Let's Count from 0 to 10 in Indonesian

Featured article photo: Candi Borobudur in Central Java, Indonesia by Marjo Groenewegen (CC0 Licensed)

0. Nol / Kosong

There are two ways to say zero in Indonesian: Nol and Kosong. When reading a list of numbers, such as phone numbers, Kosong is more commonly used.
e.g. Nilai ujian mereka nol. / Their exam marks are zero.
e.g. Nomor telepon saya kosong-satu-dua-... / My phone number is zero-one-two-...

1. Satu

e.g. Satu apel / One apple

2. Dua

e.g. Dua rumah / Two houses

3. Tiga

e.g. Tiga televisi / Three televisions

4. Empat

e.g. Empat orang / Four people

5. Lima

e.g. Lima jendela / Five windows

6. Enam

e.g. Enam ranjang / Six beds

7. Tujuh

e.g. Tujuh piring / Seven plates

8. Delapan

e.g. Delapan baju / Eight shirts

9. Sembilan

e.g. Sembilan meja / Nine tables

10. Sepuluh

e.g. Sepuluh lusin / Ten dozens

Ordinal Numbers

Numbers listed above are cardinal numbers. In English, they correspond to zero, one, two, three, and so on. Ordinal numbers are used when describing or listing a sequence. Examples of ordinal numbers are first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and so on.

Ordinal numbers are simpler in Indonesian compared to the ones in English. Basically, the only new word you have to remember is the ordinal number for "first":

1. Pertama

e.g. Juara pertama / The first rank

What about the rest? Easy. Just add ke- in front of all the remaining numbers to achieve ordinality. 

2. Kedua

Two in Indonesian is dua, so we simply have to add ke- in front of it for it to mean "second". e.g. Apartemen kedua / The second apartment

3. Ketiga

Three in Indonesian is tiga, so to say "third", simply add ke- in front of it. e.g. Usulan ketiga / The third suggestion

4. Keempat

e.g. Pintu keempat / The fourth door

5. Kelima

e.g. Terminal kelima / The fifth terminal

6. Keenam

e.g. Indra keenam / The sixth sense

7. Ketujuh

e.g. Grup ketujuh / The seventh group

8. Kedelapan

e.g. Hari kedelapan / The eighth day

9. Kesembilan

e.g. Bulan kesembilan / The ninth month

10. Kesepuluh

e.g. Tahun kesepuluh / The tenth year

Your Turn

Try writing out these series of phone numbers in Indonesian and leave them as comments below!

• 081-3191-7812
• +62-812-0875-566
• 085-6781-2403

Fun Fact

Mobile phone numbers in Indonesia are usually 11-digit long and they all begin with 0. However, when calling/texting with a country code, you have to substitute it with Indonesia's country code: +62. For example, adding a country code to the Indonesian phone number 081-3191-7812 will result in +62-813-1917-812.

Learn Also

• How to Count from 11 to the Hundreds in Indonesian
• Counting from 1,000 to the Billions in Indonesian