How to Write German Numbers

Last Updated: December 7, 2021

If the situation ever calls for it, you might have to count and spell numbers in German. This is not a necessary skill, but if you want to know German, you need to know how to count all numbers in German.

Steps

1
Learn the numbers:
- 0 - null - noll
- 1 - eins - eyns
- 2 - zwei - tsvy
- 3 - drei - dry
- 4 - vier - fear
- 5 - fünf - foo-nf
- 6 - sechs - zexs
- 7 - sieben - zeeb-ben
- 8 - acht - akt
- 9 - neun - noin
- 10 - zehn - tsehn
- 11 - elf - elf
- 12 - zwölf - ts-volf
- 13 - dreizehn - dry-zayne
- 14 - vierzehn - feer-zayne
- 15 - fünfzehn - foo-nf-zayne
- 16 - sechzehn - zex-zayne
- 17 - siebzehn - zeeb-zayne
- 18 - achtzehn - akt-zayne
- 19 - neunzehn - noin-zayne
- 20 - zwanzig - tsvan-zig
- 30 - dreiβig - dry-zig
- 40 - vierzig - feer-zig
- 50 - fünfzig - foo-nf-zig
- 60 - sechzig - zex-zig
- 70 - siebzig - zeeb-zig
- 80 - achtzig - akt-zig
- 90 - neunzig - noin-zig
- 100 - hundert - hoon-dert
- 200 - zweihundert - tsvy-hoon-dert
  - and so forth.
2
Next, memorize the spelling and pronunciation.

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3
After that, you need to know how to write the "in between numbers," such as:
- 21 - einundzwanzig - eyn-oond-tsvan-sig
- 22 - zweiundzwanzig - tsvy-oond-tsvan-sig
- 23 - dreiundzwanzig - dry-oond-tsvan-sig
  - and so forth.
    - Einundzwanzig directly translates into, "One and twenty". The idea is that you can do this with any of the "in between numbers" such as:
- 36 - sechsunddreiβig - zexs-oond-dry-zig
- 44 - vierundvierzig - feer-oond-feer-zig
- 59 - neunundfünfzig - noin-oond-foo-nf-zig
  - and so forth.
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Community Q&A

Question

How can I write "1976" in German numbers?

Community Answer

Neunzehnhundertsechsundsiebzig (noin-tsehn-hoon-dert-zexs-oond-zeeb-zig) OR eintausendneunhundertsechsundsiebzig (eyn-tauzend-noin-hoon-dert-zexs-oond-zeeb-zig).
Question

How do I write 5,949.03 in German?

Rick McRollington

Community Answer

Fünftausendneunhundertneunundvierzig komma null drei is the way you would write it in German, or 5.949,03 for short.
Question

How can I write 1001 in German?

Rick McRollington

Community Answer

Tausendeins, or 1.001 for short, would be the way to write 1001 in German.
Question

How do I write the time?

Community Answer

Using the 6th hour as an example: "es ist..." 6:00 "sechs Uhr" (six o'clock) 6:05 "fünf nach sechs" (five after six) 6:15 "Viertel nach sechs" (quarter after six) 6:30 "halb sieben" (half (before) seven) 6:45 "Viertel vor sieben" (quarter to seven) 6:50 "zehn vor sieben" (ten to seven). You can also write a specific time, e.g.: 6:12 - "sechs Uhr zwölf" or 6:45 "sechs Uhr fünfundvierzig." Germans also use 24-hour time, so expect 13:00 = "dreizehn Uhr" or 20:00 = "zwanzig Uhr" for example.
Question

How do I write birth dates?

Community Answer

Since German speaking countries tend to use a year/month/day order for dates, that format should be used for birth dates as well. For example, if my birthday were June 25, 1999, it would be written 990625 and the whole date would be pronounced "funf und zwanzigte Juni, jahr neunzehnhundert neun und neunzig".
Question

What is the difference of eins and ein in German?

Smartimarti

Community Answer

Eins is written for the number one while ein is the article for something that is not specified. For example: a book= ein Buch and "how many books do you have?"- one is “Wie viele Bücher hast du?"- Eins.

Warnings

Don't stress out! It takes time to learn all of those numbers!

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Don't mispronounce a number to a native German speaker. It will leave a bad impression on them.

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