Danish numbers: why 92 is tooghalvfems
Danish numbers stop matching their digits right at fifty. Here is where halvtreds, halvfems and tooghalvfems actually come from, with real prices and ages to practise on.
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The short answer
92 is tooghalvfems
Type the missing word below, reveal the card, and read the analysis of what each part means.
Counting by twenties: fifty to ninety
Danish built these five numbers on twenty, not ten. Three are a plain multiple of twenty; two are “half of the next twenty up”, counted forward from the last whole one.
Fifty. Halvtreds is short for halvtredsindstyve, “half-third times twenty”: two whole twenties and half of a third.
My father is 50 years old.
Spell out the number 50.
Sixty. Tres is short for tresindstyve, “three times twenty”, a plain multiple with no “half” in it.
We have 60 guests for the party.
Spell out the number 60.
Seventy. Halvfjerds, from halvfjerdsindstyve, “half-fourth times twenty”: three whole twenties and half of a fourth.
The book costs 70 kroner.
Spell out the number 70.
Eighty. Firs, from firsindstyve, “four times twenty”, the other plain multiple.
My grandmother is 80 years old.
Spell out the number 80.
Ninety follows the same “half” pattern as fifty and seventy:
The ticket costs 90 kroner.
Spell out the number 90.
Halvfems is short for halvfemsindstyve, “half-fifth times twenty”: four whole twenties and half of a fifth. Once you can place these five words on twenty, the number this page is named after is only one more step.
A price with a compound number
Between the tens, Danish counts the way enogtyve already showed: the unit first, then “og”, then the ten. Ninety-two kroner is not “ninety, two”; it is “two, and ninety”.
Ninety-two. Tooghalvfems puts to, two, before halvfems: “two-and-ninety”.
It costs 92 kroner in the supermarket.
Spell out the number 92.
Seventy-seven. The same order gives syvoghalvfjerds
The jacket costs 77 kroner.
Spell out the number 77.
An age, not a price
The tens are not only for prices. Fifty-five is built the same way, unit first, on halvtreds:
She is 55 years old.
Spell out the number 55.
Femoghalvtreds, “five-and-fifty”, follows the rule named above for every compound from 21 to 99: state the ones, then “og”, then the ten.
How many apples, how many cups of coffee?
Danish also keeps a gender on the word for “one” that English does not. Before a common-gender noun the word is en; before a neuter noun it is et. Neither form belongs to counting alone: both are also the indefinite article, “a” or “an”.
One apple, one pear. Æble, apple, is neuter, so it takes et. Pære, pear, is common gender, so it takes en.
How many apples do you have? I only have one apple and one pear.
The counted noun decides the form: et before a neuter noun (æble), en before a common-gender noun (pære).
One cup, one glass. Kop, cup, is common gender, so it takes en. Glas, glass, is neuter, so it takes et.
How many cups of coffee do you drink a day? Only one cup of coffee and one glass of milk.
The counted noun decides the form: en before a common-gender noun (kop), et before a neuter noun (glas).
Three shortcuts to avoid
- Halvtreds, halvfjerds and halvfems sound alike because they share the “half” pattern, not because they are close in value: fifty, seventy and ninety.
- The og-order (ones, then “og”, then the ten) is not a fifties-and-up rule: it already applies at 21, enogtyve.
- En and et are not a plural-versus-singular pair; they track the noun’s gender, the same gender that later decides which one is also the indefinite article.
Continue with Danish numbers in Panglotive
Open the number tree with tooghalvfems already targeted, and practise counting, ages and prices on cards at your level.