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. 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 situations. Without further ado, let’s get counting!

Counting From Zero To Twenty In Indonesian

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

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

Putting It All Together

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!