Counting in Faroese

Language overview

Forty-two in Faroese Faroese (føroyskt) is an Indo-European language that belongs to the North Germanic or Nordic branch of the Germanic languages. Official language of the Faroe Islands, it counts about 50,000 speakers.

Faroese numbers list

  • 1 – ein
  • 2 – tveir
  • 3 – tríggir
  • 4 – fýra
  • 5 – fimm
  • 6 – seks
  • 7 – sjey
  • 8 – átta
  • 9 – níggju
  • 10 – tíggju
  • 11 – ellivu
  • 12 – tólv
  • 13 – trettan
  • 14 – fjúrtan
  • 15 – fimtan
  • 16 – sekstan
  • 17 – seytjan
  • 18 – átjan
  • 19 – nítjan
  • 20 – tjúgu
  • 30 – tríati
  • 40 – fýrati
  • 50 – fimmti
  • 60 – seksti
  • 70 – sjeyti
  • 80 – áttati
  • 90 – níti
  • 100 – hundrað
  • 1,000 – túsund
  • one million – ein millión
  • one billion – ein milliard

Faroese 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).

  • In Faroese, the digits one to three have different gender forms depending on whether they refer to a masculine, a feminine, or a neutral noun, and they are declined too. They also have a plural form used to count items that come in pairs, such as shoes or socks, as well as plural nouns, like a married couple (eini hjún). These plural forms are einir (feminine: einar, neutral: eini), tvinnir and trinnir. While counting, however, they remain in the masculine form. The other numbers only have one form.
  • Digits and numbers from zero to twelve are specific words: null [0], ein [1] (feminine: ein, neutral: eitt), tveir [2] (feminine: tvær, neutral: tvey), tríggir [3] (feminine: tríggjar, neutral: trý), fýra [4], fimm [5], seks [6], sjey [7], átta [8], níggju [9], tíggju [10], ellivuefu [11], and tólv [12].
  • From thirteen to nineteen, the numbers are formed from the matching digits, adding a form of the word for ten (tan or tjan) at the end: trettan [13], fjúrtan [14], fimtan [15], sekstan [16], seytjan [17], átjan [18], and nítjan [19].
  • The tens are formed by adding the beginning of the word for ten (tíggju) at the end of the multiplier digit, with the exception of ten and twenty: tíggju [10], tjúgu [20], tríati [30], fýrati [40], fimmti [50], seksti [60], sjeyti [70], áttati [80], and níti [90]. A formal form of the tens from thirty to ninety is also in use where we can find a trace of a vigesimal system: tretivu [30], fjøruti [40], hálvtrýss [50] (short for hálvtrýsinstjúgu [3*20 - 20/2]), trýss [60] (short for trýsinstjúgu [3*20]), hálvfjerðs [70] (short for hálvfjerðsinstjúgu [4*20 - 20/2], where fjerðs replaces fýrs), fýrs [80] (short for fýrsinstjúgu [4*20]), and hálvfems [90] (short for hálvfemsinstjúgu [5*20 - 20/2]).
  • From twenty-one to ninety-nine, the tens and units are joined with the word og (and) but the unit being is put before the ten (e.g.: ein og tríati [31], fimm og fimmti [55]).
  • Scale numbers are nouns with a particular gender, and they have a plural form distinct from the singular one above one thousand: hundrað [100] and túsund [1,000] are neutral and invariable, millión [million] is feminine (plural form: milliónir). Being gendered, they use the matching gender form of their multiplier if it is one to three (e.g.: (eitt) hundrað [100], tvey túsund [2,000], tríggir milliónir [3 million]).
  • The word og is used to separate the numbers in groups of three digits (e.g.: ein og tjúgu [21], hundrað og ein og tjúgu [121]).

Write a number in full in Faroese

Let’s move now to the practice of the numbering rules in Faroese. 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

An introduction to modern Faroese An introduction to modern Faroese
, editors DaisyMunksgaard (1964)

North Germanic languages

Danish, Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian (Bokmål), and Swedish.

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.