Once you can count, the next layer is the maths of everyday life: halves and thirds, prices with decimals, and reading a sum aloud. Dutch is straightforward here with one big catch English speakers must reverse in their heads — Dutch uses a comma where English uses a decimal point, and a point (or space) where English uses a thousands comma. So 3,5 is three-point-five and 1.000 is one thousand. Get that swap right and you'll read every price tag, recipe, and statistic correctly. We'll also cover the fraction words and the four arithmetic operations.
Fractions
Dutch builds most fractions on the ordinal number plus the noun-like ending you already know from ordinals — een derde (a third), een vierde / een kwart (a quarter), een vijfde (a fifth), een achtste (an eighth). The numerator is a cardinal, the denominator an ordinal: twee derde (two thirds), drie vijfde (three fifths).
| Fraction | Dutch | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| ½ | een half / de helft | 'half' as a number vs 'the half' as a noun |
| ⅓ | een derde | |
| ⅔ | twee derde | numerator cardinal + denominator ordinal |
| ¼ | een kwart / een vierde | 'kwart' is the everyday word |
| ¾ | driekwart | written as one word |
| ⅛ | een achtste | |
| 1½ | anderhalf | special single word for 'one and a half' |
Ik heb nog een derde van het boek te lezen.
I still have a third of the book to read.
Bijna twee derde van de Nederlanders fietst dagelijks.
Almost two thirds of Dutch people cycle daily. (journalistic register)
half vs helft vs halve
Three related words trip learners up. half is the fraction/adjective "half"; de helft is the noun "the half" (the half of something); and halve is the inflected adjective form before a de-word.
Geef mij maar een halve liter.
I'll just have half a litre. ('halve' — inflected adjective before 'liter')
De helft van de klas was ziek.
Half the class was ill. ('de helft' — the noun)
So you say een half uur (half an hour — het-word, uninflected half) but een halve dag (half a day — de-word, inflected halve). The choice follows ordinary adjective inflection.
anderhalf — one and a half
Dutch has a dedicated single word for 1½: anderhalf. It literally means "the-other-half," an old way of saying "one whole and the half of the next." It's invariable in most uses and extremely common.
We hebben anderhalf uur gewacht.
We waited an hour and a half.
Doe er anderhalve kilo suiker bij.
Add one and a half kilos of sugar. ('anderhalve' inflects before this de-word measure)
There's even a derived word: during the pandemic de anderhalvemetersamenleving ("the one-and-a-half-metre society") entered everyday Dutch — a nice proof of how alive anderhalf is.
Decimals: the comma, not the point
This is the rule to tattoo on your hand. In Dutch, the decimal separator is a comma. 3,5 is read drie komma vijf — "three comma five" — and means 3.5. Where English writes 3.14, Dutch writes 3,14 and says drie komma veertien.
Het is vandaag 3,5 graden buiten.
It's 3.5 degrees outside today. (written 3,5; read 'drie komma vijf')
Pi is ongeveer drie komma veertien.
Pi is roughly three point one four. (3,14 → 'drie komma veertien')
Notice that the digits after the comma are usually read as a single number when there are two of them (komma veertien = "comma fourteen") in casual speech, though digit-by-digit (komma één vier) is also fine and clearer for long strings.
The thousands separator is reversed too
Because the comma is taken by decimals, Dutch marks thousands with a point (or a thin space). So 1.000 means one thousand, 1.000.000 means one million, and 2.500 is two-and-a-half thousand. To an English eye 1.000 looks like "one point zero zero zero" — resist that; it's a thousand.
De jas kostte 1.250 euro.
The coat cost 1,250 euros. (1.250 = one thousand two hundred fifty)
Het stadion biedt plaats aan 50.000 toeschouwers.
The stadium holds 50,000 spectators.
Arithmetic: reading sums aloud
The four operations and the equals sign:
| Symbol | Dutch | English |
|---|---|---|
| + | plus | plus |
| − | min | minus |
| × | keer (or maal) | times |
| ÷ | gedeeld door | divided by |
| = | is (or is gelijk aan) | equals |
| % | procent | percent |
Drie keer vier is twaalf.
Three times four is twelve. (3 × 4 = 12)
Honderd gedeeld door vier is vijfentwintig.
A hundred divided by four is twenty-five. (100 ÷ 4 = 25)
Tien procent van tweehonderd is twintig.
Ten percent of two hundred is twenty. (note: 'procent' stays singular)
For everyday speech, keer is the normal word for multiplication (twee keer twee); maal is a touch more formal/mathematical. The equals sign is most often just is in spoken arithmetic, with the full is gelijk aan reserved for formal or written maths.
Common Mistakes
❌ Het kost 3.50 euro.
Incorrect — a price uses the decimal COMMA: '3,50 euro'. The point would mark thousands.
✅ Het kost 3,50 euro.
It costs 3.50 euros.
❌ Er waren 1,000 mensen.
Incorrect — for one thousand use a POINT: '1.000 mensen'. The comma reads as a decimal.
✅ Er waren 1.000 mensen.
There were 1,000 people.
❌ Geef me een half liter.
Incorrect — before the de-word 'liter' the adjective inflects: 'een halve liter'.
✅ Geef me een halve liter.
Give me half a litre.
❌ We wachtten een anderhalf uur.
Incorrect — 'anderhalf' already means 'one and a half'; don't add 'een'.
✅ We wachtten anderhalf uur.
We waited an hour and a half.
❌ Vijf keer vijf is gelijk vijfentwintig.
Incomplete — say 'is' or 'is gelijk aan': 'vijf keer vijf is vijfentwintig'.
✅ Vijf keer vijf is vijfentwintig.
Five times five is twenty-five.
Key Takeaways
- Fractions: numerator (cardinal) + denominator (ordinal) — twee derde; everyday words een kwart, driekwart (one word), de helft (the noun).
- anderhalf = 1½, a single dedicated word; it inflects to anderhalve before a de-word.
- half / halve / helft: half the fraction, halve the inflected adjective, de helft the noun.
- Decimal separator is a comma (3,5 = drie komma vijf); thousands separator is a point (1.000 = one thousand). They're the reverse of English.
- Arithmetic: plus, min, keer, gedeeld door, is; procent stays singular.
Now practice Dutch
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Dutch→Related Topics
- Cardinal Numbers 0–100 and BeyondA1 — The full Dutch cardinal number system — 0–20, the units-before-tens reversal for 21–99 written as one solid word, and honderd, duizend, miljoen, miljard for big numbers.
- Ordinal Numbers: Eerste, Tweede, DerdeA2 — How Dutch builds ordinals — the -de ending up to nineteen, the -ste ending from twenty up, the irregulars eerste, derde and achtste, and how ordinals inflect like adjectives in dates and lists.
- Measures and Quantities: Singular Units, Een Paar, Een Stuk of TienA2 — Why units of measure stay singular after a number in Dutch (twee kilo, vijf euro, tien jaar) and the everyday quantity words — een paar, een beetje, een stuk of tien, tientallen.
- The Trema and the ApostropheB1 — The trema (ë ï ö ü) breaks a vowel sequence into separate syllables so it isn't misread as a digraph — coördinatie, reünie, ruïne — while the apostrophe forms plurals of vowel-final words (foto's, baby's) and certain genitives (Anna's auto). Both are grammatical, not decorative.