Counting in Estonian

Language overview

Forty-two in Estonian Estonian (eesti keel) belongs to the Uralic family, in the Finno-Ugric group. Official language of Estonia, it counts about 1.1 million speakers.

Estonian numbers list

  • 1 – üks
  • 2 – kaks
  • 3 – kolm
  • 4 – neli
  • 5 – viis
  • 6 – kuus
  • 7 – seitse
  • 8 – kaheksa
  • 9 – üheksa
  • 10 – kümme
  • 11 – üksteist
  • 12 – kaksteist
  • 13 – kolmteist
  • 14 – neliteist
  • 15 – viisteist
  • 16 – kuusteist
  • 17 – seitseteist
  • 18 – kaheksateist
  • 19 – üheksateist
  • 20 – kakskümmend
  • 30 – kolmkümmend
  • 40 – nelikümmend
  • 50 – viiskümmend
  • 60 – kuuskümmend
  • 70 – seitsekümmend
  • 80 – kaheksakümmend
  • 90 – üheksakümmend
  • 100 – sada
  • 1,000 – tuhat
  • one million – miljon
  • one billion – miljard
  • one trillion – triljon

Estonian numbering rules

Now that you’ve had a gist of the most useful numbers, let’s move to the writing rules for the tens, the compound numbers, and why not the hundreds, the thousands and beyond (if possible).

  • Numbers from zero to ten are specific words: null [0], üks [1], kaks [2], kolm [3], neli [4], viis [5], kuus [6], seitse [7], kaheksa [8], üheksa [9], and kümme [10].
  • From eleven to nineteen, the numbers are formed from the matching digits, adding the suffix -teist at the end, which means from the second (ten): üksteist [11], kaksteist [12], kolmteist [13], neliteist [14], viisteist [15], kuusteist [16], seitseteist [17], kaheksateist [18], and üheksateist [19].
  • The tens are formed by adding the -kümmend suffix at the end of the digits, with the obvious exception of ten: kümme [10], kakskümmend [20], kolmkümmend [30], nelikümmend [40], viiskümmend [50], kuuskümmend [60], seitsekümmend [70], kaheksakümmend [80], and üheksakümmend [90]. When composed with a digit, numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine are formed by saying the ten, then the digit with a space (e.g.: kakskümmend kolm [23], kolmkümmend kaks [32]).
  • Hundreds are formed by setting the multiplier unit directly before the hundred word (sada), with the exception of one hundred itself: sada [100], kakssada [200], kolmsada [300], nelisada [400], viissada [500]…
  • Thousands are formed by setting the multiplier unit before the thousand word (tuhat), separated with a space, with the exception of one thousand itself: tuhat [1,000], kaks tuhat [2,000], kolm tuhat [3,000], neli tuhat [4,000], viis tuhat [5,000]…
  • The Estonian language uses the short scale for big numbers: miljon (106, million), miljard (109, billion), triljon (1012, trillion), kvadriljon (1015, quadrillion), kvintiljon (1018, quintillion), sekstiljon (1021, sextillion)…

Write a number in full in Estonian

Let’s move now to the practice of the numbering rules in Estonian. Will you guess how to write a number in full? Enter a number and try to write it down in your head, or maybe on a piece of paper, before displaying the result.

Books

Colloquial Estonian Colloquial Estonian
by , editors Routledge (2008)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Estonian-English/English-Estonian: Dictionary & Phasebook Estonian-English/English-Estonian: Dictionary & Phasebook
by , editors Hippocrene Books (2002)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

L’estonien de poche L’estonien de poche
by , editors Assimil (2008)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Parlons estonien, une langue de la Baltique Parlons estonien, une langue de la Baltique
by , editors L’Harmattan (1993)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Finno-Ugrian languages

Erzya, Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian, Ingrian, Karelian, Kven, Livonian, Mansi, Udmurt, Veps, and Votic.

Other supported languages

As the other currently supported languages are too numerous to list extensively here, please select a language from the full list of supported languages.