand how much something costs when the salesperson tells you the amount, you can specify how many of something you want and perhaps even more important, you can understand where the traffic cameras are when the radio station rattles off their location (you’ll hear the road name/number and the kilometer location).

So let’s start off with the numbers zero to ten:

If you are more of an audio learner, then this handy clip by Bert and his pet pigeon should be just up your ally, although Bernice doesn’t seem to know the word for zero.  One thing to remember with this set of numbers is the number one (één).  Those marks above the e’s are important.  They let you know that the word is één, meaning one and not een, meaning a/an (and that you should pronounce them accordingly).

Moving Up in the Number World

Presuming you are feeling pretty confident with your nul to tien knowledge, let’s go a little higher.  This time Ernie will help us out on this one.

Here you need to look out for the irregular spelling of 13 (dertien) and 14 (veertien).

Becoming a Number Pro

If you are looking to count even higher, then the following numbers will come in handy for you.  Keep an eye out for the irregular spelling of 80 (tachtig).

If you want to put some of these numbers together, then you will need to know a little bit about the format.  In English, when you count up from 20 the format comes in the form of “twenty plus four,” so you get twenty-four.  But in Dutch it is the other way round.  So, the form is “four plus twenty,” equaling vierentwintig.

Once you get your head around it, it can be quite fun and you can impress everyone with the ability to read really long words (you don’t have to mention that they are numbers).  For example:

vierenveertighonderdachtennegentig = 4498

If you really want to hear all the numbers from zero to 100 be pronounced then you can take a look at this video.  I do warn you though, it is not the most exciting.