German Numbers 1–100: Why 21 Is Said Backwards

You learn the numbers, you feel ready, and then a cashier rattles off a price and your brain locks up. You caught a “one” and a “twenty” in there somewhere — but which came first? Welcome to the single quirk that ambushes every English speaker learning German: the numbers come at you backwards. The good news is that it is not random, there are only a few irregular words to watch, and once you anchor on one little word — und — the whole system clicks. Let’s fix the two things that actually break you, then you’ll get a full 1–100 chart to keep.

First, the 12 words you must memorize

Everything in German counting is built from the numbers 0 through 12. There is no logic inside them — like English one, two, three, you simply learn them by heart.

Numeral	German	English
0	null	zero
1	eins	one
2	zwei	two
3	drei	three
4	vier	four
5	fünf	five
6	sechs	six
7	sieben	seven
8	acht	eight
9	neun	nine
10	zehn	ten
11	elf	eleven
12	zwölf	twelve

Notice that elf (11) and zwölf (12) don’t follow any pattern — they aren’t “einzehn” or “zweizehn.” They descend from Old High German words meaning “one left [over ten]” and “two left [over ten].” If that sounds familiar, it should: English eleven and twelve are irregular for exactly the same reason. German is not being difficult here — English does the identical thing.

Pronunciation quick wins

Three sound rules will make your numbers instantly more native. z is pronounced “ts,” so zwei is “tsvai,” not “zwai.” v is pronounced “f,” so vier is “feer.” And ü is a rounded vowel — say “ee” while pursing your lips for fünf (“fuenf”). Use the audio buttons below to train your ear; getting these three right early saves you from a lot of confused looks later.

The teens (13–19): almost regular

From 13 to 19 the pattern is simple: digit + zehn, written as one word. Crucially, the digit comes first here — dreizehn is “three-ten” — so the teens feel reassuringly close to English. The reversal hasn’t started yet.

Numeral	German	English
13	dreizehn	thirteen
14	vierzehn	fourteen
15	fünfzehn	fifteen
16	sechzehn	sixteen
17	siebzehn	seventeen
18	achtzehn	eighteen
19	neunzehn	nineteen

Two small traps: sechzehn (16) drops the s from sechs (it is never “sechszehn”), and siebzehn (17) drops the -en from sieben. Learn that shortening once, because the very same trick comes back at 60 and 70.

Why German says 21 backwards

Here is the centerpiece. For every number from 21 to 99, German says the ones digit, then und, then the tens — all as a single word with no spaces:

• 21 = ein und zwanzig → einundzwanzig (“one-and-twenty”)
• 42 = zwei und vierzig → zweiundvierzig (“two-and-forty”)
• 67 = sieben und sechzig → siebenundsechzig (“seven-and-sixty”)
• 99 = neun und neunzig → neunundneunzig (“nine-and-ninety”)

Watch the eins catch: standalone 1 is eins, but inside a number the -s drops and it becomes ein. So 21 is einundzwanzig, never “einsundzwanzig” — the same reason you say ein Euro, not eins Euro. This trips up every beginner exactly once.

So why backwards? It isn’t backwards — it’s old. German simply kept the original Germanic order that English used to share. Read “sing a song of sixpence… four and twenty blackbirds,” or Jane Austen’s “three and twenty,” and you’ll see English counted ones-first into the 1800s before it flipped. German never reformed the habit, partly because Luther’s hugely influential Bible translation wrote numbers this way. It also fits German’s love of putting the modifier first (as in und-linked compounds): einundzwanzig is “a twenty, modified by one.” The fix for your ear is mechanical: wait for the whole word, anchor on und, then flip the two halves.

The four irregular tens (20, 30, 60, 70)

The tens follow digit + -zig — but four of them misbehave. Flag these hard.

Numeral	German	English	Watch out
20	zwanzig	twenty	special stem, not “zweizig”
30	dreißig	thirty	ends in -ßig (eszett), not -zig
40	vierzig	forty	regular
50	fünfzig	fifty	regular
60	sechzig	sixty	drops the s of sechs
70	siebzig	seventy	drops the -en of sieben
80	achtzig	eighty	regular
90	neunzig	ninety	regular
100	hundert	one hundred	also einhundert

Notice the pattern: the same roots that misbehave in the teens misbehave here. Learn the sech-/sieb- shortener once and it covers 16, 17, 60, and 70 together. And 100 is hundert — you’ll often hear it alone, without ein.

Surviving prices at native speed

The most dangerous pairs for your ear are sechzehn (16) vs. sechzig (60), and siebzehn (17) vs. siebzig (70). The stems are identical — the ending carries the whole meaning: -zehn is longer (“tsayn”), -zig is shorter (“tsikh”). Mishearing 16 for 60 at a market is a real money mistake, so train your ear on the endings, not the start.

German writes prices with a decimal comma (3,99 €) and speaks them as euros, then cents, usually skipping any word for the decimal. The cents are themselves a reversed two-digit number, so a price stacks two reversals in one breath — which is exactly why prices feel so fast.

German	English	Written
fünf Euro neunundneunzig	five euros ninety-nine	5,99 €
vierundzwanzig Euro fünfzig	twenty-four euros fifty	24,50 €
drei Euro neunundneunzig	three euros ninety-nine	3,99 €

Say it yourself: fünf Euro neunundneunzig is just two numbers in a row — no “comma,” no “point.” Knowing your currency word, Euro, plus the reversal rule gets you through almost any checkout. If shopping and small talk are your goal, the German tipping and etiquette guide for travelers pairs well with this, and a polite bitte at the right moment smooths the whole exchange.

Bonus: years and phone numbers

Years up to 1999 use the hundred construction: 1984 is neunzehnhundertvierundachtzig (“nineteen-hundred-four-and-eighty”). From 2000 on, switch to the thousand form: 2025 is zweitausendfünfundzwanzig. Phone numbers are usually read in digit pairs — each pair reversed, of course — so the inversion bites there too. Same rule, more practice.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Saying the tens first. “Zwanzigeins” for 21 — wrong. It’s einundzwanzig, ones digit first.
• Keeping the -s on eins. “Einsundzwanzig” — wrong. Inside a number, eins becomes ein.
• Adding spaces or hyphens. “Ein und zwanzig” — wrong. It is one solid word.
• Mishearing 16 as 60. Listen for the ending: -zehn vs. -zig.
• Over-regularizing. It’s elf, zwölf, sechzehn, siebzehn, zwanzig, dreißig, sechzig, siebzig — not the “logical” forms.
• Forgetting -ßig on 30. It’s dreißig with an eszett, not “dreizig.”

Counting is muscle memory, so don’t just read the chart — say prices out loud until the flip is automatic. Try reading every price tag you see today as a German number, anchor on und, and let the reversal become a reflex. When you’re ready for the next building block, the guide to memorizing German vocabulary fast will help these stick for good. You’ve got this — eins, zwei, drei, los!