Why are Danish numbers so hard?

Numbers above 40 use a base-20 system, so 60 is "tres" (3 × 20) and 90 is "halvfems" (4.5 × 20). They are easier once you learn the pattern.

How do you say 21 in Danish?

21 is "enogtyve", which literally means "one and twenty". Danish puts the unit before the tens.

Danish Numbers 1–100 for Beginners

Quick answer

Danish numbers 1–10 are en, to, tre, fire, fem, seks, syv, otte, ni and ti. Numbers from 50 to 90 use a base-20 system, so 70 is "halvfjerds" (literally "half-fourth", 3.5 × 20).

Counting in Danish is straightforward up to 49. After that, Danish uses a base-20 system that surprises most learners.

Numbers 0–20

Number	Danish	Number	Danish
0	nul	11	elleve
1	en / et	12	tolv
2	to	13	tretten
3	tre	14	fjorten
4	fire	15	femten
5	fem	16	seksten
6	seks	17	sytten
7	syv	18	atten
8	otte	19	nitten
9	ni	20	tyve
10	ti

Tens

Number	Danish
30	tredive
40	fyrre
50	halvtreds
60	tres
70	halvfjerds
80	firs
90	halvfems
100	hundrede

How the system works

Compound numbers put the unit first: 24 is fireogtyve (four and twenty).
50, 70 and 90 use "half" the next score: halvtreds is "half-third" (2.5 × 20).
1 is en for common-gender nouns and et for neuter nouns, so "en bog" (one book) and "et hus" (one house). See en and et explained.

Practise

Say prices, phone numbers and ages out loud. Numbers also appear throughout the beginner vocabulary weeks and the A0 course lessons.