Dutch Grammar
Dutch Grammar
With numbers and time you can handle basic real-life tasks: introducing your address, asking when something starts, and understanding dates in messages.
Focus on three parts: numbers, clock phrases, and date words (days/months). Start with fixed patterns, then practice them in short everyday sentences.
| Number | Dutch | Number | Dutch |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | nul | 7 | zeven |
| 1 | een | 8 | acht |
| 2 | twee | 9 | negen |
| 3 | drie | 10 | tien |
| 4 | vier | 11 | elf |
| 5 | vijf | 12 | twaalf |
| 6 | zes |
| Pattern | Rule | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 13-19 | Number + -tien | dertien, veertien, vijftien |
| 20, 30, 40... | Fixed tens forms | twintig, dertig, veertig, vijftig |
| 21-99 | unit + en + tens | eenentwintig (21), vierendertig (34), achtenzeventig (78) |
| 100+ | Use honderd, then continue pattern | honderd, honderd vijfentwintig, tweehonderd |
Dutch time expressions often use over (past), voor (to), and the special pattern half + next hour.
| Clock | Dutch | English |
|---|---|---|
| 08:00 | Het is acht uur. | It is eight o'clock. |
| 08:10 | Het is tien over acht. | It is ten past eight. |
| 08:15 | Het is kwart over acht. | It is quarter past eight. |
| 08:30 | Het is half negen. | It is half past eight (literally "half nine"). |
| 08:45 | Het is kwart voor negen. | It is quarter to nine. |
| 08:50 | Het is tien voor negen. | It is ten to nine. |
| Weekday (NL) | English | Month (NL) | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| maandag | Monday | januari | January |
| dinsdag | Tuesday | februari | February |
| woensdag | Wednesday | maart | March |
| donderdag | Thursday | april | April |
| vrijdag | Friday | mei | May |
| zaterdag | Saturday | juni | June |
| zondag | Sunday | juli | July |
| augustus | August | ||
| september | September | ||
| oktober | October | ||
| november | November | ||
| december | December |
| Dutch | English |
|---|---|
| Vandaag is het 5 mei. | Today is May 5. |
| Vandaag is het de vijfde mei. | Today is the fifth of May. |
| Mijn verjaardag is op 12 januari. | My birthday is on January 12. |
| De les is op woensdag om half acht. | The lesson is on Wednesday at 7:30. |
English tells time by looking back at the hour that just passed — "half past eight" starts at eight and adds thirty minutes. Dutch does the opposite: it looks forward to the next hour and counts back from it. So half negen is not "half past nine" at all; it is halfway toward nine, which is 8:30.
Around the half hour, always ask yourself which hour is coming, not which one you are in. A simple trick: whenever you hear or say half, add one to the number that follows, then read the result as thirty minutes earlier. "Half" always names the next hour, never the current one. Away from the half hour, over (past) and voor (to) behave much like their English counterparts: kwart over acht counts forward from eight (8:15), and kwart voor negen counts back from nine (8:45).
Most slips here come from carrying English habits into Dutch: reading the clock the English way, building numbers in English word order, and reusing one English preposition for several Dutch ones. Check yourself against these four.
✗ half drie = 3:30
✓ half drie = 2:30
Half counts toward the next hour, so half drie is half an hour before three, not half past it.
✗ twintig-een
✓ eenentwintig
The unit comes before the ten (one-and-twenty), written as one word: eenentwintig.
✗ op drie uur
✓ om drie uur
"At three o'clock" uses om, not op — save "op" for days and dates.
✗ kwart naar drie
✓ kwart voor drie
"Quarter to three" is kwart voor; "quarter past" is kwart over.
Choose the best Dutch word or phrase for numbers, time, and dates.
