German grammar: Zahlen und Ordnungszahlen

What this grammar point covers

In German, 'Zahlen' are numbers like one, two, three, and 'Ordnungszahlen' are ordinal numbers like first, second, third. These are used to count things and to show order.

When to use it

Use Zahlen to count objects or people, say your age, or talk about quantities. Use Ordnungszahlen to talk about position or order, like dates, floors in a building, or ranking.

Key forms

• eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf ... (Zahlen)
• erste, zweite, dritte, vierte, fünfte ... (Ordnungszahlen)
• Ordinal numbers for 1–19: -te ending (dritte, siebte)
• Ordinal numbers from 20: -ste ending (zwanzigste, einundzwanzigste)

Examples

Tips

• Ordinal numbers in German always start with a capital letter when used as a noun (der Erste).
• Be careful: 'erste', 'dritte', and 'siebte' are irregular.
• After 19, use '-ste' for ordinal numbers (zwanzigste, einundzwanzigste).

Exceptions and edge cases

• The ordinal numbers for 'first' (erste), 'third' (dritte), and 'seventh' (siebte) are irregular.