German Numbers: Why Twenty-One Is 'One-and-Twenty'

German numbers are mostly logical, but one feature surprises English speakers: from 21 upwards, the units come before the tens. Twenty-one is einundzwanzig, "one-and-twenty".

1 to 12

eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf, sechs, sieben, acht, neun, zehn, elf, zwölf.

13 to 19

Add -zehn to the unit: dreizehn, vierzehn, fünfzehn, sechzehn (drops the s), siebzehn (drops -en), achtzehn, neunzehn.

Tens

zehn (10), zwanzig (20), dreißig (30, with ß), vierzig (40), fünfzig (50), sechzig (60, no s), siebzig (70, no -en), achtzig (80), neunzig (90).

21 to 99: units first

Say the unit, und, then the ten, written as one word:

• 21 einundzwanzig
• 32 zweiunddreißig
• 45 fünfundvierzig
• 67 siebenundsechzig
• 99 neunundneunzig

Note ein (not eins) in compounds: einundzwanzig.

Hundreds, thousands and beyond

• 100 hundert or einhundert
• 101 hunderteins
• 250 zweihundertfünfzig
• 1,000 tausend
• 1,500 eintausendfünfhundert or fünfzehnhundert
• 1,000,000 eine Million
• 1,000,000,000 eine Milliarde (a thousand million, an American "billion"; the German word Billion means a million million)

Million and Milliarde are feminine nouns and take plurals: zwei Millionen.

Decimals and thousands

German reverses the punctuation used in English:

• Decimal comma: 3,5 is "drei Komma fünf".
• Thousands separator: a dot or a space: 1.000 or 1 000.
• Prices: 3,50 € is "drei Euro fünfzig".

Be careful when reading numbers in German documents, since 1.500 means fifteen hundred, not one point five.

Years

Years are read in hundreds up to 1999:

• 1999: neunzehnhundertneunundneunzig
• 1066: tausendsechsundsechzig

From 2000: zweitausend, zweitausendsechsundzwanzig (2026).

Ordinals

• 1st erste, 2nd zweite, 3rd dritte, 7th siebte, 8th achte
• From 4th to 19th, add -te: vierte, fünfte, sechste.
• From 20th, add -ste: zwanzigste, dreißigste.
• Written with a full stop: der 5. Oktober.

Phone numbers and telling the time

Phone numbers are read as digits or in groups. Zwo is often used for zwei on the phone.

Useful phrases

• Wie alt sind Sie? — How old are you?
• Ich bin fünfundzwanzig Jahre alt. — I'm 25 years old. (German uses sein, "to be", for age.)
• Was kostet das? — How much is it?
• Das kostet zwölf Euro fünfzig. — It costs 12.50 euros.

Tips for learning

1. Learn 1 to 20 thoroughly.
2. Practise reversing tens and units by reading out prices and phone numbers.
3. Write numbers out as words.
4. Say your age, address and phone number aloud.
5. Count backwards in German.

Fractions and other numbers

• halb — half
• ein Viertel — a quarter
• ein Drittel — a third
• zweimal — twice
• erstens, zweitens — firstly, secondly

Common mistakes

• Saying tens first, in English order.
• Using eins in compounds instead of ein.
• Misreading decimal commas.

Practice

Write out today's date, your age, your year of birth and three prices in German words.

Look up German numbers with English German Dictionary →