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German ordinal numbers from 1st to 100th Posted by on Nov 7, 2011 in Language

Numbers come in two forms in almost every language. The most common form is called cardinal numbers. You use cardinal numbers when you look at a price tag or do your taxes. In other words, you use these types of numbers for any type of counting. The second type of number is called ordinal numbers, which allows you to rank something. For example, you may want to tell a friend that you live on the fourth floor.

Cardinal numbers are used more often in everyday speech and, thus, need to be learned first. When you have mastered the cardinal numbers it’s time to focus on the ordinal numbers. Below you find a list of the German ordinal numbers.

 

 

1. erstens – 1st first

2. zweitens – 2nd second

3. drittens – 3rd  third

4. viertens – 4th fourth

5. fünftens – 5th fifth

6. sechstens – 6th sixth

7. siebtens / siebentens – 7th seventh

8. achtens – 8th eighth

9. neuntens – 9th ninth

10. zehntens – 10th tenth

11. elftens – 11th eleventh

12. zwölftens – 12th twelfth

13. dreizehntens – 13th thirteenth

14. vierzehntens – 14th fourteenth

15. fünfzehntens – 15th fifteenth

16. sechzehntens – 16th sixteenth

17. siebzehntens – 17th seventeenth

18. achtzehntens – 18th eighteenth

19. neunzehntens – 19th nineteenth

20. zwanzigstens – 20th twentieth

21. einundzwanzigstens – 21st twenty-first

22. zweiundzwanzigstens – 22nd twenty-second

23. dreiundzwanzigstens – 23rd twenty-third

24. vierundzwanzigstens – 24th twenty-fourth

25. fünfundzwanzigstens – 25th twenty-fifth

26. sechstundzwanzigstens – 26th twenty-sixth

27. siebenundzwanzigstens – 27th twenty-seventh

28. achtundzwanzigstens – 28th twenty-eighth

29. neunundzwanzigstens – 29th twenty-ninth

30. dreizigstens – 30th thirtieth

31. einunddreizigstens – 31st thirty-first

40. vierzigstens – 40th fourtieth

42. zweiundvierzigstens – 42nd forty-second

50. fünfzigstens – 50th fiftieth

53. dreiundfünfzigstens – 53rd fifty-third

60. sechzigstens – 60th sixtieth

64. vierundsechzistens – 64th sixty-fourth

70. siebzigstens – 70th seventieth

75. fünfundsiebzigstens – 75th seventy-fifth

80. achtzigstens – 80th eightieth

86. sechsundachzigstens – 86th eighty-sixth

90. neunzigstens – 90th ninetieth

97. siebenundneunzigstens – 97th ninety-seventh

100. hundertstens – 100th hundredth

 

As you can see, in German, ordinal numbers are abbreviated with a dot after the number, whereas English uses the auxiliaries Xst, Xnd, Xrd, and Xth.

 

To be continued…

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About the Author: Sandra Rösner

Hello everybody! I studied English and American Studies, Communication Science, and Political Science at the University of Greifswald. Since I have been learning English as a second language myself for almost 20 years now I know how difficult it is to learn a language other than your native one. Thus, I am always willing to keep my explanations about German grammar comprehensible and short. Further, I am inclined to encourage you to speak German in every situation. Regards, Sandra


Comments:

  1. Samir Elguebely:

    Richtig ist :der,die, das erste-der,die das zweite-der,die das dritte..usw oder Ich wohne im ersten ,zweiten,dritten ,vierten Stock.

    • Sandra Rösner:

      @Samir Elguebely Samir, these are the basic forms and they’re correct! I will discuss ‘ordinals in use’ (just like you did) in my next two posts.

  2. Jáed Fonseca Toledo:

    Typo: sechSzehn, instead of sechzehn (without the second S).

  3. Jack:

    The ordinals are spelled but how are ordinals abbreviated with numbers?

    English example: 1st, 3rd

    German? 1XX 3XX 5XX ??

    This would be helpful in translating written text.

    • Chris:

      @Jack That’s also written in the post, you can see next to each written number is its abbreviation. Basically just use a period instead of -st, -nd, or -th. Ex:

      the 1st song — das 1. Lied