Learn German Numbers
This page covers German number words — compound words, reversed word order (ones before tens), umlauts, and special forms like eins vs. ein.
0–12: irregular bases
Memorize these individually:
- 0 = null
- 1 = eins
- 2 = zwei
- 3 = drei
- 4 = vier
- 5 = fünf
- 6 = sechs
- 7 = sieben
- 8 = acht
- 9 = neun
- 10 = zehn
- 11 = elf
- 12 = zwölf
13–19: teens
Pattern: digit + zehn (like English “-teen”):
- 13 = dreizehn
- 14 = vierzehn
- 16 = sechzehn (not “sechszehn”)
- 17 = siebzehn (not “siebenzehn”)
20–99: reversed order
German says the ones digit first, then und (“and”), then the tens — all written as one compound word:
- 21 = einundzwanzig (one-and-twenty)
- 34 = vierunddreißig
- 57 = siebenundfünfzig
- 99 = neunundneunzig
The tens words: zwanzig (20), dreißig (30), vierzig (40), fünfzig (50), sechzig (60), siebzig (70), achtzig (80), neunzig (90).
Quick check: 23, 45, 88?
23 dreiundzwanzig · 45 fünfundvierzig · 88 achtundachtzig
Hundreds
- 100 = (ein)hundert
- 200 = zweihundert
- 300 = dreihundert
- 123 = (ein)hundertdreiundzwanzig
Everything is written as one long compound word with no spaces.
Thousands & large numbers
- 1,000 = (ein)tausend
- 2,000 = zweitausend
- 10,000 = zehntausend
- 1,000,000 = eine Million
- 1,000,000,000 = eine Milliarde
Numbers up to 999,999 are a single compound word. Million and Milliarde are separate nouns.
Compound words & umlauts
Key spelling details:
- All numbers under one million are written as one word (no spaces, no hyphens)
- Watch for umlauts: fünf, zwölf, fünfzig, dreißig
- sechs loses the “s”: sechzehn, sechzig
- sieben shortens to sieb-: siebzehn, siebzig
Common mistakes
- Word order: 42 is zweiundvierzig, not vierzig-und-zwei.
- eins vs. ein: “eins” stands alone, but “ein” in compounds (einundzwanzig, einhundert).
- dreißig: uses “ß” (not “z”) — the only tens word that doesn’t end in -zig.
- Spaces: do not add spaces within numbers under one million.
- sechzehn / siebzehn: shortened stems, not “sechszehn” or “siebenzehn”.