Basic German Words

Free German Lessons - # 2 - German Numbers, Days and Months

Learn basic German words, the days of the week, name of months and German numbers in this edition of my free German language courses.

Learning German numbers is easier than you think :)

Basic German Words - German Numbers

The numbers from 1 to 12 are basic numbers, while 13 to 20 are built with the basic number (or a root of it) + zehn (ten).

Deutsch Kardinalzahl	Deutsch Ordinalzahl	English cardinal / ordinal number
Eins	der/die/das erste	one / first
Zwei	der/die/das zweite	two / second
Drei	der/die/das dritte	three / third
Vier	der/die/das vierte	four / fourth
Fünf	der/die/das fünfte	five / fifth
Sechs	der/die/das sechste	six / sixth
Sieben	der/die/das siebte	seven / seventh
Acht	der/die/das achte	eight / eighth
Neun	der/die/das neunte	nine / ninth
Zehn	der/die/das zehnte	ten / tenth
Elf	der/die/das elfte	eleven / eleventh
Zwölf	der/die/das zwölfte	twelve / twelfth
Dreizehn	der/die/das dreizehnte	thirteen / thirteenth
Vierzehn	der/die/das vierzehnte	fourteen / fourteenth
Fünfzehn	der/die/das fünfzehnte	fifteen /fifteenth
Sechzehn	der/die/das sechzehnte	sixteen / sixteenth
Siebzehn	der/die/das siebzehnte	seventeen / seventeenth
Achtzehn	der/die/das achtzehnte	eighteen / eighteenth
Neunzehn	der/die/das neunzehnte	nineteen / nineteenth
Zwanzig	der/die/das zwanzigste	twenty / twentieth

German numbers from 21 to 100.

Deutsch Kardinalzahl	Deutsch Ordinalzahl	English cardinal / ordinal number
Einundzwanzig	der/die/das einundzwanzigste	twenty-one / twenty-first
Zweiundzwanzig	der/die/das zweiundzwanzigste	twenty-two / twenty-second
Dreiundzwanzig	der/die/das dreiundzwanzigste	twenty-three / twenty-third
Vierundzwanzig	der/die/das vierundzwanzigste	twenty-four / twenty-fourth

Do you see the pattern? You build the decimal numbers with the basic number + the suffix zig, dreißig (only exception), vierzig, fünfzig, sechzig, siebzig, achtzig, neunzig.

The numbers between the decimals you build with the basic number + und + decimal number, vierundsiebzig (seventy-four). It might be strange for you that Germans begin with the basic number, but really, vierundsiebzig means 74.
Want the bigger numbers as well? Here we go.
100 = Hundert, 200 = Zweihundert, 300 = Dreihundert, 405 = Vierhundertfünf, 575 = Fünfhundertfünfundsiebzig and so on.

Basic German Words - The days of the week

Deutsch	English
Der Montag	Monday
Der Dienstag	Tuesday
Der Mittwoch	Wednesday
Der Donnerstag	Thursday
Der Freitag	Friday
Der Samstag	Saturday
Der Sonntag	Sunday

Because the German articles are different for masculine (der), feminine (die) and neuter (das) nouns, I am going to add the article for every noun. Makes it easier for you to learn the darn articles.

Of course, and I highly recommend it, you can also check my friend's website. Peter is a teacher and has developed some awesome tools and mnemonics for students who study German as a foreign language.

Basic German Words - The months

Deutsch	English
Januar	January
Februar	February
März	March
April	April
Mai	May
Juni	June
Juli	July
August	August
September	September
Oktober	October
November	November
Dezember	December

Now that was pretty easy? Please not that alle Monate (months) in German are masculine and use the article der.

Ich komme am 5. September in Frankfurt an - I will arrive in Frankfurt on 5th September.
Um wieviel Uhr kommst Du an (informal) / kommen Sie an? (formal) - What time do you arrive?
Wir reisen am Montag ab - We are leaving on Monday
Was kostet das? - How much is it?
Die Fahrkarte kostet fünfundzwanzig Euro und neunundneunzig cents (25,99 Euro) - The ticket costs 25.99 €