German Basics: W-Questions, Introductions, and Numbers

German Interrogative Pronouns (W-Fragen)

• Primary W-Question Words and Translations:

  • Was? translates directly to What?

  • Wie? translates directly to How?

  • Woher? translates directly to From where? (inquiring about origin or source).

  • Wohin? translates directly to Where to? (inquiring about direction, destination, or target location).

  • Wann? translates directly to When? (inquiring about time or scheduling).

  • Welche / welcher / Welches translates to Which? (representing grammatical inflections based on gender and case: feminine/plural, masculine, and neuter, respectively).

Personal Introductions: Inquiries and Responses

• Formulations for Asking an Individual's Name:

  • Was ist dein Name? — Translates to: "What is your name?"

  • Wie heißt du? (transcribed also as Wie heiße du) — Translates to: "What are you called?" / "What is your name?"

• Formulations for Stating One's Own Name:

  • Ich heiße — Translates to: "I am called"

  • Ich bin (transcribed also as Ich kin) — Translates to: "I am"

  • Mein Name ist (transcribed as Mein name ist) — Translates to: "My name is"

Principles of German Number Construction

• Formation of Numbers from $13$ to $19$ (The Teens):

  • Constructed by compounding the single-unit root directly with the base number ten (zehn).

  • Structural equation: $\text{Unit} + \text{zehn}$

  • Representative Example ($14$):

  • $14 = \text{vier} \,(4) + \text{zehn} \,(10) = \text{vierzehn}$

  • Variations and Stem Alterations:

  • In $16$ (sechszehn), the base sechs is directly compounded with zehn.

  • In $17$ (siebzehn), the root sieben is truncated to sieb- before adding zehn.

• Formation of Decades from $20$ to $90$:

  • Formed primarily by affixing the suffix -zig (or -ßig) to the numerical root:

  • Base decade suffix pattern: $\sim\text{zig}$

  • Irregularity at $30$: Uses the alternate suffix spelling -ßig (dreißig).

  • Irregularity at $60$: Truncates sechs to sech- (sechzig).

  • Irregularity at $70$: Truncates sieben to sieb- (siebzig).

  • Representation of $80$: achtzig (transcribed as achting).

• Formation of Two-Digit Compound Numbers ($21$ through $99$):

  • German compounds two-digit numbers in inverted order compared to English: the unit digit precedes the decade digit, joined by the coordinating conjunction und ("and").

  • Structural equation: $\text{Unit} + \text{und} + \text{Decade}$

  • Representative Example ($24$):

  • $24 = \text{vier} \,(4) + \text{und} \,(\text{and}) + \text{zwanzig} \,(20) = \text{vierundzwanzig}$

  • Unit Stem Alteration for $1$ in Compounds:

  • When $1$ (eins) appears as a compound unit, it drops the final -s to become ein-, as seen in $21$ (einundzwanzig).

German Cardinal Numbers: $0$ to $100$

• Fundamental Digits ($0$ to $12$):

  • $0$: null

  • $1$: eins

  • $2$: zwei

  • $3$: drei

  • $4$: vier

  • $5$: fünf

  • $6$: sechs

  • $7$: sieben

  • $8$: acht

  • $9$: neun

  • $10$: zehn

  • $11$: elf

  • $12$: zwölf

• Teens ($13$ to $19$):

  • $13$: dreizehn

  • $14$: vierzehn

  • $15$: fünfzehn

  • $16$: sechszehn

  • $17$: siebzehn

  • $18$: achtzehn

  • $19$: neunzehn

• Twenties ($20$ to $29$):

  • $20$: zwanzig

  • $21$: einundzwanzig

  • $22$: zweiundzwanzig

  • $23$: dreiundzwanzig (recorded as driundzwanzig)

  • $24$: vierundzwanzig

  • $25$: fünfundzwanzig

  • $26$: sechsundzwanzig

  • $27$: siebenundzwanzig

  • $28$: achtundzwanzig

  • $29$: neunundzwanzig

• Decades and Hundred ($30$ to $100$):

  • $30$: dreißig

  • $40$: vierzig

  • $50$: fünfzig

  • $60$: sechzig

  • $70$: siebzig

  • $80$: achtzig (recorded as achting)

  • $90$: neunzig

  • $100$: einhundert (recorded as einnundert)