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Lesson 6A1

Numbers 1–10

எண்கள் 1–10

German numbers past 20 are built by joining smaller number-words together — a habit Tamil speakers already have (பதினொன்று = பத்து + ஒன்று, 'ten-one').

Grammar Comparison

இலக்கண ஒப்பீடு

Numbers as compounds

German

13 = dreizehn (drei + zehn, 'three-ten')

Tamil

13 = பதிமூன்று (பத்து + மூன்று, 'ten-three')

Both languages fuse a units-word with a tens-word, just in reverse order: German says 'three-ten', Tamil says 'ten-three'. Once you know eins–zehn, recognizing 13–19 in German is mostly pattern-matching, exactly like reading பதி- numbers in Tamil.

Vocabulary

சொற்கள்

GermanPronunciationTamilEnglish
einseyensஒன்றுoṉṟuone
zweitsvyஇரண்டுiraṇṭutwo
dreidryமூன்றுmūṉṟuthree
vierfeerநான்குnāṉkufour
fünffuenfஐந்துaindhufive
sechszexஆறுāṟusix
siebenZEE-benஏழுēḻuseven
achtahktஎட்டுeṭṭueight
neunnoynஒன்பதுoṉbadhunine
zehntsaynபத்துpaththuten