einundzwanzig, siebenundvierzig
numbers 21 to 99: ones first, joined by und
FormEiner + und + Zehner (ein Wort): einundzwanzig, fünfundsiebzig
Meaning and usage
In German, all numbers from 21 to 99 are said back to front compared with English: the ones digit comes first, then und, then the ten. So 21 is einundzwanzig (one-and-twenty) and 47 is siebenundvierzig (seven-and-forty). The whole number is written as one word, no matter how long: dreihundertfünfundsechzig is 365. Two spellings need care: sechzig (60) and siebzig (70) are shorter than sechs and sieben, and dreißig (30) is written with ß.
The most common mistake is translating the English order: learners say zwanzigundeins or write zwanzig-eins instead of einundzwanzig. Remember: say the last digit first, and keep everything in one word.
Examples 6
Meine Schwester ist einundzwanzig Jahre alt und studiert.
My sister is twenty-one years old and a college student.
Ich bin fünfundzwanzig und hatte noch nie eine Freundin.
I'm 25 years old and I've never had a girlfriend.
Der Flug geht in fünfundvierzig Minuten.
The flight leaves in forty-five minutes.
Er muss mindestens fünfunddreißig Jahre alt sein.
He must be at least 35 years old.
Mein Vater starb im Alter von neunundvierzig.
My father died at the age of forty-nine.
Fast neunundsechzig Millionen Menschen gingen zur Wahl.
Almost sixty-nine million people voted.
Test yourself
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1 Sprachbausteine
Die Zahl 47 heißt auf Deutsch .
Show answer
Correct answer: siebenundvierzig
German says the ones before the tens and joins them with und, all in one word: 47 is siebenundvierzig.
- vierzigsieben follows the English order; German puts the ones first and joins them with und.
- sieben vierzig The ones do come first, but the number is one word joined with und: siebenundvierzig.
- vierundsiebzig is 74. The ones come first, so 47 starts with sieben.
In this topic: Numbers, dates and time
- einundzwanzig, siebenundvierzig numbers 21 to 99: ones first, joined by und
- eins, ein Buch, einundzwanzig the many faces of the number one
- der erste, der zweite, der zwanzigste saying first, second, twentieth with the right endings
- der dritte Mai, am dritten Mai saying and writing dates with ordinals
- 1998, im Jahr 1998 saying a year: bare, with im Jahr, never with in
- halb acht = 7:30 halb + next hour means half before it
- Viertel nach sieben, zehn vor acht saying minutes past and to the hour with nach and vor
- 19:45 Uhr: neunzehn Uhr fünfundvierzig Saying clock times with the 24-hour clock
- 3,50 €: drei Euro fünfzig saying prices: Euro then cents, no plural -s
Example sentences from Tatoeba, used under CC BY 2.0 FR. See sources.