Chapter 1
Laying the Foundations of German
In This Chapter
Familiarizing yourself with how to use numbers, time, and dates is basic to your German skills. Understanding parts of speech will get you ahead in using spoken and written German.
Crunching the Numbers
You encounter the two types of numbers, cardinals and ordinals, in myriads of situations. Cardinal numbers are vital for counting, prices, phone numbers, or for communicating time and dates. You use ordinal numbers, such as first, second, and third, to express a floor number or which street you take when following directions (like when someone tells you to take the third street on your left). The following sections go into detail about using both types of numbers.
1-2-3: Counting off with cardinal numbers
Table 1-1 shows numbers 1 through 29. Notice a couple of points about numbers 21 and up:
Table 1-1 Cardinal Numbers 1–29
| Numbers 0–9 | Numbers 10–19 | Numbers 20–29 |
| 0 null | 10 zehn | 20 zwanzig |
| 1 eins | 11 elf | 21 einundzwanzig |
| 2 zwei | 12 zwölf | 22 zweiundzwanzig |
| 3 drei | 13 dreizehn | 23 dreiundzwanzig |
| 4 vier | 14 vierzehn | 24 vierundzwanzig |
| 5 fünf | 15 fünfzehn | 25 fünfundzwanzig |
| 6 sechs | 16 sechzehn | 26 sechsundzwanzig |
| 7 sieben | 17 siebzehn | 27 siebenundzwanzig |
| 8 acht | 18 achtzehn | 28 achtundzwanzig |
| 9 neun | 19 neunzehn | 29 neunundzwanzig |
