Zahlen (Numbers)

Numbers from 0 to 12 are memorised individually: null, eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf, sechs, sieben, acht, neun, zehn, elf, zwölf. From 13 to 19, '-zehn' is added to the end of the number (dreizehn, vierzehn...), but 16 and 17 are written with slight sound changes: sechzehn (sechs + zehn, the 's' at the end of sechs drops), siebzehn (sieben + zehn, the '-en' at the end of the word drops). Tens end with '-zig': zwanzig (20), dreißig (30, the only exception is -ßig), vierzig (40), fünfzig (50), sechzig (60), siebzig (70), achtzig (80), neunzig (90).

In two-digit numbers, unlike in English, the units are said first, then the tens, with 'und' (and) in between: einundzwanzig (21 = one-and-twenty), zweiunddreißig (32 = two-and-thirty), dreiundvierzig (43), siebenundfünfzig (57), neunundneunzig (99). For hundreds, 'hundert' is used: hundert (100), zweihundert (200), hundertfünfzig (150 = hundert + fünfzig, no und in between).

For thousands, 'tausend' is used and follows the same logic: tausend (1000), zweitausend (2000), tausendneunhundert (1900). Years before 2000 are read as 'nineteen hundred …' (just like in English): the year 1985 is 'neunzehnhundertfünfundachtzig' (nineteen hundred eighty-five), while 2024 is called 'zweitausendvierundzwanzig'. The number '1' is 'eins' when counting on its own, but when used together with a noun (such as ein Buch, eine Frau), it acts like an article and changes according to gender — this distinction will be seen more clearly later in the Artikel topic.