Norwegian/Numbers

The norm in Norwegian is to write numbers from one to twelve using letters and the numbers from 13 and above using numbers. It is recommended not to mix letters and numbers within the same sentence (or even within the same paragraph or the same document), so it would be better to write “from one to fifty cars” or “from 1 to 50 cars” than “from one to 50 cars”. When spelt with letters, they are either spelt in one word (hundreogtrettito) or separately (hundre og tretti to). The decimal mark in Norwegian is the comma and the thousands separator is a blank space, so 987654 divided by 100 equals 9 876,54. Not all Norwegians follow these rules, so pay attention when a website prompt you for a number as the website will usually tell you what decimal mark to use (or even prompt for the decimals in a separate field). In Old Norse, numbers one through four were all inflected in three genders (masculine, feminine and neuter) and four cases (nominative, accusative, dative and genitive). In modern Norwegian, most of the inflection is gone. The official orthography only contains inflected forms of one, but some dialects have kept a larger portion. However, the case inflection is gone everywhere. The early Nynorsk orthography kept the gender inflection of all four numbers, but the forms gradually merged. NumeralLiteralAdditional information0Null1Bokmål: én (masc.), éi (fem.), ett (neuter)Nynorsk: éin (masc.), éi (fem), eitt (neuter)In Bokmål, masc. and fem. are sometimes merged into a common gender (én). The common gender is inherited from written Danish and is therefore not allowed in Nynorsk, which has always used three genders. Origin: Old Norse einn (masc.), ein (fem.), eitt (neuter)2ToEarlier tvo in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse tveir (masc.), tvær (fem.), tvau (neuter). Some dialects still uses tvei, tvæ and tvau.3Tre (tri)Earlier tri in Nynorsk, still part of the official orthography, but not to be used by the authorities. Origin: Old Norse þrír (masc.), þrjár (fem.), þrjú (neuter).4FireEarlier fjore in Nynorsk, before gradually being replaced by fire. Origin: Danish fire, Old Norse fjórír (masc.), fjórar (fem.), fjǫgur (neuter).5FemOrigin: Old Norse fimm.6SeksOrigin: Old Norse sex.7Sju (syv)The spelling syv was banned from the official orthography in 1951, but re-introduced in 2005. Nynorsk has always used sju (originally sjau). Origin: Old Norse sjau, Danish syv8ÅtteEarlier åtta in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse átta.9NiEarlier nio in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse níu.10TiEarlier tio in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse tíu.11ElleveOrigin: Old Norse ellifu.12TolvOrigin: Old Norse tólf.13TrettenEarlier trettan in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse þrettán.14FjortenEarlier fjortan in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse fjórtán.15FemtenEarlier femtan in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse fimtán.16SekstenEarlier sekstan in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse sextán.17SyttenEarlier sjauttan in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse sjautján.18AttenEarlier atjan in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse átján.19NittenEarlier nitjan in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse nítján.20TjueEarlier tyve in Bokmål and tjugo in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse tjogu, tuttugu, Danish tyve.21TjueénEarlier én og tyve in Bokmål, ein og tjugo in Nynorsk (meaning “one and twenty”). As of 1951, tens are mentioned first (like in English “twenty one”). Old Norse used both tuttugu ok einn (“twenty and one”) and einn ok tuttugu (“one and twenty”).22Tjueto23Tjuetre24Tjuefire25Tjuefem30TrettiEarlier tredve in Bokmål. Origin: Old Norse þrír tigir (simplified and contracted to tretti), Danish tred(i)ve.40FørtiEarlier førr in Bokmål, fyrti in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse fjórir tigir, fjórutigi (fyrti, førti), Danish fyrre (førr).50FemtiOrigin: Old Norse fimtigi.60SekstiOrigin: Old Norse sex tigir.70SyttiEarlier sjautti in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse sjautigi.80ÅttiEarlier åtteti in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse áttatigi, áttatiu.90NittiOrigin: Old Norse níu tigir.100(Ett) HundreEarlier hundrede in Bokmål, hundrad in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse hundrað.101(Ett) hundre og én/éinMay be spelt in one word (hundreogén). 102(Ett) hundre og to103(Ett) hundre og tre104(Ett) hundre og fire105(Ett) hundre og fem125(Ett) hundre og tjuefem200To hundre300Tre hundre400Fire hundre500Fem hundre1 000(Ett) tusenEarlier tusund in Nynorsk. Origin: Old Norse þusund2 000To tusen3 000Tre tusen4 000Fire tusen5 000Fem tusen1 000 000Én millionOrigin: derived from Latin mille (“thousand”).2 000 000To millioner3 000 000Tre millioner4 000 000Fire millioner5 000 000Fem millioner7 473 259Sjumillionerfirehundreogsyttitretusentohundreogfemtini1 000 000 000Én milliardOrigin: derived from French.