Numbers in Indonesian

Numbers in Indonesian Posted by asimonoff on Jan 22, 2015 in Uncategorized

Cardinal numbers

Counting in Indonesian is almost similar to English; both languages use the same symbols to represent numbers, the structure of numbers, and the numbering rules, such as zero to nine, belas for -teen, puluh for tens, ratus for hundreds, ribu for thousands, etc.

	Indonesian	English		Indonesian	English
0	Nol	zero	21	dua puluh satu	twenty
1	satu	one	25	dua puluh lima	twenty five
2	dua	two	30	tiga puluh	thirty
3	tiga	three	34	tiga puluh empat	thirty four
4	empat	four	40	empat puluh	forty
5	lima	five	47	empat puluh tujuh	forty seven
6	enam	six	50	lima puluh	fifty
7	tujuh	seven	59	lima puluh sembilan	fifty nine
8	delapan	eight	60	enam puluh	sixty
9	sembilan	nine	70	tujuh puluh	seventy
10	sepuluh	ten	75	tujuh puluh lima	seventy five
11	sebelas	eleven	80	delapan puluh	eighty
13	tiga belas	thirteen	90	sembilan puluh	ninety
20	dua puluh	twenty	100	seratus	one hundred

The brief Indonesian number rules are as follows:

Single digits are handled the same way as in English, such as nol (0), satu (1), dua (2), 3 (tiga), …
The numbers are spelled with spaces in-between the numbers, with the exception of “se-“, meaning “one”: sepuluh (10), dua puluh (20), tiga puluh empat (34), …
Use “se-” to replace “satu”, which means “one”, and it is written in one word with the base unit numbers: sebelas (11), sepuluh (10), seratus (100), seribu (1000), sepuluh ribu (10,000), seratus ribu (100,000), …
The teens, from eleven to nineteen, are formed by adding the “belas” word to the basic numbers from one to nine: sebelas (11), dua belas (12), tiga belas (13), empat belas (14), …
The tens are formed from the multiplier number, followed by the “puluh” word: sepuluh (10), dua puluh (20), tiga puluh (30), empat puluh (40), …
The hundreds and thousands are written the same ways as tens: seratus (100), tiga ratus (300), impact ribu (4000), …

Don’t be confused by the following:

The millions vs. billions.

Indonesian for millions is “juta”, and billions is “milyar”, but the word for trillions in Indonesian is similar to English, which is “trilyun”.

Comma versus Dot.

To separate numbers higher than 999, Indonesian adds a dot, instead of a comma as in English. For example, 1,675,524 is written 1.675.524 (satu juta enam ratus tujuh puluh lima ribu lima ratus dua puluh empat). To separate numbers in decimals: the Indonesian decimal for “2.5” means “2,5” in English, etc.

Nol versus Kosong

There are two words used for zero in Indonesian, which are “nol” and “kosong”. The “nol” is usually used to refer to counting or cardinal numbers, while “kosong” is mostly used for telephone numbers, hotel room numbers, or code numbers.

Angka versus Nomor

As it is in English, Indonesian also has different words for numbers and numerals. “Angka” is used to refer to a written symbol of the number, such as “angka satu”, which means the written number of 1 or a statistical figure. Meanwhile, “nomor” is used to refer to a number that has a specific meaning, such as a social security number, license plate number, house number, queue number, or hotel room number.

Ordinal numbers

To form ordinal numbers in Indonesian, attach the prefix “ke-“ to the number itself, except for the 1st, which has two words, the “pertama” or “kesatu”.

Note: Juara – winner

Indonesian	English	Indonesian	English
Kesatu/Pertama	1^st – first	Kesebelas	11^th – eleventh
Kedua	2^nd – second	Kedua puluh	20^th – twentieth
Ketiga	3^rd – third	Ketiga puluh	30^th – thirtieth
Keempat	4^th– fourth	Ketiga puluh empat	34^th – thirty-fourth
Kelima	5^th – fifth	Keempat puluh	40^th – fortieth
Keenam	6^th – sixth	Kelima puluh	50^th – fiftieth
Ketujuh	7^th – seventh	Keenam puluh	60^th – sixtieth
Kedelapan	8^th – eighth	Ketujuh puluh	70^th – seventieth
Kesembilan	9^th – ninth	Keseratus	100^th – hundredth
Kesepuluh	10^th – tenth	Keseratus sepuluh	110^th – one hundred tenth

The 2nd versus both of …

In a sentence, the meaning of the ordinal number will be different when it is placed in a different order. For example:

Saya anak kedua – I am the 2nd child. (The ordinal number is placed after a noun.) (The ordinal number is placed after a noun.)
Kedua anak itu orang Indonesia – Both of them (the children) are Indonesians. (The ordinal number is placed at the beginning of a sentence.)

Tags: Cardinal numbers, Counting, counting in Indonesian, Indonesian, Numbers, Numbers in Indonesian, ordinal numbers

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About the Author: asimonoff

I’m an Indonesian language instructor, instructional material developer, reading test developer, and interpreter. I have been teaching Indonesian to adult students for 15 years, and have been teaching students from many backgrounds, such as private, military and diplomatic service employees. I’m Indonesian, but am living in the US now; my exposure to different cultures in my home country and in the US has enriched my knowledge in teaching Indonesian as a second language. I approach the teaching of the Indonesian language by developing students’ critical cultural awareness and competence. This method of teaching has been proven to be a key to the success of my students. Students become conscious of the essential role culture plays in the language.

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