Forming the 11th to 19th
Creating ordinal numbers from 11 to 19 is straightforward: just add -te to the standard number. Unlike numbers from 1 to 10, there are no irregular forms in this group!
| Number | Cardinal | Ordinal |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | elf | der elfte |
| 12 | zwölf | der zwölfte |
| 15 | fünfzehn | der fünfzehnte |
When using these numbers as the subject of a sentence—like when stating today's date—they take this standard -te ending after the definite article der.
| Today is the eleventh of November, and tomorrow is the twelfth. | Heute ist der elfte November und morgen ist der zwölfte. |
| The fifteenth and the sixteenth of May are free. | Der fünfzehnte und der sechzehnte Mai sind frei. |
| The twelfth and the thirteenth of August were very hot. | Der zwölfte und der dreizehnte August waren sehr heiß. |
Dates with "am" (On the...)
When you want to say that an event happens on a specific date, German uses am.
Because am triggers the dative case, you must add an extra -n to the ending, meaning -te becomes -ten (for example, elfte becomes am elften).
| My brother is coming on the thirteenth or fourteenth of March. | Mein Bruder kommt am dreizehnten oder am vierzehnten März. |
| She wants to celebrate on the seventeenth or eighteenth of July. | Sie will am siebzehnten oder am achtzehnten Juli feiern. |
| We are flying to Italy on the nineteenth, not the eleventh. | Wir fliegen am neunzehnten nach Italien, nicht am elften. |
| I wrote the email on the sixteenth, not on the seventeenth. | Ich habe die E-Mail am sechzehnten geschrieben, nicht am siebzehnten. |
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