Numbers is an important part when learning a language including bahasa Indonesia. Belong to Austronesian language family and rooted from Malay language, the numbering pattern is not differ so much from Malay language. Below is the list of numbers as well as how to say Indonesian numbers for beginners.
Related : Indonesian grammar structure for beginner
| Numbers | English | Indonesian | Pronunciation |
| 1 | One | Satu | Sah-two |
| 2 | Two | Dua | Doo-ah |
| 3 | Three | Tiga | Tee-ga |
| 4 | Four | Empat | Ehm-phat |
| 5 | Five | Lima | Lee-ma |
| 6 | Six | Enam | Eh-nam |
| 7 | Seven | Tujuh | Two-joo |
| 8 | Eight | Delapan | Deh-laa-pan |
| 9 | Nine | Sembilan | Sem-bee-lan |
| 10 | Ten | Sepuluh | Se-poo-looh |
| 11 | Eleven | Sebelas | Se-be-lash |
| 12 | Twelve | Dua belas | Doo-ah-be-lash |
| 15 | Fifteen | Lima belas | Lee-ma-be-lash |
| 17 | Seventeen | Tujuh belas | Two-jooh-be-lash |
| 20 | Twenty | Dua puluh | Doo-ah-poo-looh |
| 30 | Thirty | Tiga puluh | Tee-ga-poo-looh |
| 50 | Fifty | Lima Puluh | Lee-ma-poo-looh |
| 100 | Hundreds | Seratus | Se-ra-toos |
| 1000 | Thousands | Seribu | Se-ree-boo |
Related: Indonesian alphabets and pronunciation rules
Indonesian Numbering rules
- Numbers from zero to nine are specific words, namely kosong/nol (0), satu (1), dua (2), tiga (3), empat (4), lima (5), enam (6), tujuh (7), delapan (8), and Sembilan (8).
- Numbers from eleven to nineteen is constructed by adding ‘belas’ word after the numbers with separated space. “Belas’ here equivalent to “teen” in English. The only exception is eleven (11) which is not translated as ‘satu belas’ but ‘sebelas’ (se- meaning one). Other numbering patterns are the same such as dua belas (12), lima belas (15), delapan belas (18), and sembilan belas (19).
- The tens are constructed from multiplier number, then followed with the word ‘puluh’, also separated by a space, and the exception is ten. For example sepuluh (10) se- meaning satu, dua puluh (20), empat puluh (40), lima puluh (50), delapan puluh (80), and so on.
- Numbers from twenty one to ninety-nine, the digits are built by combining the ten and followed with digits and separated by a space. For example dua puluh lima (25), lima puluh tujuh (57), delapan puluh Sembilan (89), and so on.
- Hundreds are constructed in the same way as the tens, but using the hundred words (ratus) for example 100 (seratus) [se-meaning one], 200 (dua ratus), empat ratus (400). Thousands have the same structure as tens and hundreds, using the thousands words (ribu) for example 1000 (seribu)[the same prefix se-], 2000 (dua ribu), 5000 (lima ribu), and so on. Learn more about Indonesian prefix ber-.
- One million is translated as sejuta or satu juta. Indonesians follow the long scale for big numbers in which every new word is greater than in the US. For example, US billion (106) is called milyar and seribu milyar (1012) is equivalent to US trillion.
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Learn more about how to say Indonesian numbers for beginners, easy and fast!Understanding the numbers is important especially when you are going to visit the country. It helps you understand the currency, phone numbers, and so on.