Dutch Numbers in Words
Spell any whole number in Dutch, with the unit-before-tens order and the tweeën / drieën trema handled.
Dutch writes each group as one word, with the unit before the tens.
Key numbers in Dutch
Dutch writes 21 as eenentwintig — the unit comes first, then en (“and”), then the tens, all as one word. So 45 is vijfenveertig and 99 is negenennegentig. Above a thousand a space appears: 2025 is tweeduizend vijfentwintig. Enter any integer to spell it out.
How Dutch numbers are built
Dutch reads a number in layers — units (0–9), teens (10–19), tens (20–90), and hundreds (100–999) — then repeats the pattern for the thousands. The feature that surprises English and French speakers is the order inside a two-digit number: the unit is said before the tens, exactly as in German. So 21 is “one-and-twenty”, written eenentwintig, not “twenty-one”.
The join is the little word en (“and”), and the whole two-digit number is written as a single word: vijfenveertig (45), zevenentachtig (87). When the unit is twee or drie, gluing it to en would stack three e’s, so Dutch adds a trema (diaeresis) to mark the syllable break: twee → tweeën, drie → drieën. That gives tweeëntwintig (22) and drieëndertig (33). The other units (een, vier, vijf, zes, zeven, acht, negen) do not collide, so they take no trema.
Hundreds are concatenated with no space: 100 is honderd, 200 is tweehonderd, and any remainder is stuck straight on the end — 234 is tweehonderdvierendertig. Only at the thousands does modern Dutch insert a space: the thousands group is one word, then a gap, then the rest — tweeduizend vijfentwintig (2025).
Worked example: 2025
Split 2025 into 2 thousands and 25. The thousands become tweeduizend (one word), and 25 follows the unit-before-tens rule: vijf + en + twintig = vijfentwintig. A space joins the two groups.
- 1 Split off the thousands. Read the thousands group first as one word: 2025 is 2 (thousands) + 25. The thousands word is tweeduizend; 1000 alone is just duizend, never “eenduizend”.
- 2 Write the hundreds. Concatenate with no space: 100 is honderd, 200 is tweehonderd, 300 is driehonderd. The remainder attaches directly, as in tweehonderdvierendertig (234).
- 3 Put the unit before the tens. From 20 up, say the unit, then en, then the tens, as one word: vijf + en + veertig = vijfenveertig (45).
- 4 Add the trema on twee and drie. When the unit is twee or drie, add a diaeresis so the e’s split: tweeëntwintig (22), drieëndertig (33). Then join with a space after the thousands: tweeduizend vijfentwintig.
Dutch number building blocks
Learn these fixed words, then glue them together with the unit-before-tens rule.
| Number | Dutch | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | nul | Zero. |
| 1 | een | Standalone unit; joins as een- (eenentwintig). |
| 2 | twee | Takes a trema when joined: tweeën-. |
| 3 | drie | Takes a trema when joined: drieën-. |
| 4 | vier | No trema (vierendertig). |
| 5 | vijf | No trema (vijfenveertig). |
| 6 | zes | No trema. |
| 7 | zeven | No trema. |
| 8 | acht | No trema. |
| 9 | negen | No trema. |
| 10 | tien | Teens 10–19 are unique words. |
| 11 | elf | |
| 12 | twaalf | |
| 13 | dertien | Note dertien, not “drietien”. |
| 14 | veertien | Note veertien, not “viertien”. |
| 15 | vijftien | |
| 16 | zestien | |
| 17 | zeventien | |
| 18 | achttien | |
| 19 | negentien | |
| 20 | twintig | Tens: dertig, veertig, vijftig, zestig, zeventig, tachtig, negentig. |
| 100 | honderd | Not “eenhonderd”; remainder attaches with no space. |
| 1000 | duizend | Not “eenduizend”; a space follows before the rest. |
Where the rules bite
Unit before tens. This is the single biggest trap. Read the digits right-to-left inside a two-digit block: 87 is zeven + en + tachtig = zevenentachtig, not “tachtigzeven”. It feels backwards to English speakers, but it is completely regular.
The trema. Only twee and drie need the diaeresis, and only because their final e would run into the e of en. So 22 is tweeëntwintig and 52 is tweeënvijftig, while 42 is tweeënveertig. Never write a trema on the other units — vierenveertig, not “vierënveertig”.
honderd and duizend stand alone. Dutch drops the een for exactly one hundred and one thousand: honderd (100) and duizend (1000), never “eenhonderd” or “eenduizend”. From two up you prefix the multiplier: tweehonderd, tweeduizend. And remember the spacing difference — hundreds concatenate (honderdeen, 101) but a space appears after the thousands (duizend een, 1001).
For the same idea in another language, see the German numbers writer — which shares the unit-before-tens order — or the French numbers writer.