Learn Dutch: Mijn vader is zeventig en mijn moeder is tachtig. - My father is seventy and my mother is eighty.

Mijn vader is zeventig en mijn moeder is tachtig.

My father is seventy and my mother is eighty.

Breakdown of Mijn vader is zeventig en mijn moeder is tachtig.

Questions & Answers about Mijn vader is zeventig en mijn moeder is tachtig.

I see both numbers end in -tig. Is that the Dutch equivalent of "-ty"?

Yes! Just like English uses "-ty" to make tens (sixty, seventy), Dutch adds -tig to the base number. So zeven (seven) becomes zeventig (seventy).

The word for eight is acht. Why is eighty tachtig instead of "achtig"?

That is a great catch! Tachtig (eighty) gets an extra t at the beginning for historical pronunciation reasons. It is an exception you just have to memorize, making it slightly different from its base number acht.

Do we use the verb "to be" (zijn) to talk about age in Dutch, just like in English?

Yes, exactly. While some languages use "to have" for ages (like "she has eighty years"), Dutch works just like English. You use a form of zijn (to be). So, mijn moeder is tachtig directly translates to "my mother is eighty".

How do I pronounce the -ig at the end of zeventig and tachtig?

In Dutch, the suffix -ig is pronounced with a short, unstressed "uh" sound followed by the soft, scraping Dutch "g". It sounds roughly like "-uhg" rather than sounding like "pig" or "fig" in English.