German Numbers: Learn To Count From 0 to 1,000 in German

Do you want to learn how to count from 0-100 in German, and find out more about German numbers?

In this article, I want to share with you how to learn, remember, and use German numbers with you.

Table of contentsGerman Numbers from 1-100Learn the German Numbers 1-10Learn the German Numbers 11-20Learn the German Multiples of 10German For “One”: Ein, Eins, Eine, Einen, Eines, Einer or Einem?How To Count From 100 to 1,000 In GermanHow To Count From 1,000 to 10,000 in GermanGerman Numbers: 10,000 And BeyondRemember the German Numbers with This Language HackThe Etymology of German NumbersGerman Numbers You Can Count On…German Numbers from 1-100

Let’s start with the basics. Below is a table of the German numbers from zero to 100. Take a few minutes read through it, then I’ll give you some tips to help you remember it all:

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 Sechszehn 17 Siebzehn 18 Achtzehn 19 Neunzehn 20 Zwanzig 21 Einundzwanzig 22 Zweiundzwanzig 23 Dreiundzwanzig 24 Vierundzwanzig 25 Fünfundzwanzig 26 Sechsundzwanzig 27 Siebenundzwanzig 28 Achtundzwanzig 29 Neunundzwanzig 30 Dreiβig 31 Einunddreiβig 32 Zweiunddreiβig 33 Dreiunddreiβig 34 Vierunddreiβig 35 Fünfunddreiβig 36 Sechsunddreiβig 37 Siebenunddreiβig 38 Achtunddreiβig 39 Neununddreiβig 40 Vierzig 41 Einundvierzig 42 Zweiundvierzig 43 Dreiundvierzig 44 Vierundvierzig 45 Fünfundvierzig 46 Sechsundvierzig 47 Siebenundvierzig 48 Achtundvierzig 49 Neunundvierzig 50 Fünfzig 51 Einundfünfzig 52 Zweiundfünfzig 53 Dreiundfünfzig 54 Vierundfünfzig 55 Fünfundfünfzig 56 Sechsundfünfzig 57 Siebenundfünfzig 58 Achtundfünfzig 59 Neunundfünfzig 60 Sechzig 61 Einundsechzig 62 Zweiundsechzig 63 Dreiundsechzig 64 Vierundsechzig 65 Fünfundsechzig 66 Sechsundsechzig 67 Siebenundsechzig 68 Achtundsechzig 69 Neunundsechzig 70 Siebzig 71 Einundsiebzig 72 Zweiundsiebzig 73 Dreiundsiebzig 74 Vierundsiebzig 75 Fünfundsiebzig 76 Sechsundsiebzig 77 Siebenundsiebzig 78 Achtundsiebzig 79 Neunundsiebzig 80 Achtzig 81 Einundachtzig 82 Zweiundachtzig 83 Dreiundachtzig 84 Vierundachtzig 85 Fünfundachtzig 86 Sechsundachtzig 87 Siebenundachtzig 88 Achtundachtzig 89 Neunundachtzig 90 Neunzig 91 Einundneunzig 92 Zweiundneunzig 93 Dreiundneunzig 94 Vierundneunzig 95 Fünfundneunzig 96 Sechsundneunzig 97 Siebenundneunzig 98 Achtundneunzig 99 Neunundneunzig 100 Einhundret

Seeing it all in one big block can be a little overwhelming, right? Well, don’t worry. Using the simple tips and language hacks below, you’ll be able to remember all of this information with little effort.

Learn the German Numbers 1-10

The German numbers 1-10 are:

Ein – “One”Zwei – “Two”Drei – “Three”Vier – “Four”Fünf – “Five”Sechs – “Six”Sieben – “Seven”Acht – “Eight”Neun – “Nine”Zehn – “Ten”

There are no rules for these numbers – though I’ll share a simple trick for memorising them later in the article. And it is important to remember these numbers, as they occur, in one form or another, in every number you’ll use when counting.

For example, just as “eight” is in “eighteen”, “twenty-eight”, “eighty” and “eighthundred”, the same can be said for acht (“eight”) in German. “Achtzehn”, “achtundzwanzig”,”achtzig” and “achthundert”.

Learn the German Numbers 11-20

Elf (“eleven”) and zwölf (“twelve”) also don’t follow a pattern. You’ll just have to learn these by heart.

For the other German numbers between 13 and 19 you take the first four letters of the number between three and nine (like the rule above) and add the word zehn or ten at the end: dreizehn (“thirteen”), vierzehn (“fourteen”), fünfzehn (“fifteen”), and so on.

Learn the German Multiples of 10

Between forty and ninety, all of these numbers are regular. They take the first four letters of the number between one and ten and add the word “zig” to the end of it.

Vier_zig_ (“forty”), fünfzig (“fifty”), sechzig (“sixty”), siebzig (“seventy”), achtzig (“eighty”), neunzig (“ninety”).

Twenty and thirty are exceptions. Twenty takes the form zwanzig, and thirty is dreiiβig.

Once you’ve learned all of these you can begin to fill in the numbers with a simple formula.

All of the numbers larger than twenty follow the same pattern. The second number is said at the start. Let me explain that a bit more:

In English you would say “thirty-four”. The biggest number is said first, followed by the smallest number. As if you’re reading the number left to right. In German it’s the other way around.In German you would say, “four and thirty” or vierunddreiβig. The four comes first, followed by the thirty.Although I can’t tell you why this happens, I can tell you that it’s regular and all of these numbers in German follow this pattern.

This swapping around can take some getting used to so take some time to practice them. When it comes to writing these, many German children are taught to write the second number first, the same way as when it’s spoken, then place the first number before it.

Practicing this may help you understand it too.

Also don’t forget that:

Zero = Null (As in null and void)100 = Einhundert (This is an easy one to remember!)

By using these tips and language hacks you should have no trouble mastering the German numbers 1 to 100.

German For “One”: Ein, Eins, Eine, Einen, Eines, Einer or Einem?

The number one in German is the only number that needs to be modified.

In English, we have three words for “one”. We have the number one itself, or we use “a” or “an” to express we only have one of something.

“I have one brother.”“I have a sister.”“I have an apple.”

In German these three words are expressed using variations of ein and eins.

When you’re counting the quantity of something – like how many people are in a group – you’ll always use the “eins” form of the word, which is the number one itself, as you can see in the table at the start of this article.

However when you’re referring to anything else you’ll use the “ein” form of the word and its case-based variations. Such as:

Nominative:

Masculine: ein Bruder (“a Brother”)Neutral: ein Auto (“a Car”)Feminine: eine Schwester (“a Sister”)

Accusative:

Masculine: einen BruderNeutral: ein AutoFeminine: eine Schwester

Dative:

Masculine: einem BruderNeutral: einem AutoFeminine: einer Schwester

Genitive:

Masculine: eines BrudersNeutral: eines AutosFeminine: einer Schwester

Explaining each of these in-depth is a little beyond the scope of this article. But remember that when you’re counting, you use numbers. When you’re talking to someone, you’ll use ein and its variations.

Other numbers like “two” in German or “three” in German don’t need to be modified and stay the same throughout.

Related learning: How to Use the Dative Case in German – In-Depth Guide [with Charts]

How To Count From 100 to 1,000 In German

The rule for counting in the hundreds is exactly the same as in English. You take the number from one to nine and add the word hundert (“hundred”) to the end of it.

Here’s a table to show you what I mean:

100 Einhundret 200 Zweihundret 300 Dreihundret 400 Vierhundret 500 Fünfhundret 600 Sechshundret 700 Siebenhundret 800 Achthundret 900 Neunhundret 1000 Eintausend

Filling in the gaps between these numbers is relatively simple too. There are just a few things to remember:

You always say the hundred number first.Between 100 and 119 you say it the same way you would in English. So 101 (“one-hundred and one”) becomes einhundertundeins.Once you get higher than 20 the number-swapping rule comes into effect, but only for the two digit numbers. That means 176 (“one-hundred and seventy six”) becomes einhundertsechsundsiebzig.

These rules apply throughout all the hundreds.

How To Count From 1,000 to 10,000 in German

You’ve already learned the hardest parts of counting in German. From here on out it’s so similar to English you don’t need to remember much.

The word for thousand in German is tausend, which is said like you’re saying the English word “thousands” in a German accent.

Then the thousands themselves follow work the same as you just saw in the 100’s, but with the word tausend added to the end:

1000 Eintausend 2000 Zweitausend 3000 Dreitausend 4000 Viertausend 5000 Fünftausend 6000 Sechstausend 7000 Siebentausend 8000 Achttausend 9000 Neuntausend 10000 Zehntausend

When you start adding hundreds into the mix, the rules of the 100’s you just read still apply. You only change the two-digit number – like 43 – around, the rest go in order.

German Numbers: 10,000 And Beyond

For the numbers in the 10,000’s you’re going to follow the two-digit number rules. In succession, these numbers follow on in multiples of ten: zehntausend, zwanzigtausend, dreiβigtausend and so on.

When the numbers change to have a second digit, like 87, this would then become siebenundachtzigtausend (“seven and eighty-thousand”). This can become quite a mouthful when the number is 87,787 which would be siebenundachtzigtausendsiebenhundertsiebenundachtzig.

When you reach the 100,000’s you can then apply the rules for this, but with 100’s numbers. So 100,000 would be hunderttausend, 200,000 would be zweihunderttausend, 300,000 would be dreihunderttausend, and so on.

Here are the terminologies for numbers when you count higher than that:

Million: MillionBillion: MilliardeTrillion: BillionRemember the German Numbers with This Language Hack

You may be looking at all of these numbers right now and thinking, “How in the world am I ever going to remember all of this?”. But don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.

There are a few number words in German that you can simply remember as the English form and translate. For example:

“Hundred” -> Hundert“Thousand” -> Tausend“Hundred Thousand” -> Hunderttausend“Million” -> Million

But how do you remember the trickier, German-sounding words?

Well, one of my favourite ways to remember numbers is mnemonics. These are attachments you make to a word to help you recall it. It can be a funny sentence, a visualistion, a play on the word or anything that helps you remember.

Well here are a few of my favourites from my time learning German:

Drei -> Three bottles of dry white wine.Vier -> Three is fearful of this number.Elf -> Eleven little Christmas elves.Zwanzig -> Twenty swans drawing a zig-zag in a lake.

The more ridiculous, the better! Don’t censor yourself when trying to do this, these are to help you remember, not somebody else.

For more language hacks, check out the Language Hacking Podcast, where hosts Benny, Shannon, and Elizabeth discuss language learning and language hacks with guests from all over the world.

The Etymology of German Numbers

Where do German numbers come from? They’re part of a branch of the language family tree called Germanic. This branch sprouts off into languages like English, Dutch and Swedish.

In fact, if you look at the major European Germanic languages side by side, you can see a lot of similarities in their spellings and pronunciations (pay close attention to the number six):

German Dutch English Norweigan Danish Swedish Eins Een One En En Ett Zwei Twee Two To To Två Drei Drie Three Tre Tre Tre Vier Vier Four Fire Fire Fyra Funf Vijf Five Fem Fem Fem Sechs Zes Six Seks Seks Sex Sieben Zeven Seven Sju Syv Sju Acht Acht Eight Åtte Otte Åtta Neun Negen Nine Ni Ni Nio Zehn Tien Ten Ti Ti Tio

If you look back to old high German which was spoken between the years 700 and 1050, you can see how some of their similarities have carried on through time too:

Ein – “One”Zwene – “Two”Dri – “Three”Fior / Feor – “Four”Fimf – “Five”Sehs – “Six”Sibun – “Seven”Ahto – “Eight”Niun – “Nine”Zehan – “Ten”German Numbers You Can Count On…

There are lots of similarities between English numbers and German numbers, and once you get used to swapping two-digit numbers around, it becomes really simple.

Once you learn your German numbers from 1-10, the rest starts to fall into place.

Original article by James Johnson, updated by the Fluent in 3 Months team.

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