Numbers Five to Twenty

Level 1

From five to twenty, numbers never change: fimm menn, fimm konur, fimm börn.

How It Works

The numbers.

  • 5 fimm, 6 sex, 7 sjö, 8 átta, 9 níu, 10 tíu
  • 11 ellefu, 12 tólf
  • 13 þrettán, 14 fjórtán, 15 fimmtán, 16 sextán
  • 17 sautján, 18 átján, 19 nítján, 20 tuttugu

They never change. fimm menn (five men), fimm konur (five women), fimm börn (five children). The noun after them is plural and still changes with case, but the number does not: eftir tíu mínútur (in ten minutes).

Watch these. 17 is spelled sautján, not like sjö. Keep the teens apart from the tens: sextán is 16, but sextíu is 60. The tens are covered in higher numbers. When a larger number ends in one to four, as in tuttugu og tveir, the last part changes again.

Examples (6)

  1. Það eru tólf mánuðir á ári.

    There are twelve months in a year.

    Word by Word: There are twelve months on year.

  2. Það eru átján nemendur í bekknum.

    There are eighteen students in the class.

    Word by Word: There are eighteen students in class-the.

  3. Strætóinn kemur eftir tíu mínútur.

    The bus comes in ten minutes.

    Word by Word: Bus-the comes after ten minutes.

  4. Búðin er opin frá níu til sex.

    The shop is open from nine to six.

    Word by Word: Shop-the is open from nine to six.

  5. Ég á fimm bræður og sjö systur.

    I have five brothers and seven sisters.

    Word by Word: I own five brothers and seven sisters.

    The same numbers go with masculine bræður and feminine systur.

  6. Hún er sextán ára.

    She is sixteen.

    Word by Word: She is sixteen of-years.

Common Mistakes

  • Spelling seventeen like seven.

    Hann er sjötján ára.
    Hann er sautján ára.

    Seventeen is sautján, even though seven is sjö. Seventy, sjötíu, does start with sjö.

  • Mixing up sixteen and sixty when you mean sixteen.

    Dóttir mín er sextíu ára.
    Dóttir mín er sextán ára.

    If you mean sixteen, say sextán. sextíu means sixty, so the first sentence says she is sixty years old.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Numbers Five to TwentyLevel 1

Learn This First

Five to twenty come after one to four.

Words in This Pattern

fimmsexsjöáttaníutíuellefutólfþrettánfjórtánfimmtánsextánsautjánátjánnítjántuttugu