German Numbers 1–100 (and Beyond): How to Count in German

German numbers follow a simple system. Learn 0–12 by heart, add -zehn for 13–19 and -zig for the tens, and from 21 on say the units before the tens: 21 is einundzwanzig, literally "one-and-twenty". Master those building blocks and you can count all the way to a million.

This guide walks you through 0–100 and beyond, plus the real-life numbers textbooks tend to rush: years, prices, phone numbers, dates, telling time and the German decimal comma.

German Numbers 0–20

Zero is null. The numbers 1–12 are unique words you simply memorize, just like "eleven" and "twelve" in English. From 13 to 19, you add -zehn (ten) to the unit, the same way English adds "-teen".

Number	German	Number	German
1	eins	11	elf
2	zwei	12	zwölf
3	drei	13	dreizehn
4	vier	14	vierzehn
5	fünf	15	fünfzehn
6	sechs	16	sechzehn
7	sieben	17	siebzehn
8	acht	18	achtzehn
9	neun	19	neunzehn
10	zehn	20	zwanzig

Eins vs. ein: two ways to say "one"

The number 1 has two forms, and almost every beginner mixes them up at first:

eins is the number on its own: for counting, or at the very end of a bigger number (hunderteins = 101).
ein / eine goes in front of a noun. It's the same word as the indefinite article, so it changes with the noun's gender and case (see our guide to der, die, das).

Eins, zwei, drei! — One, two, three!
Ich nehme einen Kaffee und eine Brezel. — I'll have one coffee and one pretzel.
Es ist ein Uhr. — It's one o'clock. (Or simply: Es ist eins.)

Inside bigger numbers, the -s disappears: 21 is einundzwanzig, never "einsundzwanzig".

Sechzehn, siebzehn and other spelling quirks

A few numbers change shape when they combine with -zehn or -zig, mostly because the full versions are clumsy to say:

sechs → sechzehn (16), sechzig (60): the -s drops. The sound changes too: sechs has a "ks" sound, while sechzehn and sechzig use the soft "ch" from ich.
sieben → siebzehn (17), siebzig (70): the -en drops.
zwei → zwanzig (20): not "zweizig".
drei → dreißig (30): the only ten that ends in -ßig instead of -zig.

The short forms only appear directly before -zehn and -zig. At the front of a number, the full unit stays: sechsundsechzig (66), siebenundsiebzig (77).

Pronunciation tip: in standard German, the -ig in zwanzig, dreißig and the other tens sounds like the "ch" in ich. In southern Germany and Austria you'll often hear "zwanzik" instead. Both are fine.

The Tens: 20 to 100

Most tens are the unit plus -zig, roughly like English "-ty". The irregular ones are the four you just met: zwanzig, dreißig, sechzig and siebzig.

Number	German	Number	German
10	zehn	60	sechzig
20	zwanzig	70	siebzig
30	dreißig	80	achtzig
40	vierzig	90	neunzig
50	fünfzig	100	hundert / einhundert

Both hundert and einhundert are correct. In everyday speech, plain hundert is more common.

Numbers 21–99: Units Before Tens

Here's the rule that makes German numbers feel backwards at first: you say the units first, then und (and), then the tens. The whole thing is written as one word.

Number	Building blocks	German
21	ein + und + zwanzig	einundzwanzig
34	vier + und + dreißig	vierunddreißig
46	sechs + und + vierzig	sechsundvierzig
57	sieben + und + fünfzig	siebenundfünfzig
63	drei + und + sechzig	dreiundsechzig
78	acht + und + siebzig	achtundsiebzig
92	zwei + und + neunzig	zweiundneunzig
99	neun + und + neunzig	neunundneunzig

Why do Germans do this? It's an old Germanic pattern, and English used to do it too: think of the nursery rhyme line "four and twenty blackbirds". Dutch still counts this way. English switched; German didn't.

Listening tip: when you hear dreiundsiebzig, write the 3 first, leaving space on its left, then fill in the 7. It feels strange for a week, then it becomes automatic.

100, 1,000 and a Million

Bigger numbers are built like Lego: thousands first, then hundreds, then the 1–99 part. Everything below a million is written as one (sometimes very long) word.

Number	German
101	hunderteins
115	hundertfünfzehn
250	zweihundertfünfzig
999	neunhundertneunundneunzig
1,000	tausend / eintausend
1,500	tausendfünfhundert
10,000	zehntausend
100,000	hunderttausend
1,000,000	eine Million
2,000,000	zwei Millionen
1,000,000,000	eine Milliarde

Two things to notice:

Million and Milliarde are nouns. They're capitalized, written as separate words and have plurals (see the word page for Million). Deutschland hat über 80 Millionen Einwohner. — Germany has over 80 million inhabitants.
"Billion" is a false friend. English "billion" is eine Milliarde. German eine Billion is a trillion.

In casual speech, Germans often say amounts between 1,100 and 1,999 in hundreds, just like English years: zwölfhundert Euro (1,200 euros).

How to Say Years in German

Years before 2000 work like English "nineteen eighty-nine", except German adds hundert: nineteen hundred eighty-nine. From 2000 on, you say the full number.

1871 — achtzehnhunderteinundsiebzig
1989 — neunzehnhundertneunundachtzig
2000 — zweitausend
2026 — zweitausendsechsundzwanzig

German doesn't put "in" in front of a year. Either use the year on its own or say im Jahr:

Ich bin 1995 geboren. — I was born in 1995.
Im Jahr 2030 möchte ich in Berlin wohnen. — In 2030, I'd like to live in Berlin.

Prices in German

Prices use a comma before the cents, and the euro sign usually comes after the amount: 2,50 €. When a price has euros and cents, read the euros, then the cents, and skip the word "Cent":

Written	Spoken
2,50 €	zwei Euro fünfzig
1,00 €	ein Euro
1,99 €	ein Euro neunundneunzig
0,80 €	achtzig Cent
12,30 €	zwölf Euro dreißig
1.250 €	tausendzweihundertfünfzig Euro

After a number, Euro doesn't change: zehn Euro, not "zehn Euros". And it's pronounced "OY-roh".

The question you'll need most is Was kostet das? (How much is that?). The answer usually sounds like this:

Das kostet drei Euro neunzig. — That costs €3.90.
Das macht vierzehn Euro achtzig. — That comes to €14.80.

Phone Numbers (and Why Germans Say "zwo")

Germans read phone numbers either digit by digit or in pairs. So 35 22 81 can be:

drei, fünf, zwo, zwo, acht, eins
fünfunddreißig, zweiundzwanzig, einundachtzig

Did you spot zwo? It's an alternative form of zwei. On a bad line, zwei and drei sound almost the same, so Germans switch to zwo to be clear. You'll hear it on the phone and whenever a number mustn't be misheard. It isn't slang, so feel free to use it.

Wie ist deine Handynummer? — What's your cell (mobile) number?
Wie ist Ihre Telefonnummer? — What's your phone number? (formal)

If someone rattles off their number too fast, ask: Können Sie langsamer sprechen? (Can you speak more slowly?)

Ordinal Numbers: erste, zweite, dritte

Ordinal numbers (first, second, third…) follow one rule: up to 19, add -te; from 20 on, add -ste. In writing, Germans mark them with a period: 3. means "3rd".

Number	Ordinal	Number	Ordinal
1.	erste	9.	neunte
2.	zweite	10.	zehnte
3.	dritte	12.	zwölfte
4.	vierte	19.	neunzehnte
5.	fünfte	20.	zwanzigste
6.	sechste	21.	einundzwanzigste
7.	siebte	30.	dreißigste
8.	achte	100.	hundertste

Watch the irregular ones: erste (a new word, just like "first"), dritte (not "dreite"), siebte (drops the -en, like siebzehn) and achte (only one t).

Ordinals behave like adjectives, so they take adjective endings:

Das ist mein erster Deutschkurs. — This is my first German course.
Nehmen Sie die zweite Straße links. — Take the second street on the left.
Ich bin zum ersten Mal in Deutschland. — I'm in Germany for the first time.

Dates: am 3. Oktober

Dates use ordinals too. You'll see am 3. Oktober written, but you say am dritten Oktober:

Heute ist der 4. Oktober. (der vierte Oktober) — Today is October 4th.
Am 3. Oktober ist der Tag der Deutschen Einheit. (am dritten Oktober) — October 3rd is German Unity Day.
Ich habe am 12. Mai Geburtstag. (am zwölften Mai) — My birthday is on May 12th.
Der Wievielte ist heute? — What's the date today?

Why dritten with -en? Am is short for an dem, and an with a date takes the dative case, which gives the ordinal an -en ending.

Also note the order: Germans write the day first, so 03.10.2026 is 3 October 2026, not March 10.

Telling Time: halb acht, Viertel nach, Viertel vor

To ask the time, say Wie spät ist es? or Wie viel Uhr ist es? (Uhr means both "clock" and "o'clock".) Timetables, TV schedules and official appointments use the 24-hour clock: 19:30 Uhr is neunzehn Uhr dreißig. In conversation, most people use the 12-hour clock:

Time	German	Think of it as
7:00	sieben (Uhr)	seven (o'clock)
7:10	zehn nach sieben	ten after seven
7:15	Viertel nach sieben	quarter after seven
7:25	fünf vor halb acht	five before half to eight
7:30	halb acht	half to eight
7:35	fünf nach halb acht	five after half to eight
7:45	Viertel vor acht	quarter before eight
7:50	zehn vor acht	ten before eight

The big one: halb acht means 7:30, not 8:30. Germans count the half hour toward the next hour, so it's "halfway to eight". UK readers, careful: British "half eight" means 8:30, the exact opposite.

In parts of southern and eastern Germany and in Austria, you'll also hear viertel acht (7:15) and drei viertel acht (7:45), which follow the same "toward the next hour" logic.

Es ist Viertel nach drei. — It's quarter past three.
Der Film beginnt um halb neun. — The movie starts at 8:30.
Wir treffen uns um zehn vor sieben. — We're meeting at ten to seven.

Notice um in front of clock times. To get um, am, im and the other time words right, read our guide to German time prepositions. And if fünf vor halb acht still makes your head spin, watch Why German Time Makes No Sense (7:25 Explained), which breaks down exactly that time.

Decimal Comma vs. Decimal Point

German swaps the jobs of the comma and the point. The comma marks decimals; the point (or a space) separates thousands.

What it is	English	German
Decimal	1.5	1,5
Thousands	1,000	1.000
Millions	2,500,000	2.500.000
Price	€4.99	4,99 €

To read a decimal, say Komma, then read the digits after it one by one:

1,5 Liter — eins Komma fünf Liter (1.5 liters)
3,14 — drei Komma eins vier
2,5 % — zwei Komma fünf Prozent

For halves, everyday German has handy shortcuts: eineinhalb or anderthalb (1½) and zweieinhalb (2½). Der Film dauert zweieinhalb Stunden. — The movie is two and a half hours long.

So if you see 1.000 € on a German price tag, that's a thousand euros, not one.

Common Mistakes With German Numbers

1. Reading halb acht as 8:30

Wrong: halb acht = 8:30. Right: halb acht = 7:30.

Halb always points to the next hour.

2. Saying "einsundzwanzig" or "eins Euro"

Wrong: einsundzwanzig, eins Euro, eins Uhr. Right: einundzwanzig, ein Euro, ein Uhr.

The -s only appears when the number stands alone or comes last, as in hunderteins.

3. Writing sechszehn or siebenzehn

Wrong: sechszehn, siebenzehn, sechszig. Right: sechzehn, siebzehn, sechzig.

Before -zehn and -zig, sechs loses its -s and sieben loses its -en.

4. Putting "in" before a year

Wrong: Ich bin in 1995 geboren. Right: Ich bin 1995 geboren.

Use the year on its own, or say im Jahr 1995.

5. Adding -s to Euro

Wrong: Das kostet zehn Euros. Right: Das kostet zehn Euro.

After a number, Euro and Cent keep their basic form.

Practice

Say each one out loud, then write it in words. Answers below.

17
46
1984 (as a year)
3,80 €
7:30 (in conversation)
am 3. Oktober

Answers:

siebzehn
sechsundvierzig
neunzehnhundertvierundachtzig
drei Euro achtzig
halb acht
am dritten Oktober

Want more? Test yourself with the A1 German quizzes, learn to ask Wie viel? and Wie alt? with our guide to German question words, and put your numbers to work talking about ages with our German family vocabulary guide. You can also look up die Zahl (number) on its word page.

Keep learning:

FAQ

How do you count to 10 in German?

Eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf, sechs, sieben, acht, neun, zehn. Bonus tip: Germans start counting on their fingers with the thumb, so a raised thumb means "one".

How do you say 21 in German?

Einundzwanzig, literally "one-and-twenty". Apart from the round tens, every number from 21 to 99 puts the units first, then und, then the tens: 35 is fünfunddreißig.

What does "halb acht" mean?

It means 7:30. In German, halb refers to the half hour before the next full hour, so halb acht is half an hour before eight.

Why do Germans say "zwo" instead of "zwei"?

For clarity. Zwei and drei are easy to confuse, especially on the phone, so many Germans say zwo when a number has to be understood correctly. Both forms are correct.

How do you say "billion" in German?

English "billion" (1,000,000,000) is eine Milliarde. German eine Billion means a trillion, a classic false friend.