German Numbers: Complete List and Examples

German numbers appear in everyday situations right away: saying your age, asking for a price, reading a page number, or giving a simple address. Start with the small numbers, then learn the word order that makes longer German numbers feel much easier.

Zero to ten

These are the numbers you will use first in basic conversations, shopping, and simple instructions.

• Null – Zero
• Eins – One
• Zwei – Two
• Drei – Three
• Vier – Four
• Fünf – Five
• Sechs – Six
• Sieben – Seven
• Acht – Eight
• Neun – Nine
• Zehn – Ten

Examples:

• Ich brauche einen Kaffee, bitte. (I need one coffee, please.)
• Wir haben acht Minuten vor dem Kurs. (We have eight minutes before class.)
• Es gibt fünf Stühle in der Küche. (There are five chairs in the kitchen.)

Eleven to twenty

From eleven to twenty, several German forms are short, so learn them as a group before building longer numbers.

• Elf – Eleven
• Zwölf – Twelve
• Dreizehn – Thirteen
• Vierzehn – Fourteen
• Fünfzehn – Fifteen
• Sechzehn – Sixteen
• Siebzehn – Seventeen
• Achtzehn – Eighteen
• Neunzehn – Nineteen
• Zwanzig – Twenty

Examples:

• Meine Schwester ist zwölf Jahre alt. (My sister is twelve years old.)
• Es sind achtzehn Personen in der Gruppe. (There are eighteen people in the group.)

Tens and large numbers

These words help you talk about prices, years, pages, addresses, and quantities. For bigger numbers, combine hundert, tausend, Million, and Milliarde with smaller numbers.

• Dreißig – Thirty
• Vierzig – Forty
• Fünfzig – Fifty
• Sechzig – Sixty
• Siebzig – Seventy
• Achtzig – Eighty
• Neunzig – Ninety
• Hundert – Hundred
• Zweihundert – Two hundred
• Fünfhundert – Five hundred
• Tausend – Thousand
• Zweitausend – Two thousand
• Fünftausend – Five thousand
• Zehntausend – Ten thousand
• Hunderttausend – One hundred thousand
• Eine Million – One million
• Eine Milliarde – One billion

Examples:

• Die Jacke kostet fünfzig Dollar. (The jacket costs fifty dollars.)
• Die Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung ist siebzig Meilen pro Stunde. (The speed limit is seventy miles per hour.)
• Die Stadt hat zehntausend Einwohner. (The city has ten thousand people.)

How to build longer numbers

German uses a special word order from 21 to 99. Say the ones first, then und, then the ten.

• Einundzwanzig – Twenty-one
• Zweiundzwanzig – Twenty-two
• Fünfunddreißig – Thirty-five
• Achtundvierzig – Forty-eight
• Zweiundsiebzig – Seventy-two
• Neunundneunzig – Ninety-nine

With hundert, say the hundreds first and then the rest of the number.

• Hundert – One hundred
• Hundertzwei – One hundred two
• Zweihundertfünfzehn – Two hundred fifteen
• Dreihundertfünfzig – Three hundred fifty

With tausend, say the thousands first and then the rest of the number.

• Tausend – One thousand
• Tausenddreihundert – One thousand three hundred
• Zweitausendachtundvierzig – Two thousand forty-eight
• Fünftausendsechshundertneunundneunzig – Five thousand six hundred ninety-nine

Note: In compound numbers, eins often becomes ein before und: einundzwanzig, not einsundzwanzig.

Examples:

• Meine Schließfachnummer ist einundzwanzig. (My locker number is twenty-one.)
• Das Rezept braucht fünfunddreißig Gramm Zucker. (The recipe needs thirty-five grams of sugar.)
• Das Paket wiegt hundertzwei Pfund. (The package weighs one hundred two pounds.)
• Die Ticketnummer ist zweitausendachtundvierzig. (The ticket number is two thousand forty-eight.)

Numbers in real situations

You do not always say numbers alone. They often go with a word that tells you what you are counting: an age, a price, a room, a bus, or a page.

• Telefonnummer – Phone number
• Alter – Age
• Preis – Price
• Zimmernummer – Room number
• Busnummer – Bus number
• Seitennummer – Page number
• Jahr – Year
• Uhrzeit – Time

Examples:

• Ich bin zwanzig Jahre alt. (I am twenty years old.)
• Das kostet fünf Dollar. (It costs five dollars.)
• Ich brauche zwei Äpfel. (I need two apples.)
• Zimmer acht ist links. (Room eight is on the left.)

Common mistakes

Using English word order after twenty

In German, 21 is einundzwanzig, literally “one and twenty.” Do not copy English word order for numbers from 21 to 99.

• Einundzwanzig – Twenty-one
• Fünfunddreißig – Thirty-five
• Achtundvierzig – Forty-eight

Using eins inside compound numbers

Use eins when the number stands alone. In compound numbers before und, use ein.

• Eins – One
• Einundzwanzig – Twenty-one
• Einunddreißig – Thirty-one

When you learn a new number, attach it to a real use: an age, a price, a page, or a room number. That makes the number easier to remember and easier to use in conversation.