Numbers from 0 to 9
Further below you'll find my Liveclass on the German Cardinal Numbers. It will show you the beautifully simple logic of the German number system. Here's a quick run through to read in 2-3mins first:
Numbers on this level are mainly used to share one's telephone number, dates and times of the day with others. Let's take a look at the base numbers or as we call them officially: the Kardinal.zahlen (=cardinal numbers). The numbers zero to nine should help you convey just any phone number around. Germans though tend to always put two numbers together as in 0151 67 31 88 94. The carrier number is usually spoken in individual numbers: null eins fünf eins, then: siebenundsechzig, einundreißig, achtundachtzig, vierundneunzig. For now ignore these higher numbers. You can always ask them to say it in individual numbers: "Noch einmal in Zahlen von 1-9 bitte."
Make yourself familiar with the core numbers 0 to 9. Listen to the audio while reading along the German words below. Listen to them a few times before you try to repeat the numbers after the slow speaker:
0 - null - zero (nil)
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
Numbers from 20 to 100
The tenners in German are pretty easy as well. Take a look:
20 - zwan.zig
30 - drei.ßig (there's always one that wants to be different)
40 - vier.zig
50 - fünf.zig
60 - sech.zig (lost the -s again)
70 - sieb.zig (lost the -en again)
80 - acht.zig
90 - neun.zig
100 - hund.ert (looks like hund.red, just nicer :P)
1000 - tausend (looks pretty much like thousand if you ask me)
I hope you see that instead of -ty in EN we use -zig in DE:
twen.ty = zwan.zig and that's about everything you need to remember.
Pronunciation wise you'll struggle with "sech.zig" but if you remember the pronunciation of "ich", you should get this right soon enough.
And now to the Liveclass about the German Cardinal numbers. Enjoy.