German numbers from 1 to 100 are useful for shopping, travel, telling time, giving phone numbers, and understanding classroom instructions. The first numbers must be memorized because they are the building blocks for everything that follows. After 20, German numbers use a regular pattern that may feel unusual to English speakers.
Learning the pattern helps you read, say, and understand larger numbers with confidence.
The key idea is that German usually says the ones digit before the tens digit, connected by und, for numbers like 21 to 99. For example, 24 is vierundzwanzig, which literally means four and twenty. The tens words such as zwanzig, dreißig, vierzig, and fünfzig repeat again and again, so a small set of words creates many numbers.
Clear pronunciation matters because small spelling changes, such as sechs becoming sechzehn or siebzehn, affect how numbers sound.
Key Facts
- 1 = eins, 2 = zwei, 3 = drei, 4 = vier, 5 = fünf, 6 = sechs, 7 = sieben, 8 = acht, 9 = neun, 10 = zehn.
- 11 = elf and 12 = zwölf are irregular and should be memorized.
- 13 to 19 usually use the pattern ones + zehn, such as dreizehn = 13 and vierzehn = 14.
- 16 = sechzehn and 17 = siebzehn drop part of sechs and sieben.
- For 21 to 99, use ones + und + tens, so 48 = achtundvierzig.
- 100 = hundert or einhundert, and both are commonly understood.
Vocabulary
- Zahl
- Zahl means number in German and is used when talking about counting or numerical values.
- Eins
- Eins means one, but it often becomes ein before a noun, as in ein Euro.
- Und
- Und means and, and it connects the ones digit to the tens digit in German numbers from 21 to 99.
- Zehner
- Zehner means tens place or group of ten, such as zwanzig, dreißig, or vierzig.
- Aussprache
- Aussprache means pronunciation, which is important because German numbers can look familiar but sound different from English.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Saying the tens before the ones for 21 to 99 is wrong because German uses ones + und + tens, so 36 is sechsunddreißig, not dreißig-sechs.
- Writing einundzwanzig as einsundzwanzig is wrong because eins usually loses the final s in compound numbers like 21, 31, and 41.
- Treating 16 and 17 as regular forms is wrong because they are sechzehn and siebzehn, not sechszehn and siebenzehn.
- Confusing dreißig with dreizehn is wrong because dreißig means 30 while dreizehn means 13, and the ending changes the value completely.
Practice Questions
- 1 Write these numbers in German words: 18, 27, 45, 63, and 100.
- 2 Translate these German numbers into digits: zweiundzwanzig, sechsundfünfzig, einundsiebzig, neunundachtzig.
- 3 Explain why the German number vierundneunzig can feel reversed to an English speaker, and identify its ones digit and tens digit.