← Back
Learn Danish Numbers
This page covers Danish number words. Danish is famous for its vigesimal (base-20) system for tens — 50 is literally “half-third-times-twenty” (halvtreds). Once you understand the pattern, it’s consistent.
0–12: irregular bases
Memorize these individually:
- 0 = nul
- 1 = en / et
- 2 = to
- 3 = tre
- 4 = fire
- 5 = fem
- 6 = seks
- 7 = syv
- 8 = otte
- 9 = ni
- 10 = ti
- 11 = elleve
- 12 = tolv
13–19: teens
Pattern: digit + ten (from “ti”):
- 13 = tretten
- 14 = fjorten
- 15 = femten
- 16 = seksten
- 17 = sytten
- 18 = atten
- 19 = nitten
20–99: vigesimal tens
Danish uses a base-20 system for its tens. 20 and 30 are straightforward, but 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 are based on multiples of 20:
- 20 = tyve
- 30 = tredive
- 40 = fyrre (short for “fire gange ti” = 4×10)
- 50 = halvtreds (half-third-times-twenty = 2.5×20)
- 60 = tres (three-times-twenty = 3×20)
- 70 = halvfjerds (half-fourth-times-twenty = 3.5×20)
- 80 = firs (four-times-twenty = 4×20)
- 90 = halvfems (half-fifth-times-twenty = 4.5×20)
Ones come before tens, connected with og (“and”):
- 21 = enogtyve
- 53 = treoghalvtreds
- 99 = nioghalvfems
Quick check: 25, 50, 74?
25 femogtyve · 50 halvtreds · 74 fireoghalvfjerds
Hundreds
- 100 = (et) hundrede
- 200 = to hundrede
- 300 = tre hundrede
- 150 = (et) hundrede og halvtreds
Thousands & large numbers
- 1,000 = (et) tusind(e)
- 2,000 = to tusind(e)
- 10,000 = ti tusind(e)
- 1,000,000 = en million
- 1,000,000,000 = en milliard
Common mistakes
- Vigesimal tens: halvtreds (50), tres (60), halvfjerds (70), firs (80), halvfems (90) — these must be memorized.
- Word order: ones before tens (enogtyve = 21), like German.
- og: don’t forget the conjunction between ones and tens.
- en vs. et: “en” for common gender, “et” for neuter.