Counting In Afrikaans From One To One Million
Author
Counting in Afrikaans is highly logical and follows a predictable pattern.
Once you memorize the base numbers, you can easily build larger numbers up to one million.
The Afrikaans number system shares many similarities with Dutch and German.
You’ll notice that we read compound numbers backwards compared to English.
Let’s break down the numbers step by step so you can start counting right away.
Table of Contents:
Counting from 1 to 10
Learning the first ten numbers is your most important task.
These form the building blocks for every other number in the language.
I’m including zero here as well.
| Number | Afrikaans |
|---|---|
| 0 | nul |
| 1 | een |
| 2 | twee |
| 3 | drie |
| 4 | vier |
| 5 | vyf |
| 6 | ses |
| 7 | sewe |
| 8 | agt |
| 9 | nege |
| 10 | tien |
Counting from 11 to 19
The numbers from 11 to 19 are slightly irregular, but they still follow a familiar rhythm.
You’ll see that numbers 13 to 19 end in the suffix “-tien”, which simply means “teen”.
There are a few small spelling changes for numbers like 13 (dertien) and 14 (veertien).
| Number | Afrikaans |
|---|---|
| 11 | elf |
| 12 | twaalf |
| 13 | dertien |
| 14 | veertien |
| 15 | vyftien |
| 16 | sestien |
| 17 | sewentien |
| 18 | agtien |
| 19 | negentien |
Counting in tens (20 to 90)
Next, you need to learn the multiples of ten.
These numbers usually end in the suffix “-tig”, which is the equivalent of “-ty” in English.
Pay close attention to 80 (tagtig), which adds an extra “t” at the beginning for easier pronunciation.
| Number | Afrikaans |
|---|---|
| 20 | twintig |
| 30 | dertig |
| 40 | veertig |
| 50 | vyftig |
| 60 | sestig |
| 70 | sewentig |
| 80 | tagtig |
| 90 | negentig |
Combining numbers (21 to 99)
This is where Afrikaans differs heavily from English.
Instead of saying “twenty-one”, we say the units first, followed by the word en (and), and then the tens.
Everything is written together as a single word.
This means 21 is literally written as “one-and-twenty” (eenentwintig).
Ek is eenentwintig jaar oud.
We use a hyphen to connect the words only if the first number ends in a vowel.
This hyphen prevents confusing double vowels from clashing together.
For example, 22 is written as twee-en-twintig, while 24 is simply vierentwintig.
| Number | Afrikaans | Literal translation |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | eenentwintig | one-and-twenty |
| 32 | twee-en-dertig | two-and-thirty |
| 45 | vyfenveertig | five-and-forty |
| 67 | sewe-en-sestig | seven-and-sixty |
| 99 | nege-en-negentig | nine-and-ninety |
Counting from 100 to one million
Once you hit one hundred, counting becomes very straightforward again.
Hundreds and thousands are constructed exactly like in English.
The word for hundred is honderd.
The word for thousand is duisend.
The word for million is miljoen.
| Number | Afrikaans |
|---|---|
| 100 | honderd |
| 200 | tweehonderd |
| 500 | vyfhonderd |
| 1,000 | duisend |
| 3,000 | drieduisend |
| 10,000 | tienduisend |
| 1,000,000 | een miljoen |
To say a number like 150, you combine the hundred and the smaller number.
You often link the hundreds and the smaller numbers with the word en.
Honderd en vyftig
Tweehonderd en drie
For much larger numbers, you simply stack the parts together just as you’d do in English.
Drieduisend vyfhonderd
Practice writing out your age, your birth year, and your phone number to get used to these patterns.
