German Pronouns, the Verb sein and Numbers 0 to 100
Pronouns and numbers are the fastest way to start building real sentences. With the nine subject pronouns and the verb sein you can already say who you are, how old you are and where you come from.
Subject pronouns
German distinguishes between informal and formal you. Du is for one friend, family member or child. Ihr is for several friends. Sie (always with a capital S) is the formal you, for one or many people, and it takes the same verb form as they.
| Person | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | ich | I |
| 2nd singular | du | you (informal) |
| 3rd singular | er / sie / es | he / she / it |
| 1st plural | wir | we |
| 2nd plural | ihr | you (informal, plural) |
| 3rd plural | sie | they |
| Formal | Sie | you (formal) |
The verb sein (to be)
Sein is irregular, so it has to be memorized. It is the most important verb you will learn.
| Pronoun | sein | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ich | bin | Ich bin müde. (I am tired.) |
| du | bist | Du bist nett. (You are nice.) |
| er / sie / es | ist | Er ist Lehrer. (He is a teacher.) |
| wir | sind | Wir sind hier. (We are here.) |
| ihr | seid | Ihr seid spät. (You are late.) |
| sie / Sie | sind | Sie sind freundlich. (They / You are friendly.) |
Numbers 0 to 20
null, eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf, sechs, sieben, acht, neun, zehn, elf, zwölf, dreizehn, vierzehn, fünfzehn, sechzehn, siebzehn, achtzehn, neunzehn, zwanzig. From 13 to 19 the pattern is the number plus -zehn, but note that 16 and 17 lose letters: sechzehn (not sechszehn) and siebzehn (not siebenzehn).
Tens and bigger numbers
The tens are zwanzig (20), dreißig (30), vierzig (40), fünfzig (50), sechzig (60), siebzig (70), achtzig (80), neunzig (90) and hundert (100). Note dreißig with ß, and sechzig and siebzig, which also lose letters.
For numbers between the tens, German says the ones first: 21 is einundzwanzig (one and twenty), 45 is fünfundvierzig (five and forty), 99 is neunundneunzig. Numbers are written as one word.
Common mistakes
- Mixing up sie (she or they) and Sie (formal you). Check the verb: sie ist is she is, sie sind is they are.
- Writing dreizig instead of dreißig, or sechszehn instead of sechzehn.
- Saying the tens before the ones. German says einundzwanzig, not zwanzigeins.
Practice
Say your phone number, your age and the age of three people you know in German. Then conjugate sein from memory for all pronouns.
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