Cardinal Numbers 0–1,000,000
Numbers are everywhere: prices, phone numbers, ages, train platforms, room numbers. You will use German numbers in almost every conversation from day one — ordering two coffees, telling someone you are 25, or understanding that your bus leaves at 14:30.
The good news: German numbers are very regular. Once you know 0–12 and a handful of patterns, you can build every number up to a million. There is one famous twist — Germans say numbers like 21 "backwards" (one-and-twenty) — and this lesson will make that feel natural.
The Building Blocks: 0–12
These thirteen numbers must simply be memorized — everything else is built from them.
| Digit | German | Digit | German |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | null | 7 | sieben |
| 1 | eins | 8 | acht |
| 2 | zwei | 9 | neun |
| 3 | drei | 10 | zehn |
| 4 | vier | 11 | elf |
| 5 | fünf | 12 | zwölf |
| 6 | sechs |
Note that eins is the counting form ("one" by itself). Before a noun it behaves like the article ein/eine: ein Buch (one book), eine Tasse (one cup).
Teens and Tens: 13–99 and the "Backwards" Rule
13–19 = unit + zehn: dreizehn, vierzehn, fünfzehn... Two small spelling changes: sechzehn (the s of sechs disappears) and siebzehn (the en of sieben disappears).
The tens = unit + zig, with a few irregular forms:
| Number | German | Watch out |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | zwanzig | not "zweizig" |
| 30 | dreißig | ends in -ßig, not -zig |
| 40 | vierzig | regular |
| 50 | fünfzig | regular |
| 60 | sechzig | drops the s |
| 70 | siebzig | drops the en |
| 80 | achtzig | regular |
| 90 | neunzig | regular |
21–99: say the unit first. German puts the ones digit before the tens, joined by und, all written as one word:
| Number | German | Literally |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | einundzwanzig | one-and-twenty |
| 34 | vierunddreißig | four-and-thirty |
| 57 | siebenundfünfzig | seven-and-fifty |
| 99 | neunundneunzig | nine-and-ninety |
Notice that eins loses its -s inside compounds: einundzwanzig, never "einsundzwanzig".
Big Numbers: 100 to 1,000,000
Large numbers stack the same blocks, written as one single word (yes, even very long ones):
| Number | German |
|---|---|
| 100 | (ein)hundert |
| 245 | zweihundertfünfundvierzig |
| 1,000 | (ein)tausend |
| 3,612 | dreitausendsechshundertzwölf |
| 10,000 | zehntausend |
| 1,000,000 | eine Million |
Key points:
- hundert and tausend can stand alone or take ein-: both hundert and einhundert are correct.
- Inside a big number, read left to right — but every two-digit chunk still flips: 245 = zweihundert + fünfundvierzig.
- Million is a noun: it is capitalized, written separately, and has a plural — eine Million, zwei Millionen.
- German uses a period (or space) to group thousands and a comma for decimals: 1.000,50 € = one thousand euros fifty.
📖 Examples
Ich habe zwei Brüder und eine Schwester.
I have two brothers and one sister.
Das Buch kostet neunzehn Euro.
The book costs nineteen euros.
Meine Schwester ist dreiundzwanzig Jahre alt.
My sister is twenty-three years old.
Der Bus kommt um acht Uhr.
The bus comes at eight o'clock.
Meine Telefonnummer ist null eins sieben sechs.
My phone number is zero one seven six.
Wir wohnen in Hausnummer fünfundvierzig.
We live at house number forty-five.
Das Auto kostet zwanzigtausend Euro.
The car costs twenty thousand euros.
In der Stadt wohnen zwei Millionen Menschen.
Two million people live in the city.
⚠️ Common Mistakes
zwanzigeinseinundzwanzig
English says "twenty-one" (tens first), but German flips it: the unit comes first, joined with *und* — literally "one-and-twenty". This applies to all numbers from 21 to 99.
sechszehn, siebenzigsechzehn, siebzig
Sechs and sieben get shortened in compounds: sechs drops its *s* before -zehn and -zig (sechzehn, sechzig), and sieben drops *en* (siebzehn, siebzig). Pronouncing the full form sounds clearly wrong to native speakers.
einsundzwanzig / eins Hunderteinundzwanzig / einhundert
The counting word *eins* only keeps its -s when it stands completely alone. Inside any compound number it becomes *ein-*: einundzwanzig, einhundert, eintausend.
dreizigdreißig
Thirty is the one ten that ends in *-ßig* instead of *-zig*. It is pronounced with a sharp "s" sound, not the "ts" sound of zwanzig or vierzig.
✏️ Exercises
Test your understanding. Click an option or type your answer, then check.
How do you say 21 in German?
What number is "siebzehn"?
Which is the correct spelling of 16?
How do you write 30 in German?
How do you say 99 in German?
Which sentence is correct?
Ich bin ___ (25) Jahre alt.
Das T-Shirt kostet ___ (13) Euro.
Mein Onkel hat ___ (300) Bücher.
In dem Dorf wohnen ___ (1000) Menschen.