Once you know the cardinal numbers up to 100, it's not hard to form bigger numbers.
To express the hundreds, you just add the respective "ones" numbers in front of "hundert":
100: (ein)hundert
200: zweihundert
300: dreihundert
400: vierhundert
500: fünfhundert
600: sechshundert
700: siebenhundert
800: achthundert
900: neunhundert
Germans often omit the number "ein(s)" from 100. Instead of "einhundert", they simply say "hundert".
To add to numbers greater than 100, the last two digits are formed the same way as the cardinal numbers less than 100. The hundreds simply precede them.
| 201 | = zweihunderteins | |
| 212 | = zweihundertzwölf | |
| 215 | = zweihundertfünfzehn | |
| 231 | = zweihunderteinunddreißig |
More:
Forming numbers in the thousands works the same way as in the hundreds. The respective "ones" are placed in front of the word "tausend".
1.000: (ein)tausend
2.000: zweitausend
3.000: dreitausend
4.000: viertausend
5.000: fünftausend
6.000: sechstausend
7.000: siebentausend
8.000: achttausend
9.000: neuntausend
Adding numbers to the thousands also follows the same pattern. The thousands precede the hundreds and are combined with the cardinal numbers under 100:
2.222 = 2.000 + 200 + 20 + 2
zweitausendzweihundertzweiundzwanzig
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Years are expressed differently! When talking about years, the thousands are expressed as hundreds. So if you were born in 1990, you wouldn't say "tausendneunhundertneunzig". You'd say "neunzehnhundertneunzig". Why is that? Perhaps because it's shorter - or because it just sounds better. The years since 2000, however, revert to the rule of expressing numbers in the thousands. |
Numbers between 1,000 and 1 million are expressed as thousands:
| 10.000 | = zehntausend | |
| 100.000 | = hunderttausend | |
| 120.000 | = hundertzwanzigtausend | |
| 125.000 | = hundertfünfundzwanzigtausend | |
| 100.500 | = hunderttausendfünfhundert | |
| 1.000.000 | = eine Million | |
| 1.500.000 | = eine Million fünfhunderttausend |