🔢 Croatian numbers 1 to 100, prices in euros and telling the time
Numbers are the most practical thing you can learn in any language: prices, phone numbers, bus times, room numbers, ages. Croatian numbers are built from a small set of patterns, so after the first ten you mostly just combine pieces you already know.
0 to 10
11 to 19: add “-naest”
The teens are the number plus -naest, which originally meant “on ten”. Watch out for two small spelling changes: četrnaest (14) drops the i, and šesnaest (16) drops the t.
The tens: add “-deset”
Twenty, thirty and so on are the number plus -deset (ten). Again a few small changes: četrdeset, pedeset and šezdeset.
For numbers in between, simply say the tens and then the unit, with or without i (and): dvadeset i pet or dvadeset pet = 25, sedamdeset osam = 78. Both are correct; the version without i is more common in fast speech.
One, two: numbers that change
Most numbers never change, but jedan (one) and dva (two) follow the gender of the noun after them:
You may also notice that the noun itself changes after a number: jedna kava, dvije kave, but pet kava. The rule is simple once you know it: one thing, two to four things, and five or more each have their own ending. Our grammar guide on numbers with nouns explains it with tables.
Prices in euros
Croatia has used the euro since 1 January 2023. Before that, the money was called the kuna, which is also the Croatian word for the marten, the little animal that was printed on the coins and that inspired Malingo’s mascot, Kuna. Cents are called cent and prices are written with a comma: 3,50 €.
Telling the time
To ask the time say Koliko je sati? (literally “how many hours is it?”). The word for hour also changes after numbers: jedan sat, dva sata, pet sati. Timetables use the 24-hour clock.
First, second, third
Ordinal numbers are used for floors, dates and directions (“the second street on the left”): prvi (first), drugi (second), treći (third), četvrti (fourth), peti (fifth). For dates, years and bigger numbers see our grammar guide Big numbers, dates and prices.
Practise your numbers
The best way to make numbers automatic is to hear them often. The Malingo numbers unit has listening exercises where you hear a number and pick it, and speaking exercises where you say it aloud. Next, try putting them to use with our 50 travel phrases.