Knowing the numbers and using them out loud are two different skills. You can recite een, twee, drie perfectly and still freeze when a cashier says vier euro vijfennegentig or someone reels off a phone number. This page is about the second skill: how Dutch numbers actually behave in prices, phone numbers, ages, and quantities. Two features catch English speakers every time — the way Dutch reverses the units and tens ("one-and-twenty" for 21), and the price format that names the euros and cents without ever saying "cents." Master those two and counting in real life stops being a panic.
A quick refresher on the numbers themselves
The building blocks: nul, een, twee, drie, vier, vijf, zes, zeven, acht, negen, tien. The teens: elf, twaalf, dertien, veertien, vijftien, zestien, zeventien, achttien, negentien. The tens: tien, twintig, dertig, veertig, vijftig, zestig, zeventig, tachtig, negentig, honderd.
Tel maar mee: een, twee, drie, vier, vijf.
Count along: one, two, three, four, five. (the basic count — 'tel mee' = count along)
Een momentje, ik tel even hoeveel stoelen we hebben.
One moment, let me just count how many chairs we have. ('hoeveel' = how many; 'even' softens it)
The reversal: eenentwintig is "one-and-twenty"
Here is the feature that trips up every learner. From 21 onward, Dutch says the unit first, then the ten, glued together with en ("and") into a single word: eenentwintig is literally "one-and-twenty" (21), drieënveertig is "three-and-forty" (43). This is the same logic as the old English nursery rhyme "four-and-twenty blackbirds" — except Dutch never abandoned it.
| Number | Dutch | Literally |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | eenentwintig | one-and-twenty |
| 34 | vierendertig | four-and-thirty |
| 43 | drieënveertig | three-and-forty |
| 67 | zevenenzestig | seven-and-sixty |
| 99 | negenennegentig | nine-and-ninety |
Mijn moeder wordt dit jaar vierenzestig.
My mum turns sixty-four this year. (64 = vier-en-zestig, unit before ten)
Er staan tweeëntwintig kinderen in de klas.
There are twenty-two children in the class. (22 = twee-en-twintig)
Reading prices: drie euro vijftig
Dutch prices have a fixed spoken shape that surprises English speakers: you say the euros, then the cents, with no word for "cents" and no "and" in between. So €3.50 is drie euro vijftig — literally "three euro fifty." The word euro stays singular after a number (never drie euros), and you don't say cent at all in everyday prices.
| Price | Spoken Dutch |
|---|---|
| €3,50 | drie euro vijftig |
| €1,99 | een euro negenennegentig |
| €12,00 | twaalf euro |
| €0,80 | tachtig cent |
Dat is drie euro vijftig, alstublieft.
That'll be three euros fifty, please. (€3,50 — 'euro' stays singular, no word for 'cents')
De koffie kost twee euro tachtig.
The coffee costs two euros eighty. (€2,80 — euros then cents, no 'and')
Dit kaartje is maar tachtig cent.
This card is only eighty cents. (under €1: you DO say 'cent', still singular)
Two details: under one euro, you do say cent (tachtig cent, not tachtig euro), and even there cent stays singular. And note Dutch writes prices with a comma for the decimal (€3,50), not a point — the point is reserved for thousands (€1.000).
Saying phone numbers
Phone numbers are never read as one giant number. Dutch reads them in pairs (or sometimes single digits), grouping two figures at a time. A mobile number starts with 06, read nul-zes. So 06 12 34 56 78 is nul zes, twaalf, vierendertig, zesenvijftig, achtenzeventig.
Mijn nummer is nul zes, vierentwintig, achttien, drieënnegentig, nul vijf.
My number is zero six, twenty-four, eighteen, ninety-three, zero five. (06 24 18 93 05 — read in pairs)
Bel maar even: nul zes, twaalf, vierendertig, zesenvijftig, achtenzeventig.
Just give me a call: zero six, twelve, thirty-four, fifty-six, seventy-eight. (06 12 34 56 78)
A pair like 05 (a zero plus a digit) is read digit by digit — nul vijf — because there's no two-digit number "05." Pairs from 10 upward are read as whole numbers (twaalf, vierendertig).
Age and quantities
For age, Dutch uses zijn ("to be") + the number, usually dropping "years old": Ik ben dertig ("I'm thirty"). To ask a quantity, hoeveel ("how many / how much") covers both countable and uncountable — Dutch doesn't split them the way English splits "many" and "much."
Hoe oud is je opa? — Hij is eenentachtig.
How old is your grandad? — He's eighty-one. (81 = een-en-tachtig; 'jaar oud' usually dropped)
Hoeveel kost dit? — Vier euro vijfennegentig.
How much does this cost? — Four euros ninety-five. ('hoeveel' for both 'how many' and 'how much')
Hoeveel mensen komen er vanavond?
How many people are coming tonight? (same 'hoeveel' for countable nouns)
Mag ik een halfje brood en twee broodjes?
Can I have half a loaf and two rolls? ('een halfje' = half a loaf; counting everyday quantities)
Common Mistakes
❌ twintig-een
Incorrect — Dutch reverses the order and glues it: the unit comes first, joined by 'en'. 21 = eenentwintig.
✅ eenentwintig
twenty-one
❌ Dat is drie euro en vijftig cent.
Over-literal — Dutch drops both 'and' and 'cent' in everyday prices.
✅ Dat is drie euro vijftig.
That's three euros fifty.
❌ Het kost vijf euros.
Incorrect — after a number 'euro' stays singular: never 'euros'.
✅ Het kost vijf euro.
It costs five euros.
❌ Mijn nummer is nul zes twaalf miljoen...
Incorrect — phone numbers are read in pairs/digits, never as one large number.
✅ Mijn nummer is nul zes, twaalf, vierendertig...
My number is zero six, twelve, thirty-four...
❌ Hoeveel oud ben je?
Incorrect — age uses 'hoe oud' (how old), not 'hoeveel'.
✅ Hoe oud ben je?
How old are you?
Key Takeaways
- From 21 up, Dutch says the unit before the ten, joined by en: eenentwintig (21), vierendertig (34) — add the trema after a vowel (tweeëntwintig, drieënveertig).
- Prices are euros + cents with no "and" and no "cent": €3,50 = drie euro vijftig; under €1 you do say cent (tachtig cent). Euro and cent stay singular after a number.
- Phone numbers are read in pairs (or single digits for a leading zero), starting nul zes for mobiles.
- Age uses zijn: Ik ben dertig; ask it with Hoe oud…?, not Hoeveel…?
- Hoeveel covers both "how many" and "how much" — Dutch makes no many/much split.
Now practice Dutch
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
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