German Number Converter
Type a number and get it spelled out in German the way the Duden writes it: zweitausendsechsundzwanzig as one word, eine Million zweihunderttausend with the large numbers capitalised and written apart. Choose ein, eine or einen for a final 1, add the optional ein- before hundert and tausend, switch to Swiss ss, or turn the number into an ordinal with the ending you need. Free, no sign-up, and everything runs in your browser.
Whole numbers up to 24 digits; a decimal comma or point, a minus sign and spaces between digit groups are fine.
In German
zweitausendsechsundzwanzig
Why it is spelled this way
- The unit comes before the ten, joined with “und”: einundzwanzig, not zwanzigeins.
- Numbers below a million are written as one word in lower case, however long: hundertdreiundzwanzigtausend.
How to Use the German Number Converter
- 1. Enter a number. Whole numbers up to 24 digits work, and so do negatives and decimals. Spaces, points and commas between digit groups are fine.
- 2. Choose cardinal or ordinal. Cardinals count (drei, einundzwanzig); ordinals rank (dritte, einundzwanzigste). Ordinals run from 1 to 999,999.
- 3. Set the small choices. For a cardinal, say how a final 1 is written — eins when counting, ein, eine or einen before a noun. For an ordinal, pick the ending the sentence needs. Tick the boxes for einhundert and for Swiss ss.
- 4. Copy the words. Under the result you see short notes on each rule that shaped the spelling.
How German Writes Its Numbers
The Duden writes every number below a million as a single word in lower case, however long it gets: 123,456 is hundertdreiundzwanzigtausendvierhundertsechsundfünfzig. The unit comes first and is joined to the ten with und — einundzwanzig, sechsunddreißig, neunundneunzig — so 21 is never zwanzigeins. Eleven and twelve are elf and zwölf, and 13 to 19 are built on -zehn: dreizehn, siebzehn.
Hundred and thousand may carry an ein-: the Duden shows [ein]hundert and [ein]tausend, so hundert and einhundert are both right. The tool writes the shorter form and lets you tick the longer one. The same dictionary entry lists hunderteins and einhunderteins, with the und equally optional in hundertundeins.
Million, Milliarde and the Capital Letters
From a million up, the numbers are nouns. They are feminine, capitalised and written apart from what follows: eine Million zweihunderttausend, zwei Millionen, drei Milliarden zweihundert Millionen. German uses the long scale, so a Milliarde is a thousand million (109), a Billion is a million million (1012), a Billiarde is 1015, and Trillion and Trilliarde are 1018 and 1021. A German Billion is therefore not an English billion.
| Number | Name | Words |
|---|---|---|
| 1 000 000 | Million | eine Million |
| 1 000 000 000 | Milliarde | eine Milliarde |
| 1 000 000 000 000 | Billion | eine Billion |
| 1 000 000 000 000 000 | Billiarde | eine Billiarde |
| 2 000 000 | Million (plural) | zwei Millionen |
| 1 200 000 | Million + rest | eine Million zweihunderttausend |
Eins, Ein, Eine and Einen
The number 1 changes with its job. When you count or name the number it is eins: eins, zwei, drei; hunderteins. Before a noun it takes the noun's gender and case — ein for a masculine or neuter noun in the nominative (ein Tag, ein Jahr), eine for a feminine one (eine Woche), einen for a masculine noun in the accusative (einen Tag). The 1 inside a compound with und never changes: einundzwanzig Tage, einundzwanzig Wochen. The tool changes only a final 1, as the German rule does, and the dative and genitive forms (einem, einer, eines) are not offered.
Ordinals
The ordinals up to twelve are irregular in the stem: erste, zweite, dritte, vierte, fünfte, sechste, siebte, achte, neunte, zehnte, elfte, zwölfte. Siebte has a longer variant, siebente, and the tool shows it beside the main form. From 13 to 19 add -t (dreizehnte, siebzehnte); from 20 add -st (zwanzigste, einundzwanzigste, hundertste, tausendste). Only the last part of a compound changes: 101 is hunderterste, 112 is hundertzwölfte and 2026 is zweitausendsechsundzwanzigste. An ordinal is declined like an adjective, so it takes the ending of the noun it describes — der erste Tag, den ersten Tag, ein erstes Mal. In digits the ordinal is written with a full stop: der 21. Juni.
| Phrase | Ending | Example |
|---|---|---|
| der/die/das ... (nominative) | -e | der erste Tag |
| ein ... (masculine nominative) | -er | ein erster Tag |
| ein ... (neuter) | -es | ein erstes Jahr |
| den ... (accusative masculine) | -en | den ersten Tag |
| dem ... (dative masculine) | -en | dem ersten Tag |
Frequently Asked Questions
- Are German numbers written as one word?
- Below a million, yes: the Duden writes the whole number as one lower-case word, such as zweihundertdreiundzwanzig. From a million up, Million, Milliarde and the larger names are separate capitalised nouns: zwei Millionen dreihunderttausend.
- Is it eine Million or ein Million?
- Eine Million. Million is a feminine noun, so one million is eine Million and two million is zwei Millionen. The same goes for Milliarde, Billion and the others.
- Why is 21 einundzwanzig and not zwanzigeins?
- German puts the unit before the ten and joins them with und, so 21 is one-and-twenty. This holds for 21 to 99, apart from the round tens. The 1 in einundzwanzig stays ein whatever the noun is.
- What is the difference between Milliarde and Billion?
- A Milliarde is a thousand million (109). A Billion is a million million (1012), a thousand times the English billion. Translating billion as Billion, or the reverse, is a common error.
- Do I write hundert or einhundert?
- Either. The Duden gives [ein]hundert and [ein]tausend as optional, so hundert Euro and einhundert Euro are both correct. Pick one and keep it consistent through a document.
- How do you write dates and ordinals in German?
- As a digit with a full stop, such as der 21. Juni, which is read der einundzwanzigste Juni. The ordinal takes the usual adjective ending: am ersten Mai, der erste Tag.
- Is it dreißig or dreissig?
- Dreißig in Germany and Austria. Switzerland and Liechtenstein write ss instead of ß in all words, so dreissig is correct there. The tool has a switch for the Swiss spelling.