Counting in Norwegian (Bokmål)
Language overview
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
by Louis Janus, editors McGraw-Hill (1999)
[ Amazon.com]
Colloquial Norwegian: A complete language course
by Kirsten Gade & W. Glyn Jones, editors Routledge (1995)
[ Amazon.com, Kindle - Amazon.com]
Norwegian: An Essential Grammar
by Åse-Berit Strandskogen & Rolf Strandskogen, editors Routledge (1994)
[ Amazon.com]
Guía de Conversación Español-Noruego
editors Arguval (2011)
[ Amazon.com]
Diccionario Noruego-Español / Español-Noruego
editors Libreria Universitaria (1999)
[ Amazon.com]
Le norvégien sans peine
by Tom Holta Heide & Françoise Liégaux Heide, editors Assimil (2010)
[ Amazon.com]
Parlons norvégien
by Clémence Guillot & Sven Storelv, editors L’Harmattan (2002)
[ 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.