Learning numbers is one of the first things you do when learning a new language! Numbers are important for dates, birthdays, ages, buying things, and more!
If you’re traveling to Croatia and plan on hitting the street markets, learn the numbers before you go to negotiate with locals. This way, you’ll save money & learn something useful!
You will only need to learn around 10-15 Croatian vocabulary words to master Croatian numbers and count to infinity. The Croatian number-word system works very similarly to English, so you’ll find the patterns easy to replicate. It’s simple, all you have to do is put in a little leg work to memorize the number vocabulary & learn the simple rules for counting!
Croatian Numbers 1-10
More Important Numbers For Counting In Croatian
| Number | Croatian | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Hundert | sto | |
| Tausend | tisuća | |
| Millionen | milijun | |
| Milliarden | milijarda | |
| Billionen | bilijun |
Basic Rules For Counting Numbers In Croatian
Want to know how to add number-words together to make large numbers? Keep reading to learn the basic rules for counting.
Rules For Croatian Numbers 11-19
In English, counting from 13-19 is simple (eleven & twelve are exceptions). All you do is add -teen (thirteen, fourteen, etc.) to numbers 3-9. In Croatian, it’s the same. Instead of -teen, you use the word -naest.
**#11 (jedanaest) & #14 (četrnaest) requires small changes, but otherwise all you must do is add the suffix -naest to the end of each number
Rules For Croatian Numbers 20-90
Similarly to English (yet again), all you must do is add a suffix to make numbers 20, 30, 40, etc. This suffix is -deset. If you remember from earlier in the article, deset is ten in Croatian! So adding -deset to any number automatically makes it divisible by 10. Let’s see what these numbers look like in a chart.
*watch out for adjustments you need to make!
**Beware of #40, #50, #60, & #90 and their grammatical changes. It’s annoying, but you’ll just have to remember these changes -all languages have some! In Croatian, letters often disappear! You’ll pick up the patterns with more practice.
Rules For Croatian Numbers 100-900
All you must do is add the suffix -sto to make numbers divisible by 100.
*note for #200, you must change ‘dva’ to its feminine form ‘dvije,’ and then you must drop the ‘i.’ Confusing, I know!
Combining Croatian Numbers Together
Like the rules for English numbers, making numbers from 21-99 means adding the word (1-9) to the numbers 20 to 90. This sounds confusing when you write it out, so let’s look at examples in the chart below.
Combining More Numbers
It’s the same rule for numbers over 100. Let’s look at some examples of numbers over 100.
| Number | Croatian | Breakdown | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 101 | sto jedan | sto (100) + jedan (1) | |
| 310 | tristo deset | tristo (300) + deset (10) | |
| 1,090 | tisuću devedeset | tisuću (1,000) + devedeset (90) |
Note On Croatian Grammar
Did you notice how some Croatian numbers changed their endings? The topic on Croatian grammar and numbers can be a bit complex, of course, but let’s break down why this happens quickly.
Croatian words appear in different genders depending on their position in the sentence. The words can also change when going from singular → plural.
#1 Example – Gender Change
Let’s look at an example of the gender change in the topic of this article: numbers.
The word for 100 is ‘sto’ or ‘stotina.’ To say two hundred, both the words dva and stotina change their forms into dvije stotine, then simply dvjesto.
#2 Example – Plural Change
The ending changes in the plural form of numbers. So, it’s not dva milijun (two million), but dva milijuna (add the -a).
This differs from English, so pay special attention! You have to make numbers plural in Croatian, unlike English where we say ‘two million’ instead of ‘two millions.’
Ordinal Numbers In Croatian
For most of the following ordinal Croatian numbers, you add -i to the cardinal numbers (original numbers).
| Zahl | Kroatisch | Aussprache |
|---|---|---|
| Erstens | prvi | |
| Zweitens | drugi | |
| Drittens | treći | |
| Viertens | četvrti | |
| Fünftens | peti | |
| Sechstens | šesti | |
| Siebtens | sedmi | |
| Achtens | osmi | |
| Neuntens | deveti | |
| Zehntens | deseti |
These ordinal number words are for the students who wish to be more accurate in their Croatian grammar, and those who are looking for more advanced sentence structures and learning approaches.
*Note these are all in masculine form.
Learn Croatian With Ling
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Check out our other lessons, Croatian idioms & how to introduce yourself in Croatian to learn more Croatian basics.
