German Numbers 1–100 and Beyond
Build any number from 21 to a million: units before tens, one-word spelling and the tricky 'und'.
From 21 on, German says the unit first and the tens second: einundzwanzig is literally 'one-and-twenty'. The whole number is written as one word.
The tens
Most tens add -zig to the unit. Watch three spellings: dreißig, sechzig and siebzig.
20–90
- 20zwanzig
- 30dreißigß, not z
- 40vierzig
- 50fünfzig
- 60sechzigno s
- 70siebzigno -en
- 80achtzig
- 90neunzig
Mein Opa wird nächste Woche achtzig.
My grandpa turns eighty next week.
21 to 99: unit + und + tens
- The unit comes first, then und, then the tens.
- eins becomes ein: einundzwanzig.
- One word, no spaces or hyphens.
Examples
- 21einundzwanzig
- 32zweiunddreißig
- 45fünfundvierzig
- 56sechsundfünfzigsechs keeps its s
- 67siebenundsechzigfull sieben here
- 78achtundsiebzig
- 99neunundneunzig
Der Kurs hat einundzwanzig Teilnehmer.
The course has twenty-one participants.
Sie ist dreiundvierzig Jahre alt.
She is forty-three years old.
100 and up
Hundreds and thousands come first, in the same order as English. Everything below a million is one word.
Big numbers
- 100hundertor einhundert
- 101hunderteins
- 200zweihundert
- 365dreihundertfünfundsechzig
- 1000tausendor eintausend
- 2500zweitausendfünfhundert
- 1.000.000eine Millionseparate noun
- 2.000.000zwei Millionen
Das Fahrrad kostet dreihundertfünfzig Euro.
The bike costs three hundred and fifty euros.
Die Stadt hat zwei Millionen Einwohner.
The city has two million inhabitants.
Writing numbers
- A dot or space groups thousands: 1.000.
- A comma marks decimals: 2,5 is zwei Komma fünf.
- Million and Milliarde are nouns with plurals.
Draußen sind es nur 2,5 Grad.
It's only 2.5 degrees outside.
Common mistakes
✗
zwanzigeins✓ einundzwanzig
The unit comes first, joined with und.
✗
dreizig✓ dreißig
30 is spelled with ß, not z.
✗
einsundzwanzig✓ einundzwanzig
eins drops its s inside a number.
Questions learners ask
Why do Germans say numbers backwards?
It's the old 'four-and-twenty' pattern, which English once used too. Only the last two digits flip: 345 is dreihundertfünfundvierzig.
What is a billion in German?
Eine Milliarde. German eine Billion means a million million, a classic false friend.