Counting in Norwegian (Bokmål)

Language overview

Forty-two in Norwegian (Bokmål) North Germanic language of the Indo-European family, Norwegian (norsk) is the official language of Norway and counts about 5 million speakers. Norwegian has two official written forms: Bokmål (which means book tongue) and Nynorsk (or new Norwegian). We will focus on the Bokmål form here.

Norwegian (Bokmål) numbers list

  • 1 – én
  • 2 – to
  • 3 – tre
  • 4 – fire
  • 5 – fem
  • 6 – seks
  • 7 – sju
  • 8 – åtte
  • 9 – ni
  • 10 – ti
  • 11 – elleve
  • 12 – tolv
  • 13 – tretten
  • 14 – fjorten
  • 15 – femten
  • 16 – seksten
  • 17 – sytten
  • 18 – atten
  • 19 – nitten
  • 20 – tjue
  • 30 – tretti
  • 40 – førti
  • 50 – femti
  • 60 – seksti
  • 70 – sytti
  • 80 – åtti
  • 90 – nitti
  • 100 – hundre
  • 1,000 – ett tusen
  • one million – én million
  • one billion – én milliard

Norwegian (Bokmål) 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).

  • Digits and numbers from zero to twelve are specific words: nul [0], én / éi / étt (m/f/n) [1], to [2], tre [3], fire [4], fem [5], seks [6], sju [7], åtte [8], ni [9], ti [10], elleve [11], and tolv [12].
  • From thirteen to nineteen, the numbers are formed from the matching digits, adding the word for ten (ten) at the end: tretten [13], fjorten [14], femten [15], seksten [16], sytten [17], atten [18], and nitten [19].
  • The tens are formed by suffixing the digit root with the word for ten (ti), except for ten and twenty: ti [10], tjue [20], tretti [30], førti [40], femti [50], seksti [60], sytti [70], åtti [80], and nitti [90].
  • From twenty-one to ninety-nine, the tens and units are joined with no space (e.g.: tjueni [29], trettifire [34]).
  • Hundreds are formed by stating the multiplier digit before the word for hundred (hundre, which is of a neuter gender), except for one hundred where it is optional: (ett) hundre [100], to hundre [200], tre hundre [300], fire hundre [400], fem hundre [500], seks hundre [600], sju hundre [700], åtte hundre [800], and ni hundre [900].
  • Thousands are formed the same way as hundreds, i.e. by stating the multiplier digit before the word for thousand (tusen, neuter too): ett tusen [1,000], to tusen [2,000], tre tusen [3,000], fire tusen [4,000], fem tusen [5,000], seks tusen [6,000], sju tusen [7,000], åtte tusen [8,000], and ni tusen [9,000].
  • Compound numbers link hundreds and tens or unit, but also thousands and tens or unit with the conjonction og (and): hundre og fire [104], ett tusen og tjueén [1,021].
  • Higher scale numbers are million (plural: millioner) or 106, and milliard (109, the US billion), both being masculine.

Write a number in full in Norwegian (Bokmål)

Let’s move now to the practice of the numbering rules in Norwegian (Bokmål). 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

Norwegian Verbs And Essentials of Grammar Norwegian Verbs And Essentials of Grammar
by , editors McGraw-Hill (1999)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Colloquial Norwegian: A complete language course Colloquial Norwegian: A complete language course
by , editors Routledge (1995)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com, Kindle - Amazon.com Kindle - Amazon.com]

Norwegian: An Essential Grammar Norwegian: An Essential Grammar
by , editors Routledge (1994)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Le norvégien sans peine Le norvégien sans peine
by , editors Assimil (2010)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Parlons norvégien Parlons norvégien
by , editors L’Harmattan (2002)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

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.