Numbers show up everywhere on the exam and in daily life: prices, addresses, phone numbers, dates, age. Learn 0-20 solidly first - everything above 20 is built from the same pieces.
| 0 | null | 11 | elf |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | eins | 12 | zwölf |
| 2 | zwei | 13 | dreizehn |
| 3 | drei | 14 | vierzehn |
| 4 | vier | 15 | fünfzehn |
| 5 | fünf | 16 | sechzehn |
| 6 | sechs | 17 | siebzehn |
| 7 | sieben | 18 | achtzehn |
| 8 | acht | 19 | neunzehn |
| 9 | neun | 20 | zwanzig |
| 10 | zehn |
Pattern from 13-19: [digit]+zehn (dreizehn = drei + zehn), except 16 and 17 shorten sechs→sech and sieben→sieb.
| 20 | zwanzig | 60 | sechzig |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | dreißig | 70 | siebzig |
| 40 | vierzig | 80 | achtzig |
| 50 | fünfzig | 90 | neunzig |
| 100 | hundert |
Between 21 and 99, German says the units before the tens, joined by und - the reverse of English:
| 21 | einundzwanzig | (literally "one-and-twenty") |
|---|---|---|
| 32 | zweiunddreißig | ("two-and-thirty") |
| 47 | siebenundvierzig | ("seven-and-forty") |
Written as one word, no spaces. This trips up almost every English-speaking learner at first - say numbers slowly until the flip becomes automatic.
| 1. erste (irregular) | 7. siebte (irregular) |
| 2. zweite | 8. achte |
| 3. dritte (irregular) | 20. zwanzigste |
Used for dates: "am fünfzehnten Juni" (on the 15th of June) - see Lesson 41.
| Wie alt bist du? / Wie alt sind Sie? | How old are you? (informal / formal) |
| Ich bin ... Jahre alt. | I am ... years old. |
Cross-checked against the official Goethe-Zertifikat A1 Wortliste.