Norwegian Numbers

In Norwegian there are numbers with more than one form. The number 7 can be either sju or syv, 20 can be tjue or tyve and 30 can be tretti or tredve. Most Norwegians say førti for 40, but some say førr. The result is that Norwegian numbers can be said in many ways.

Norwegians who use sju for 7 tend to use tjue for 20 and tretti for 30. Those who use syv for 7 often use tyve for 20 and tredve for 30. In the traditional counting system, numbers such as thirty-one place the ones before the tens. This is the same as in German and Danish. The number 31 is thus literally one and thirty. In the modern counting system, the tens are placed before the ones, the same as in English. To illustrate, here are a few Norwegian numbers with the modern counting system and the traditional one:

Modern System

22 tjueto
35 trettifem
49 førtini
55 femtifem
63 sekstitre
74 syttifire
88 åttiåtte
91 nittien
96 nittiseks
97 nittisju, nittisyv

Traditional System

22 toogtyve, toogtjue
35 femogtretti, femogtredve
49 niogførti, niogførr
55 femogfemti
63 treogseksti
74 fireogsytti
88 åtteogåtti
91 enognitti
96 seksognitti
97 syvognitti, sjuognitti

Norwegian has two counting systems. One is traditional and the other is modern. The modern system is taught in schools and used on the news, but many continue to use the traditional system.