Counting in German

Language overview

Forty-two in German West Germanic language of the Indo-European family, German (Deutsch) is the official language of Germany, Austria, Switzerland (alongside with French, Italian and Romansh), Luxembourg (with Luxembourgish and French) and Liechtenstein. It counts 100 million speakers.

German numbers list

  • 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 – dreizehn
  • 14 – vierzehn
  • 15 – fünfzehn
  • 16 – sechzehn
  • 17 – siebzehn
  • 18 – achtzehn
  • 19 – neunzehn
  • 20 – zwanzig
  • 30 – dreißig
  • 40 – vierzig
  • 50 – fünfzig
  • 60 – sechzig
  • 70 – siebzig
  • 80 – achtzig
  • 90 – neunzig
  • 100 – hundert
  • 1,000 – tausend
  • one million – eine Million
  • one billion – eine Milliarde
  • one trillion – eine Billion

German numbering rules

Now that you’ve had a gist of the most useful numbers, let’s move to the writing rules for the tens, the compound numbers, and why not the hundreds, the thousands and beyond (if possible).

  • Digits and numbers from zero to twelve are specific words: null [0], eins [1], zwei [2], drei [3], vier [4], fünf [5], sechs [6], sieben [7], acht [8], neun [9], zehn [10], elf [11], and zwölf [12].
  • From thirteen to nineteen, the numbers are formed from the matching unit digits, adding the word for ten (zehn) at the end: dreizehn [13], vierzehn [14], fünfzehn [15], sechzehn [16], siebzehn (and not siebenzehn) [17], achtzehn [18], and neunzehn [19].
  • The tens are formed by adding the suffix -zig at the end of the multiplier digit, with the exception of ten, twenty and seventy, still irregular, as well as thirty: zehn [10], zwanzig [20], dreißig [30] (-zig becomes -ßig), vierzig [40], fünfzig [50], sechzig [60], siebzig [70], achtzig [80], and neunzig [90].
  • From twenty-one to ninety-nine, the tens and units are joined with the und (and) word, but the unit is said before the ten (e.g.: einunddreißig [31], fünfunddreißig [35]).
  • Hundred (hundert) and thousand (tausend) are not separated from the other numbers by a space (e.g.: hunderteinundzwanzig [121], tausendzweihundertneunzehn [1,219]).
  • When expressing a year, the numbers from 1,100 to 1,999 are said in tens of hundreds. For instance, the year 1985 is neunzehnhundertfünfundachtzig.
  • The unit eins (one) loses its final -s when composed in a number, unless it is the only value after a scale name (e.g.: hunderteins [101], tausendeins [1,001]).
  • The German language uses the long scale for big numbers where the naming pattern of the scale words alternates between the -illion and -illiarde suffixes: Million (106, million), Milliarde (109, billion), Billion (1012, trillion), Billiarde (1015, quadrillion), Trillion (1018, quintillion), Trilliarde (1021, sextillion)…

Write a number in full in German

Let’s move now to the practice of the numbering rules in German. Will you guess how to write a number in full? Enter a number and try to write it down in your head, or maybe on a piece of paper, before displaying the result.

Books

Schaum’s Outline of German Grammar, 4ed Schaum’s Outline of German Grammar, 4ed
by , editors McGraw-Hill (2009)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Comprehensive German Grammar
by , editors Blackwell Publishers (2003)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Prácticas de gramática alemana Prácticas de gramática alemana
by , editors Hueber Verlag (2001)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Guide de grammaire allemande Guide de grammaire allemande
by , editors De Boeck Education Secondaire (2007)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Les Idiomatics : Français-allemand Les Idiomatics : Français-allemand
by , editors Seuil (2002)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Bescherelle Grammaire Allemande Bescherelle Grammaire Allemande
by , editors Hatier (2000)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Grammaire de base de l’allemand Grammaire de base de l’allemand
editors Distribooks (2000)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

Gramática da Língua Alemã Gramática da Língua Alemã
by , editors Porto (2001)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

book2 português - alemão para principiantes book2 português - alemão para principiantes
by , editors CreateSpace (2010)
[Amazon.com Amazon.com]

West Germanic languages

Afrikaans, Alsatian, Bavarian, English, German, Gottscheerish, Hunsrik, Luxembourgish, North Frisian, Pennsylvania German, Plautdietsch, Saterland Frisian, Scots, Swiss German, West Frisian, Wymysorys, and Yiddish.

Other supported languages

As the other currently supported languages are too numerous to list extensively here, please select a language from the full list of supported languages.