Understanding German Numbers: A Beginner’s Guide

Table of content

Basic Numbers (0–10)
Numbers 11–20
Numbers 21–99: The Reversal Trick
Bigger Numbers
Example Sentences
Quick Fun Facts
Most important
Mini Quiz: Test Yourself!
- ✅ Answers (check yourself):

Learning numbers is one of the first steps to mastering any new language. In German, numbers are straightforward once you get the basic rules. Let’s dive into German numbers, how they work, and see examples with English translations!

Basic Numbers (0–10)

Here are the numbers from 0 to 10:

German	English
Null	Zero
Eins	One
Zwei	Two
Drei	Three
Vier	Four
Fünf	Five
Sechs	Six
Sieben	Seven
Acht	Eight
Neun	Nine
Zehn	Ten

✅ Tip: Notice how "zwei" (two) and "drei" (three) sound a bit like their English cousins!

Numbers 11–20

Now the "teen" numbers:

German	English
Elf	Eleven
Zwölf	Twelve
Dreizehn	Thirteen
Vierzehn	Fourteen
Fünfzehn	Fifteen
Sechzehn	Sixteen
Siebzehn	Seventeen
Achtzehn	Eighteen
Neunzehn	Nineteen
Zwanzig	Twenty

✅ Tip:

"Elf" and "Zwölf" are irregular (you just have to memorize them).
Starting from "dreizehn" (13), you basically say "three-ten"!

Numbers 21–99: The Reversal Trick

German numbers get interesting here!
Instead of saying "twenty-one" like in English, Germans say "one and twenty" (einundzwanzig).

Here's how it works:

German	English
Einundzwanzig	Twenty-one
Zweiundzwanzig	Twenty-two
Dreiunddreißig	Thirty-three
Vierundvierzig	Forty-four

✅ Pattern:

Units first, then und (and), then tens.
21 = ein + und + zwanzig = einundzwanzig

Bigger Numbers

German	English
Hundert	One hundred
Zweihundert	Two hundred
Tausend	One thousand
Zehntausend	Ten thousand
Hunderttausend	One hundred thousand
Eine Million	One million

✅ Tip:

Hundert = 100
Tausend = 1,000
Million behaves like a noun (it’s eine Million, not just "Million").

Example Sentences

Ich habe zwei Katzen. - I have two cats.
Mein Haus hat dreiundvierzig Fenster. - My house has forty-three windows.
Er verdient fünfundsechzigtausend Euro im Jahr. - He earns sixty-five thousand euros a year.
Wir feiern den hundertsten Geburtstag meiner Großmutter. - We are celebrating my grandmother’s 100th birthday.

Quick Fun Facts

Germans use a comma instead of a dot for decimals!
(e.g., 3,14 for three point one four.)
Big numbers are grouped with dots, not commas:
(e.g., 1.000 for one thousand).

Most important

German numbers follow simple patterns but may feel a little backwards compared to English.
Once you get the "units + und + tens" rule, everything else falls into place!

Practice saying your phone number, birthday, or even prices in German — it’s a great way to get fluent quickly!

Mini Quiz: Test Yourself!

Question 1:
How do you say 47 in German?

➡️ (Hint: 7 and 40)

Question 2:
What is the German word for one hundred?

Question 3:
Translate into German:
"Twenty-eight cats"

Question 4:
How would you write the number 315 in German?

➡️ (Think: three hundred fifteen)

Question 5:
What is "eine Million" in English?

✅ Answers (check yourself):

1	siebenundvierzig
2	hundert
3	achtundzwanzig Katzen
4	dreihundertfünfzehn
5	one million