A Guide to German Numbers: Learn to Count and Much More

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Learning to count might not seem appealing once you have passed primary school, but numbers are omnipresent in daily life.

Whether you want to negotiate a price, arrange a meeting, find out an address or phone number, or even just reserve a table for four, without some basic knowledge of numbers, even simple transactions can be difficult. But learning German numbers is easy! And it will help you to navigate everyday situations and instantly boost your understanding and confidence. 

In this article we will mainly look at cardinal and ordinal numbers, when to use which, and different useful applications for both.

Let’s start with cardinal ones, as these are the basis for everything else.

German Cardinal Numbers (Kardinalzahlen)

The term cardinal numbers or cardinals refers to the basic numbers, e.g. one, two, three… 

The names of individual numbers used as nouns are capitalized and commonly feminine, such as die Acht. Ordinary counting uses lowercase number words, as in bis drei. Larger quantity nouns have their own gender: das Hundert, die Million. 

Er zählte bis drei.	Die Acht ist meine Glückszahl.
He counted to three.	(The) eight is my lucky number.

They can also be used as adjectives:

Die fünf Freunde sitzen im Café.	Es kostet fünf Euro.
The five friends sit in a cafe.	It costs five euros.

Most cardinal numbers before nouns do not change their endings. Important exceptions include ein- and genitive forms of zwei and drei when no preceding article marks the case: die Bücher zweier Kinder — the books of two children.

Eins (1) cannot be used as an adjective before a noun. Instead you use the indefinite article (ein/eine) to refer to a single person or thing:

Er hat nur einen Freund.	Wir brauchen nur eine Zwiebel.
He has only one friend.	We only need one onion.

Try to learn the following list by heart, because it will be the foundation for everything related to numbers:

German Cardinal Numbers from 1 to 99

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
13	dreizehn
14	vierzehn
15	fünfzehn
16	sechzehn (without –s)
17	siebzehn (without –en)
18	achtzehn
19	neunzehn
20	zwanzig
21	einundzwanzig
22	zweiundzwanzig
23	dreiundzwanzig
24	vierundzwanzig
25	fünfundzwanzig
26	sechsundzwanzig
27	siebenundzwanzig
28	achtundzwanzig
29	neunundzwanzig
10	zehn
20	zwanzig
30	dreißig
40	vierzig
50	fünfzig
60	sechzig (without –s)
70	siebzig (without –en)
80	achtzig
90	neunzig

Besides some deviations in spelling of a few numbers (highlighted in bold), it is all pretty straight forward. For 21–99 (apart from the exact tens), say the units first, then und, then the tens: fünfunddreißig means 35. The numbers 10–19 follow their own patterns.

19	neunzehn
35	fünfunddreißig
78	achtundsiebzig

You are now already able to count to 99! And from here on you can easily make it to a million.

Cardinals from 100 to a million and beyond

Try to remember the following three numbers:

100 (ein)hundert

1000 (ein)tausend

1 000 000 (eine) Million

Now you only have to combine any of the one- and two-digit numbers with hundert, tausend or Million. You may write quantities in digits or words depending on context. In words, numbers below a million are usually joined together, but Million is a capitalized noun and takes a plural: drei Millionenen.

200	zweihundert
300	dreihundert
400	vierhundert
900	neunhundert
2000	zweitausend
4000	viertausend
10 000	zehntausend
20 000	zwanzigtausend
100 000	(ein)hunderttausend
200 000	zweihunderttausend
3 000 000	drei Millionen

Combinations

These might seem more complicated, but only because they can be very long words. They all follow the same rules. Here are some examples:

420	vierhundertzwanzig
597	fünfhundertsiebenundneunzig
1005	(ein)tausend(und)fünf
2344	zweitausenddreihundertvierundvierzig
17 420	siebzehntausendvierhundertzwanzig
340 812	dreihundertvierzigtausendachthundertzwölf
1 600 000	eine Million sechshunderttausend

German Ordinal Numbers (Ordnungszahlen)

The ordinal numbers are used to express a sequence or order. When written with Arabic digits, an ordinal is marked by a full stop:

der 1. (erste) Platz	the first place
die 2. (zweite) Etage	the second floor
das 3. (dritte) Mal	the third time

Ordinal numbers 1. to 19.

Formed by using the cardinal number plus -t (with irregular erst- and dritt-; acht- has only one t, and siebt-/siebent- are variants):

1.	erst-  (der erste, die ersten, erstens…)
2.	zweit-
3.	dritt-
4.	viert-
5.	fünft-
6.	sechst-
7.	sieb(en)t-
8.	acht- (nur ein -t)
9.	neunt-
10.	zehnt-
11.	elft-
12.	zwölft-
13.	dreizehnt-
14.	vierzehnt- …

Ordinal numbers from 20 upwards

Formed by using cardinal number plus -st:

20.	zwanzigst-
21.	einundzwanzigst-
22.	zweiundzwanzigst-
23.	dreiundzwanzigst-
24.	vierundzwanzigst-
25.	fünfundzwanzigst-
26.	sechsundzwanzigst-
27.	siebenundzwanzigst-
28.	achtundzwanzigst-
29.	neunundzwanzigst-
30.	dreißigst-
31.	einunddreißigst-
32.	zweiunddreißigst-
33.	dreiunddreißigst-
34.	vierunddreißigst-
35.	fünfunddreißigst-
36.	sechsunddreißigst-
37.	siebenunddreißigst-
38.	achtunddreißigst-
39.	neununddreißigst-

As adjectives, in contrast to cardinal numbers, they follow the same rules of declension as other adjectives. They can be used with or without an article in front of a noun.

without an article	Dieses Angebot war erste Klasse. This offer was first class.
with the definite article	Er ging das erste Mal allein zur Schule. He went for the first time alone to school.
with the indefinite article	Es gibt immer eine zweite Chance. There is always a second chance.
in lists (ordinal number plus –ens	erstens, zweitens, drittens First, second, third Erstens habe ich keine Lust, zweitens keine Zeit. In the first place, I don’t feel like it, secondly I don’t have time

Ordinal numbers can also be used as nouns:

Er will immer Erster sein.	He always wants to be first.
Heinrich der Achte wurde 1509 König von England.	Henry the Eighth became king of England in 1509.

They can also be used in conjunction with the word zu:

Es geht einfacher zu zweit.	It is easier with two.
Wir waren zu viert im Urlaub.	We were four (people) on holiday.

Using Dates in German

The usual German numerical date order is: Day/Month/Year 

For the years just the cardinals are needed, same as in English:

1412	vierzehnhundertzwölf
1984	neunzehnhundertvierundachtzig
2020	zweitausendzwanzig

In German there is no preposition before the year, unless the date is actually preceded by the word year.

Er ist 1992 geboren.	He was born in 1992.
Wir sind 2005 nach Australien gereist.	We travelled to Australia in 2005.
Im Jahr 1989 ist meine Schwester geboren.	In the year 1989 my sister was born.

For specific dates we need the ordinals:

12.05.1972 zwölfter Fünfter neunzehnhundertzweiundsiebzig 

Der erste (1.) Mai ist der Tag der Arbeit. The first of May is Workers ́ day.

Ich möchte vom ersten Dritten (1.3.) bis zum zehnten Vierten (10.4.)