Watch and read: counting

All right. Let’s do some counting. First of all, from 1 to 20. “Ien”, “twa”, “trije”, “fjouwer”, “fiif”, “seis”, “sân”, “acht”, “njoggen”, “tsien”, “alve”, “tolve”, “trettjin”, “fjirtjin”, “fyftjin”, “sechstjin”, “santjin”, “achttjin”, “njoggentjin”, “tweintich”. And, of course, the multiples of 10, up to 100. “Tweintich”, “tritich”, “fjirtich”, “fyftich”, “sechstich”, “santich”, “tachtich”, “njoggentjich”, “hûndert”. Now you will notice some irregularities here.

“Trije” corresponds with “tritich”. We say “fjouwer”, but we also say “fjirtich”. There’s “fiif”, but we say “fyftich”. “Seis”, but we say “sechstich”. “Sân”, but we say “santich”. “Acht” becomes “tachtich”. And it is “hûndert” and not “ienhûndert”. Now let’s have a look at the numbers from 21 up to 99. “Ienentweintich”, 21 in Frisian is 1 and 20- - “ien en tweintich”. “Trije (3) en tritich (30), trijentritich.” Fjouwer (4) en fyftich (50). “Fjouwerenfyftich.” “Seis (6) en sechstich (66). Seisensechstich. Sân (7) en tachtich (80). Sânentachtich. “Fjouwer (4) en njoggentich (90). Fjouwerennjoggentich.

As you can see, from 21 up to 99 the unit is placed before the 10.

Now for some more information on numbers and counting. We say “tûzen”. So not “ientûzen”. but “tûzen”.

Please note that the comma and the decimal are switched in Frisian. So “trije komma fiifhûndersânentachtich” is less than 4 and not over 3,000. So “seistûzensânhûn dertachtenfyftich” is nearly 7,000. But with a comma it is “seis komma sânhûndertachtenfyftich” which is just about 7.

Now for some examples and phrases.

Myn tillefoannûmer is nul seis ien twa acht fjouwer twa nul njoggen fiif. Ik bin achtentritich jier.

Achtenfjirtich min trijentweintich is fiifentweintich.

Us húsnûmer is fjouwerentritich a.

In jier hat trijehûndertfiifensechstich dagen.

“Tolve kear seis is twaensantich.”