Purpose
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to count from 0 to 100 in German, including the genuinely important detail about how compound numbers are ordered.
Lesson Explanation
Numbers 0 to 12 each have an individual word:
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
The tens words: zwanzig (20), dreißig (30), vierzig (40), fünfzig (50), sechzig (60), siebzig (70), achtzig (80), neunzig (90).
A genuinely important, specific rule: German compound numbers between 21 and 99 are formed with the ones digit first, connected by und (and), then the tens word — the reverse order from English: einundzwanzig (21, literally “one-and-twenty”), siebenundvierzig (47, literally “seven-and-forty”).
100 is hundert.
Practice Questions
1. Write the German word for 5.
View Answer
fünf
2. Write the German word for 12.
View Answer
zwölf
3. Write the German word for 20.
View Answer
zwanzig
4. In what order are the digits of a German compound number like 21 spoken: ones-then-tens, or tens-then-ones?
View Answer
Ones-then-tens.
5. Write the German word for 21, and explain its literal meaning.
View Answer
Einundzwanzig, literally “one-and-twenty.”
6. Write the German word for 47, and explain its literal meaning.
View Answer
Siebenundvierzig, literally “seven-and-forty.”
7. What word connects the ones digit and the tens digit in a German compound number?
View Answer
und (and)
8. Write the German word for 30.
View Answer
dreißig
9. Write the German word for 100.
View Answer
hundert
10. Is the ones-before-tens order the same as English, or reversed?
View Answer
Reversed.
11. Write the German word for 62.
View Answer
zweiundsechzig
12. Write the German word for 90.
View Answer
neunzig