Numbers come up in prices, times, dates and phone numbers from your very first day. The one thing that surprises everyone: from 21 upward, German says the ones digit first, joined by und.
einundzwanzig (21)
one-and-twenty
1 + und + 20
vierundvierzig (44)
four-and-forty
hundertzwei (102)
one hundred two
Dates
Days and dates use ordinal numbers with -te/-ten. “On Monday” is am Montag; “on the 3rd of May” is am dritten Mai. Written short, the date takes a dot after the number: der 3. Mai.
Heute ist der erste April.
Today is the first of April.
Ich komme am dritten Mai.
I'm coming on the third of May.
Telling the time
| Clock | Everyday | Official (24h) |
|---|---|---|
| 7:30 | halb acht | sieben Uhr dreißig |
| 8:15 | Viertel nach acht | acht Uhr fünfzehn |
| 8:45 | Viertel vor neun | acht Uhr fünfundvierzig |
Tipp · Watch out for halb: “halb acht” means half-way to eight, i.e. 7:30 — not 8:30. Germans count toward the coming hour.