German · A1 · Everyday language
Numbers eleven to one hundred in German
Practise German numbers from eleven to one hundred while talking about ages, stairs, snacks and prices.
What you'll learn
- Recognise and say numbers from 11 to 100.
- Ask about age and quantities.
- Understand how German builds numbers such as twenty-one.
- Use numbers with steps, pages, grapes and euros.
German phrases for numbers eleven to one hundred
Elf, zwölf, dreizehn.
Eleven, twelve, thirteen.
Elf and zwölf have special forms. Dreizehn combines drei with zehn.
Wie alt bist du?
How old are you?
Use du when speaking to a child or someone you know well.
Ich bin dreißig Jahre alt.
I am thirty years old.
German uses sein (to be) for age, just like English.
Zwanzig Stufen bis nach oben.
Twenty steps to the top.
Stufen means the steps of a staircase.
Es gibt fünfzig Seiten.
There are fifty pages.
Es gibt means both 'there is' and 'there are'.
Zähl bis hundert.
Count to one hundred.
Zähl is a friendly instruction to one child. Zähle is also correct.
Wie viele Weintrauben?
How many grapes?
Use wie viele with plural nouns to ask how many.
Das kostet zehn Euro.
That costs ten euros.
When stating a price, use Euro without a plural ending.
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 Jahr; plural: die Jahre
year
For ages, say a number followed by Jahre alt.
die Stufe; plural: die Stufen
step; stair
Use this for a step on a staircase.
die Seite; plural: die Seiten
page
You can count Seiten in a book.
die Weintraube; plural: die Weintrauben
grape
Traube is also commonly used for a grape.
der Euro; plural: die Euros
euro
After a number in a price, the form stays Euro: zehn Euro.
zählen
to count
Use bis to say how far to count: bis hundert.
Numbers 11–19
Learn elf and zwölf separately. Numbers 13–19 end in -zehn. Notice the shortened forms sechzehn and siebzehn.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 11–12 | elf, zwölf | elf Weintrauben |
| 13–15 | dreizehn, vierzehn, fünfzehn | vierzehn Seiten |
| 16–19 | sechzehn, siebzehn, achtzehn, neunzehn | sechzehn Stufen |
Tens and one hundred
Most tens end in -zig. Notice zwanzig, dreißig, sechzig and siebzig. Both hundert and einhundert mean one hundred.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 20, 30, 40 | zwanzig, dreißig, vierzig | dreißig Jahre |
| 50, 60, 70 | fünfzig, sechzig, siebzig | fünfzig Seiten |
| 80, 90, 100 | achtzig, neunzig, hundert / einhundert | hundert Stufen |
Building numbers such as twenty-one
For numbers 21–99 that are not exact tens, say the ones first, then und, then the tens. Write everything as one word. Use ein, not eins, inside these numbers.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | ein + und + zwanzig → einundzwanzig | einundzwanzig Seiten |
| 32 | zwei + und + dreißig → zweiunddreißig | zweiunddreißig Jahre |
| 99 | neun + und + neunzig → neunundneunzig | neunundneunzig Weintrauben |
Age and quantities
Use ich bin for 'I am' and du bist for 'you are'. After numbers greater than one, countable nouns normally take a plural form. Currency names such as Euro stay unchanged in prices.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Ask about age | Wie alt bist du? | Wie alt bist du? |
| Say your age | Ich bin + number + Jahre alt. | Ich bin zwölf Jahre alt. |
| Ask how many | Wie viele + plural noun? | Wie viele Seiten? |
| Say a price | Das kostet + number + Euro. | Das kostet zwanzig Euro. |
More examples
Ich bin elf Jahre alt.
I am eleven years old.
Try swapping elf for another age.
Wir haben vierundzwanzig Weintrauben.
We have twenty-four grapes.
Say four before twenty: vier-und-zwanzig.
Es gibt sechzig Stufen.
There are sixty steps.
Sixty is sechzig, not sechszig.
Zähl bis einhundert.
Count to one hundred.
Einhundert and hundert are both correct.