There are two sets of crucial building blocks when you begin learning a new language: letters and numbers. Because Indonesian uses the Latin alphabet we English speakers are so familiar with, we can skip straight to the numbers. Numbers are everywhere in any country. So is math. From shopping to writing dates to exchanging phone numbers, learning Indonesian numbers will come in handy when navigating Indonesia. This guide to counting in Indonesian will help you when ordering food, finding the right clothing size (colors will help you here, too), telling time and in countless (pun intended) other essential situations. Without further ado, let’s get counting!
Indonesian Numbers from 0 to 20
Counting in Indonesian is actually very simple — you essentially just combine words for the first 10 numbers to form the higher ones. Let’s start with the basics, the numbers from zero to 20, and then work our way up. You’ll notice that once you get to 12, you simply add the word belas to the base number. Press the play button to hear how each word is pronounced.
zero — nol
one — satu
two — dua
three — tiga
four — empat
five — lima
six — enam
seven — tujuh
eight — delapan
nine — sembilan
ten — sepuluh
eleven — sebelas
twelve — dua belas
thirteen — tiga belas
fourteen — empat belas
fifteen — lima belas
sixteen — enam belas
seventeen — tujuh belas
eighteen — delapan belas
nineteen — sembilan belas
twenty — dua puluh
The Rest Of The Tens: Numbers in Indonesian
Next, we’ll move on to the remaining foundational numbers. All you have to do is combine the word for the base number with the word puluh. Pronunciation is key when speaking a new language, so be sure to press play to hear how the numbers are supposed to sound.
thirty — tiga puluh
forty — empat puluh
fifty — lima puluh
sixty — enam puluh
seventy — tujuh puluh
eighty — delapan puluh
ninety — sembilan puluh
one hundred — seratus
Ordinal Numbers in Indonesian
Ordinal numbers tell you where something is in a sequence, like 1st, 2nd, 3rd, et cetera. They are useful for many of the conversational uses for numbers. Fortunately, the Indonesian language takes a simpler approach to ordinal numbers than English. For most numbers, simply add the prefix “ke-” to the cardinal number to make it ordinal. Dua becomes kedua (second), sepuluh becomes kesepuluh (10th), and so on. The only exception to this rule is pertama (first). When writing ordinal numbers with the digits, you don’t have to add any letters the way you would in English. Just writing the digits will suffice.
Putting It All Together: Count From 1 to 100 in Indonesian
Filling in the rest of the numbers follows a similar pattern. Simply add the digit to the ten, so 31 would be tiga puluh satu, and 99 would be sembilan puluh sembilan. It’s that easy! Now that you know how to count and use numbers in Indonesian, you’re ready for lessons about vocabulary, grammar, and useful words and phrases.