Numbers are numbers, right? Well, almost. German numbers from one to ten (eins bis zehn) are relatively simple to learn. After a few repetitions, they are easy to remember. Once past twenty (zwanzig), the numbers get a little trickier. Instead of "twenty-one" as we would say the number 21, the two numbers that make up 21, twenty and one, get turned around to one and twenty (einundzwanzig) in the German language. This works for all numbers up to 99 (neuneundneunzig).

Once you get up into the thousands, you will notice another difference between English and German: Where we use dots, Germans use commas, and vice versa. One thousand (Tausend) is most often written as 1.000 and not 1,000. In terms of Euros and cents, this means that 1,500.50 € in English is 1.500,50 € in German. Sometimes though you will see a space rather than a comma in the number (1 500) or possibly no separation at all between the numbers (1500).

The dot/comma difference carries over into decimal points, or rather, decimal "commas", as well. In English, we would write 3.7%. In German, it would be 3,7%. When spoken in German, it is "drei Komma sieben Prozent".

Another confusing point when considering national debt or such large numbers is that a million is a Million in German, but a billion is a Milliarde in German. A trillion in English is actually a Billion in German.

Finally, ordinal numbers (Ordinalzahl) such as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th are probably the most complex of the German number system. Ordinals are written out in full or as numbers: der erste (der 1.) is "the first". Likewise, der zweite (der 2.) is "the second", der siebte (der 7.) is the "seventh", and der neunundvierzigste (der 49.) is "the forth-ninth". When you write the number out in letters, you need the article (der) plus the number (2) plus a period or full stop (.). The full stop is what indicates that it is an ordinal. When speaking or writing the ordinal, simply add "te" to the end of the number for numbers from 1 to 19, and then "ste" to numbers from 20 onwards. The two exceptions to the "ste" rule are ordinals above 20 ending in 2 and 3: der zweihundertzweite (the 202nd) and dreitausenddritte (the 3003rd).

Travel tip: Learn how to count to ten in German before visiting Germany. Being able to ask for two bratwurst (zwei Bratwurst bitte) or three glasses of beer (drei Pils bitte) is a good thing!

Happy counting!



List of German numbers:

0 null
1 eins
2 zwei
3 drei
4 vier
5 fuenf
6 sechs
7 sieben
8 acht
9 neun
10 zehn
11 elf
12 zwoelf
13 dreizehn
14 vierzehn
15 fuenfzehn
16 sechzehn
17 seibzen
18 achtzehn
19 neunzehn
20 zwanzig
21 einundzwanzig
22 zweiundzwanzig
23 dreiundzwanzig
24 vierundzwanzig
25 fuenfundzwanzig
30 dreissig
40 vierzig
50 fuenfzig
60 sechzig
70 siebzig
80 achtzig
90 neunzig
100 hundert