German · A1 · Everyday language
Counting Little Kisses in German
Count kisses, claps and everyday objects together in German. Practise numbers from 11 to 100 through playful phrases for you and your child.
What you'll learn
- Use numbers from 11 to 20.
- Recognise the tens from 20 to 100.
- Build numbers such as 21 and 35 with und.
- Count together using warm, simple German phrases.
German phrases for counting little kisses
Elf Küsschen für dich!
Eleven kisses for you!
Küsschen means little kisses. Für dich is the familiar way to say for you to one child.
Zwölf kleine Klatscher!
Twelve little claps!
Klatscher means individual claps. Count them aloud together.
Dreizehn Bauklötze in der Kiste!
Thirteen blocks in the box!
Bauklötze are toy building blocks.
Vierzehn Enten auf dem Teich!
Fourteen ducks on the pond!
Auf dem Teich describes ducks on the pond's surface.
Fünfzehn Schritte bis zum Baum!
Fifteen steps to the tree!
Bis zum Baum means as far as the tree.
Zwanzig Bläschen in deinem Badewasser!
Twenty bubbles in your bath!
Bläschen means little bubbles. Badewasser is bathwater.
Lass uns bis fünfzig zählen!
Let's count to fifty!
Lass uns invites your child to do something with you.
Hundert Kuscheleinheiten für dich!
One hundred cuddles for you!
Kuscheleinheiten is an affectionate word for cuddles. Hundert and einhundert both mean one hundred.
Hear these phrases and practise them
Tildi plays every phrase out loud, tests you in five-minute lessons and builds them into bedtime stories from your own picture books.
Try it free for 7 daysKey words
das Küsschen
little kiss
The plural is also Küsschen. The ending -chen makes a word sound small or affectionate.
der Klatscher
clap
Plural: die Klatscher. The verb klatschen means to clap.
der Bauklotz
building block
Plural: die Bauklötze. Notice the change from o to ö.
der Schritt
step
Plural: die Schritte.
das Bläschen
little bubble
The plural is also Bläschen.
zählen
to count
Use bis before the number you want to count up to: bis fünfzig.
Numbers 11–19
Learn elf and zwölf separately. Numbers 13–19 use a number stem followed by zehn. Notice the shortened stems in sechzehn and siebzehn.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | elf | elf Küsschen |
| 12 | zwölf | zwölf Klatscher |
| 13 | dreizehn | dreizehn Bauklötze |
| 14 | vierzehn | vierzehn Enten |
| 15 | fünfzehn | fünfzehn Schritte |
| 16 | sechzehn | sechzehn Bläschen |
| 17 | siebzehn | siebzehn Küsschen |
| 18 | achtzehn | achtzehn Schritte |
| 19 | neunzehn | neunzehn Bauklötze |
Tens and one hundred
Most tens end in -zig. Learn zwanzig and dreißig carefully. Sechzig and siebzig use shortened stems.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | zwanzig | zwanzig Bläschen |
| 30 | dreißig | dreißig Schritte |
| 40 | vierzig | vierzig Küsschen |
| 50 | fünfzig | bis fünfzig zählen |
| 60 | sechzig | sechzig Bauklötze |
| 70 | siebzig | siebzig Bläschen |
| 80 | achtzig | achtzig Schritte |
| 90 | neunzig | neunzig Klatscher |
| 100 | hundert / einhundert | hundert Kuscheleinheiten |
Building numbers between the tens
For numbers such as 21 and 35, German puts the ones first, then und, then the tens. Write the whole number as one word. Use ein, not eins, inside these numbers.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 21: one-and-twenty | ein + und + zwanzig → einundzwanzig | einundzwanzig Küsschen |
| 35: five-and-thirty | fünf + und + dreißig → fünfunddreißig | fünfunddreißig Schritte |
| 99: nine-and-ninety | neun + und + neunzig → neunundneunzig | neunundneunzig Bläschen |
More examples
Wir zählen die Küsschen.
We count the kisses.
Wir means we. Use zählen with wir.
Lass uns bis zwanzig zählen!
Let's count to twenty!
Replace zwanzig with another number to set a new counting goal.
Wir klatschen zwölfmal.
We clap twelve times.
Attach -mal to a number to say how many times.
Zweiundzwanzig Schritte bis zum Baum!
Twenty-two steps to the tree!
Zweiundzwanzig literally follows the order two-and-twenty.