Part 12: Numbers, Prices & Phone Numbers
Source note: Built from the Koç University GERM201/202 course, the A1 video course and Goethe-Institut A1 materials. Where sources disagree or contain an error, this guide uses the correct German and flags the fix under Confusion Points.
0. Overview
Numbers come back in phone numbers, ages, prices, dates and times. The building rules are short and the exceptions are few, but almost every mistake lands on those few exceptions. Ordinal numbers, dates and clock times are in Part 13.
| Topic | Key point |
|---|---|
| 0 to 20 | 13 to 19 = unit + zehn |
| 21 to 100 | Unit first: einundzwanzig |
| Above 100 | One word up to a million, years in hundreds |
| Phone numbers | Digit by digit or in pairs |
| Prices | 1,80 Euro = ein Euro achtzig |
1. 0 to 20
| No. | German | No. | German | No. | German |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | null | 7 | sieben | 14 | vierzehn |
| 1 | eins | 8 | acht | 15 | fünfzehn |
| 2 | zwei | 9 | neun | 16 | sechzehn |
| 3 | drei | 10 | zehn | 17 | siebzehn |
| 4 | vier | 11 | elf | 18 | achtzehn |
| 5 | fünf | 12 | zwölf | 19 | neunzehn |
| 6 | sechs | 13 | dreizehn | 20 | zwanzig |
From 13 to 19 the pattern is unit + zehn. Two numbers shorten: sechzehn drops the s of sechs, and siebzehn drops the en of sieben.
2. 21 to 100
German says the unit first, then und, then the tens, all in one word: 21 einundzwanzig (eins loses its s), 45 fünfundvierzig, 87 siebenundachtzig, 99 neunundneunzig.
| No. | German | No. | German |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | zwanzig | 60 | sechzig |
| 30 | dreißig | 70 | siebzig |
| 40 | vierzig | 80 | achtzig |
| 50 | fünfzig | 90 | neunzig |
| 100 | (ein)hundert |
- All tens end in -zig except dreißig, which ends in -ßig.
- sechzig and siebzig shorten like 16 and 17. Inside 21 to 99 the unit stays whole: 66 sechsundsechzig, 77 siebenundsiebzig.
- Age: Wie alt sind Sie? / Wie alt bist du? Ich bin fünfundzwanzig (Jahre alt). Asking someone’s age counts as slightly rude in Germany.
3. Above 100: Big Numbers and Years
| Number | German |
|---|---|
| 101 | hunderteins |
| 121 | hunderteinundzwanzig |
| 200 | zweihundert |
| 357 | dreihundertsiebenundfünfzig |
| 1.000 | (ein)tausend |
| 1.001 | tausendeins |
| 3.764 | dreitausendsiebenhundertvierundsechzig |
| 10.000 | zehntausend |
| 1.000.000 | eine Million |
| 2.000.000 | zwei Millionen |
| 1.000.000.000 | eine Milliarde |
Read big numbers from left to right, and write everything below a million as one word. German writes a point (or a space) between thousands (10.000, 1 000 000) and a comma for decimals (4,80 Euro).
Years before 2000 count in hundreds, years from 2000 in thousands: 1975 is neunzehnhundertfünfundsiebzig, 2017 is zweitausendsiebzehn. Wann bist du geboren? Ich bin 1990 geboren (or im Jahr 1990).
4. Phone Numbers
Ask Wie ist Ihre Telefonnummer? / Wie ist deine Handynummer? or Was ist Ihre Handynummer? Germans say phone numbers digit by digit or in pairs.
| Written | Spoken |
|---|---|
| 0187 632 945 | null eins acht sieben, sechs drei zwei, neun vier fünf |
| 0544 33 22 | null fünf vier vier, dreiunddreißig, zweiundzwanzig |
On the phone zwei is often said zwo, so it does not sound like drei.
5. Prices
The euro has 100 cents. Write the comma, but do not say it.
| Written | Spoken |
|---|---|
| 0,50 Euro | fünfzig Cent |
| 1,05 Euro | ein Euro fünf |
| 1,80 Euro | ein Euro achtzig / eins achtzig |
| 2,99 Euro | zwei Euro neunundneunzig / zwei neunundneunzig |
| 3,50 Euro | drei Euro fünfzig |
Ask Was kostet das? / Wie viel kostet das? With a plural, the verb is plural: Was kosten 100 Gramm Käse? The answer: Das kostet 2,99 Euro. In a café: Das macht 3,50 Euro. Zusammen oder getrennt? Quantities such as ein Kilo and eine Flasche are in Part 17.
6. Confusion Points
- “sechszehn, siebenzehn, sechszig, siebenzig.” 16, 17, 60 and 70 shorten: sechzehn, siebzehn, sechzig, siebzig. In 26, 27, 66 and 77 the unit stays whole: sechsundzwanzig, siebenundsiebzig.
- “dreizig.” 30 is dreißig, the only ten without -zig.
- “zwanzigeins.” The unit comes first: einundzwanzig, written as one word.
- “einsundzwanzig, hunderteinsundzwanzig.” Before und, eins loses its s: einundzwanzig, hunderteinundzwanzig. At the end it keeps it: hunderteins.
- “The point in 1.000 is a decimal point.” The point separates thousands and the comma marks decimals: 1.000 is one thousand, 4,80 Euro is four euros eighty.
- “Milliarde means million.” eine Million is a million and eine Milliarde is a billion. The German Billion is a thousand times larger. The video course spells it Millarde.
- “Ich bin in 1990 geboren.” Leave out in: Ich bin 1990 geboren, or say im Jahr 1990.
- “Ein Euro und achtzig Cent.” Say ein Euro achtzig or eins achtzig, with no und and no Cent. Only amounts under one euro use Cent: fünfzig Cent.
- “Was kostet 100 Gramm Käse?” A plural amount takes a plural verb: Was kosten 100 Gramm Käse?
7. Quick-Reference Summary
- 13 to 19: unit + zehn, with sechzehn and siebzehn shortened.
- 21 to 99: unit + und + tens, one word: einundzwanzig. Tens end in -zig, except dreißig.
- Big numbers: one word below a million. Point for thousands, comma for decimals. Milliarde = billion.
- Years: neunzehnhundert… up to 1999, zweitausend… from 2000. Ich bin 1990 geboren.
- Phone: digit by digit or in pairs. zwo for 2 on the phone.
- Prices: 1,80 Euro = ein Euro achtzig. Was kostet das? Das macht 3,50 Euro.