Numbers (Zahlen)
Explicação
You ask for a phone number, they say "einundzwanzig", and you write 12. Wrong — it is 21. German says the unit before the ten, and that inversion catches learners out daily.
0 to 12 — learn individually
| No. | German | No. | 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 |
13 to 19 — root + zehn
dreizehn · vierzehn · fünfzehn · sechzehn · siebzehn · achtzehn · neunzehn
Note sechzehn (drops the s of sechs) and siebzehn (drops the en of sieben).
Tens
| No. | German | No. | German |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | zwanzig | 60 | sechzig |
| 30 | dreißig | 70 | siebzig |
| 40 | vierzig | 80 | achtzig |
| 50 | fünfzig | 90 | neunzig |
dreißig is the only ten written with ß instead of -zig.
From 21 up: unit + und + ten, written as one word. 21 = einundzwanzig · 35 = fünfunddreißig · 99 = neunundneunzig.
⚠️ Watch out
✗ hearing "einundzwanzig" and writing 12
✓ einundzwanzig = 21
The unit is spoken first but the digits are written normally. Listen to the whole word before writing a number down.
✗ ein und zwanzig (spaced)
✓ einundzwanzig
Numbers up to a million are written as a single word, however long it gets.
✗ 21 = eins-und-zwanzig
✓ 21 = einundzwanzig
eins loses its -s inside compounds. On its own it stays eins.
On the phone
To avoid confusion with drei, Germans often say zwo instead of zwei when dictating numbers. It is standard practice, not an error.
🧠 Memory anchor: the unit comes before the ten — like the old English four-and-twenty.
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