1.5 Numbers, Time, and Dates

Table of Contents

Overview

In this chapter you learn how German speakers talk about quantities, time, and dates at a basic everyday level. You will be able to understand and use numbers up to 100, say what time it is, and talk about days, months, and simple calendar dates. All explanations stay practical and focus on spoken and written German you immediately need in real life.

Numbers 0 to 20

German numbers up to 20 are very frequent. Learn them as whole words without trying to “build” them.

Number	German	Pronunciation hint (English approximation)
0	null	“nool” (short u)
1	eins	“ines”
2	zwei	“tsvai”
3	drei	“drai”
4	vier	“feer”
5	fünf	“fuenf” (rounded “u”)
6	sechs	“zexs”
7	sieben	“ZEE-ben”
8	acht	“ahcht” (strong ch)
9	neun	“noin”
10	zehn	“tsayn”
11	elf	“elf”
12	zwölf	“tsvölf”
13	dreizehn	“DRI-tsayn”
14	vierzehn	“FEER-tsayn”
15	fünfzehn	“FUENF-tsayn”
16	sechzehn	“ZECH-tsayn” (no extra “s”)
17	siebzehn	“ZEEB-tsayn” (no “en”)
18	achtzehn	“ACHT-tsayn”
19	neunzehn	“NOIN-tsayn”
20	zwanzig	“TSVAN-tsig”

Important spelling:
sechzehn (not sechszehn), siebzehn (not siebenzehn).

Numbers 21 to 100

From 21 to 99 German “reverses” the order: first units, then “und”, then tens as one word.

Number	German	Structure
21	einundzwanzig	1 + und + 20
22	zweiundzwanzig	2 + und + 20
23	dreiundzwanzig	3 + und + 20
30	dreißig	base: drei + ßig
31	einunddreißig	1 + und + 30
40	vierzig	base: vier + zig
50	fünfzig	base: fünf + zig
60	sechzig	base: sech(s) + zig, no “s”
70	siebzig	base: sieb(en) + zig, no “en”
80	achtzig	base: acht + zig
90	neunzig	base: neun + zig
100	hundert	“hoon-dert”

Pattern:
Units + und + tens, all written together as one word:
einundzwanzig, vierundvierzig, neunundneunzig.

Note the small spelling changes for 60 and 70: sechzig, siebzig.

Using Numbers in Simple Phrases

You already know how to say numbers. Now combine them with very easy nouns that are common in daily life. Articles and full grammar come in other chapters, so here we stay simple.

Typical patterns:

English	German (model)
I have 2 children.	Ich habe 2 Kinder.
I am 25.	Ich bin 25.
My number is 39.	Meine Nummer ist 39.
I live at number 7.	Ich wohne in Nummer 7.
3 apples, please.	3 Äpfel, bitte.

In German, numbers are usually written as digits in everyday texts: 5 Kinder, 23 Jahre, 7 Uhr.

For higher numbers but still within 0 to 100, the same rules apply: 45 Jahre, 88 Euro, 99 Probleme.

Days of the Week

German days of the week are always written with a capital letter.

English	German
Monday	Montag
Tuesday	Dienstag
Wednesday	Mittwoch
Thursday	Donnerstag
Friday	Freitag
Saturday	Samstag / Sonnabend*
Sunday	Sonntag

*“Sonnabend” is mainly in northern Germany. “Samstag” is understood everywhere.

To say “on Monday” or “on Friday” you usually just use the day alone in everyday speech, or add a small word that will be studied in time prepositions. For now remember simple patterns:

English	German
Today is Monday.	Heute ist Montag.
See you on Friday.	Bis Freitag.
On Sunday I am free.	Am Sonntag habe ich frei.

Months and Seasons

Months are also capitalized.

English	German
January	Januar
February	Februar
March	März
April	April
May	Mai
June	Juni
July	Juli
August	August
September	September
October	Oktober
November	November
December	Dezember

Seasons help you talk about the time of year.

English	German
spring	der Frühling
summer	der Sommer
autumn / fall	der Herbst
winter	der Winter

Example sentences:

Heute ist März.
Im Sommer ist es warm.
Im Winter ist es kalt.

Basic Time Expressions

To talk about time in a simple way, you need some basic words that combine well with the clock time and with days.

English	German
today	heute
yesterday	gestern
tomorrow	morgen
now	jetzt
later	später
in the morning	am Morgen
in the afternoon	am Nachmittag
in the evening	am Abend
at night	in der Nacht

Examples:

Ich komme heute.
Ich arbeite morgen.
Wir telefonieren später.

Telling the Time: Full Hours

In everyday life Germans normally use the 12-hour system in speech, with words like “morgens” or “abends” to show when. The 24-hour system is common in timetables, schedules, and written information.

The key structure is:

Es ist + number + Uhr.
Example: Es ist drei Uhr.

English	German
It is 1 o'clock.	Es ist ein Uhr.*
It is 2 o'clock.	Es ist zwei Uhr.
It is 3 o'clock.	Es ist drei Uhr.
It is 10 o'clock.	Es ist zehn Uhr.
It is 12 o'clock.	Es ist zwölf Uhr.

For “one o'clock” you will very often hear “Es ist ein Uhr” in modern usage, sometimes “Es ist eins.” in spoken German. The important part here at A1 is to recognize and produce a clear structure with “Uhr”.

When you ask for the time, two very common questions are:

English	German
What time is it?	Wie spät ist es?
What time is it?	Wie viel Uhr ist es?

Typical short answers:

Es ist drei Uhr.
Es ist neun Uhr.
Es ist zwölf Uhr.

Telling the Time: Half and Quarter

German uses a special way to say “half past”. It says “half to” the next hour, not “half past” the current hour.

“halb X” means 30 minutes before hour X.
Example: halb drei = 2:30.

Clock time	English saying	German saying
2:30	half past two	halb drei
3:30	half past three	halb vier
7:30	half past seven	halb acht

For quarter past and quarter to, spoken German uses “Viertel” with or without “nach / vor”.

Clock time	English	German (common)
3:15	quarter past three	Viertel nach drei
4:45	quarter to five	Viertel vor fünf

You can still always use the digital pattern with numbers and “Uhr” if you want to stay extra clear, but the “halb / Viertel” forms are very frequent in everyday speech.

Minutes Past and To

To say times with minutes, German uses “nach” for “past” and “vor” for “to”.

Clock time	English	German (everyday)
2:05	five past two	fünf nach zwei
2:10	ten past two	zehn nach zwei
2:20	twenty past two	zwanzig nach zwei
2:40	twenty to three	zwanzig vor drei
2:50	ten to three	zehn vor drei
2:55	five to three	fünf vor drei

You can combine these with “Uhr” if you want to sound slightly more formal or very clear.

Examples:

Es ist fünf nach zwei.
Es ist zehn vor drei.
Es ist zwanzig nach acht.

24-Hour Time in German

In timetables, train schedules, cinemas, work hours, and official contexts, you will see the 24-hour clock. The structure is simple.

Es ist + hour (0–23) + Uhr + minutes.
Example: Es ist 18 Uhr 30.

Digital	English	German (24-hour)
13:00	1 p.m.	Es ist 13 Uhr.
15:15	3:15 p.m.	Es ist 15 Uhr 15.
18:30	6:30 p.m.	Es ist 18 Uhr 30.
21:45	9:45 p.m.	Es ist 21 Uhr 45.

You can also answer a “time question” just with the number:

Wann beginnt der Film?
Um 20 Uhr.

Here “um” means “at a time”; it is very common with clock times.

Saying Dates: Day, Month, Year

To say a full date in German you usually follow the order: day, month, year. You will often meet both a spoken form and a written numeric form.

Written numeric style commonly uses dots.

English date	German written date
03/05/2024 (3 May 2024)	03.05.2024 or 3.5.2024
21/11/2023 (21 Nov 2023)	21.11.2023

The dot after the day number is obligatory in writing and shows that it is a date number.

Written date pattern:
Day. Month. Year
Example: 1.4.2025

For spoken German at A1, a simple and very common pattern is:

Heute ist der 3. Mai 2024.
Mein Geburtstag ist am 21. November.

The forms “der 3.” and “am 21.” use a grammatical form that belongs to another chapter. At A1 in this chapter, it is enough that you recognize them in simple birthday and appointment sentences.

Talking About Days and Dates in Everyday Life

You will often need to connect numbers, days, months, and time expressions in very simple ways. Here are typical basic models:

Heute ist der 5. Juni.
Morgen ist der 6. Juni.
Mein Termin ist am 10. Oktober.
Ich habe am 1. Januar frei.
Ich komme am Freitag um 9 Uhr.
Der Kurs beginnt am Montag um 18 Uhr.

You can adapt these models easily by changing only the numbers and the names of days or months.

New Vocabulary

German	English	Notes
null	zero
eins	one	base form for numbers
zwei	two
drei	three
vier	four
fünf	five
sechs	six
sieben	seven
acht	eight
neun	nine
zehn	ten
elf	eleven
zwölf	twelve
dreizehn	thirteen
vierzehn	fourteen
fünfzehn	fifteen
sechzehn	sixteen	spelling without extra “s”
siebzehn	seventeen	spelling without “en”
achtzehn	eighteen
neunzehn	nineteen
zwanzig	twenty
dreißig	thirty	ß pronounced like “ss”
vierzig	forty
fünfzig	fifty
sechzig	sixty	without “s”
siebzig	seventy	without “en”
achtzig	eighty
neunzig	ninety
hundert	hundred
einundzwanzig	twenty-one	units + und + tens
einunddreißig	thirty-one
Montag	Monday
Dienstag	Tuesday
Mittwoch	Wednesday
Donnerstag	Thursday
Freitag	Friday
Samstag	Saturday	used everywhere
Sonnabend	Saturday	mainly North Germany
Sonntag	Sunday
Januar	January
Februar	February
März	March
April	April
Mai	May
Juni	June
Juli	July
August	August
September	September
Oktober	October
November	November
Dezember	December
der Frühling	spring	season
der Sommer	summer	season
der Herbst	autumn / fall	season
der Winter	winter	season
heute	today
gestern	yesterday
morgen	tomorrow
jetzt	now
später	later
am Morgen	in the morning	time phrase
am Nachmittag	in the afternoon
am Abend	in the evening
in der Nacht	at night
Uhr	o'clock / hour	used with clock times
Wie spät ist es?	What time is it?	common question
Wie viel Uhr ist es?	What time is it?	common question
Es ist ... Uhr.	It is ... o'clock.	time answer pattern
halb	half (before next hour)	halb drei = 2:30
Viertel	quarter	Viertel nach / vor
nach	past (time)	fünf nach zwei
vor	to, before (time)	zehn vor drei
um	at (with time)	um 8 Uhr
der Termin	appointment	everyday word
der Geburtstag	birthday

1.5.1 Numbers 0-100

1.5.2 Days of the week and months

1.5.3 Telling the time

1.5.4 Dates and seasons

Comments

Please login to add a comment.

Don't have an account? Register now!