Ich habe drei Bücher.
English: I have three books.
- Language
- German
- Level
- A1
- Unit
- Adjektive und Zahlen
- Practice types
- 0
What this grammar point covers
German numbers (Zahlen) are words used to count, give quantities, and talk about dates, time, and prices. Learning numbers is important for basic communication in German.
When to use it
Use German numbers to count objects, say your age, give phone numbers, tell the time, talk about prices, and mention dates.
Key forms
- eins (1)
- zwei (2)
- drei (3)
- zehn (10)
- zwanzig (20)
- hundert (100)
- tausend (1000)
Examples
Mein Bruder ist acht Jahre alt.
English: My brother is eight years old.
Es kostet fünf Euro.
English: It costs five euros.
Heute ist der erste Mai.
English: Today is the first of May.
Meine Telefonnummer ist null eins zwei.
English: My phone number is zero one two.
Tips
- In German, the number 1 is 'eins', but when used before a noun, it becomes 'ein' or 'eine'.
- For numbers 21 and above, the unit comes before the tens: 'einundzwanzig' (21), not 'zwanzigeins'.
- The number zero is 'null'.
Exceptions and edge cases
- The numbers 16 and 17 are 'sechzehn' and 'siebzehn' (not 'sechszehn', 'siebenzehn').
- The number 30 is 'dreißig', not 'dreizig'.