Numbers 11–100
எண்கள் 11–100
Past twenty, German numbers do something Tamil (and English) never do: they say the units digit before the tens digit — 'one-and-twenty' instead of 'twenty-one'.
Grammar Comparison
இலக்கண ஒப்பீடு
Units before tens — the order flips
einundzwanzig (21 = 'one-and-twenty': ein + und + zwanzig)
இருபத்தி ஒன்று (21 = 'twenty-one': இருபது + ஒன்று, tens first)
Tamil, like English, always states the tens before the units: இருபத்தி ஒன்று literally means 'twenty-(and)-one'. German reverses this for every two-digit number from 21 onward — einundzwanzig literally means 'one-and-twenty'. This trips up nearly every learner at first, because you have to hold the first-heard digit in mind until the tens word arrives: when someone says 'dreiundvierzig', keep 'drei' (3) in mind until 'vierzig' (40) confirms it's 43, not some other number starting with 3.
Tens words you can predict once you know 2–9
zwanzig (20), dreißig (30), vierzig (40)... digit + -zig
இருபது (20), முப்பது (30), நாற்பது (40)... digit + -பது
Both languages build their tens words the same predictable way: take the digit and attach a fixed 'tens' suffix (Tamil -பது, German -zig, with dreißig as the one irregular exception using -ßig instead). Once you know eins through neun, you can guess most tens words in either language without memorizing each one from scratch.
Vocabulary
சொற்கள்
| German | Pronunciation | Tamil | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| zwanzig | TSVAHN-tsikh | இருபதுirubadhu | twenty (20) |
| dreißig | DRY-sikh | முப்பதுmuppadhu | thirty (30) |
| vierzig | FEER-tsikh | நாற்பதுnāṟpadhu | forty (40) |
| fünfzig | FUENF-tsikh | ஐம்பதுaimpadhu | fifty (50) |
| sechzig | ZEKH-tsikh | அறுபதுaṟupadhu | sixty (60) |
| siebzig | ZEEP-tsikh | எழுபதுeḻupadhu | seventy (70) |
| achtzig | AHKH-tsikh | எண்பதுeṇpadhu | eighty (80) |
| neunzig | NOYN-tsikh | தொண்ணூறுtoṇṇūṟu | ninety (90) |
| hundert | HOON-dert | நூறுnūṟu | one hundred (100) |
| einundzwanzig | eyen-oont-TSVAHN-tsikh | இருபத்தி ஒன்றுirubatthi oṉṟu | twenty-one (21) |
| dreiundvierzig | dry-oont-FEER-tsikh | நாற்பத்தி மூன்றுnāṟpatthi mūṉṟu | forty-three (43) |