Cardinal and Ordinal Numbers in German Language

Cardinal and Ordinal Numbers in German Language

In German, cardinal numbers (which denote quantity or count) and ordinal numbers (which denote the order or position in a sequence) are used similarly to English. Here’s a breakdown of both:

Cardinal Numbers:

1. null – zero
2. eins – one
3. zwei – two
4. drei – three
5. vier – four
6. fünf – five
7. sechs – six
8. sieben – seven
9. acht – eight
10. neun – nine
11. zehn – ten
12. elf – eleven
13. zwölf – twelve
14. dreizehn – thirteen
15. vierzehn – fourteen
16. fünfzehn – fifteen
17. sechzehn – sixteen
18. siebzehn – seventeen
19. achtzehn – eighteen
20. neunzehn – nineteen
21. zwanzig – twenty
22. einundzwanzig – twenty-one
23. dreißig – thirty
24. vierzig – forty
25. fünfzig – fifty
26. sechzig – sixty
27. siebzig – seventy
28. achtzig – eighty
29. neunzig – ninety
30. hundert – one hundred
31. tausend – one thousand
32. million – million

For numbers beyond 20, German often combines the word for the tens place with the word for the ones place, such as “einundzwanzig” for 21, “dreiundvierzig” for 43, etc.

Ordinal Numbers:

1. erste – first
2. zweite – second
3. dritte – third
4. vierte – fourth
5. fünfte – fifth
6. sechste – sixth
7. siebte – seventh
8. achte – eighth
9. neunte – ninth
10. zehnte – tenth
11. elfte – eleventh
12. zwölfte – twelfth
13. dreizehnte – thirteenth
14. vierzehnte – fourteenth
15. fünfzehnte – fifteenth
16. sechzehnte – sixteenth
17. siebzehnte – seventeenth
18. achtzehnte – eighteenth
19. neunzehnte – nineteenth
20. zwanzigste – twentieth

To form ordinal numbers in German, you generally add “-te” to the end of the cardinal number, with some exceptions for the first few numbers.