9 – Neun
These are very important to know, because they are also the basis for further numbers. In order to learnthem really well, there are several exercises you can do:
- count in German when doing sports exercises that require counting (e. g. dancing, gymnastics, TaiChi, …)
- read out all phone numbers in your cell phone in German
- ask yourself easy math questions in German
Cultural Insight
Phone numbers in Germany do not follow the same pattern as American ones. Rather, they typicallyconsist of an area code (4-5 digits) for the city, a slash or dash, and then the phone number thatidentifies the phone within that area. That phone number can be any length, depending on the size ofthe city. For example, in a city of 60,000 people, there are people whose phone number (without thearea code) is only 3 digits, and in the same city there are people whose phone number is 7 digits. Andthere’s everything in between.
When calling somebody from the same city, you don’t dial the area code. In order to distinguish localcalls from nationwide calls, area codes always start with a zero. Once you dial that, the phone knowsthat you are not dialing a local number. When dialing international, you even dial two zeros before thecountry code. Then, after the country code, you leave out the zero for the area code, because it’salready clear that you are not making a local call.
Area codes are convenient, because they can be used to identify what part of the country and what citysomebody is from. The first digit after the 0 is indicative of the general region, for example area codesstarting with 02 are for cities in Western Germany, whereas area codes starting with 03 are in EasternGermany, area codes with 04 are in Northern Germany, and so on.
01 is a special case: area codes starting with 01 don’t belong to any particular area, they belong to aparticular cell phone company. Cell phone numbers in Germany are not lumped with regular numbers,and it is also much more expensive to call them, no matter whether the person is in the same city ornot. One good thing is however that you are not paying for receiving cell phone calls, unless you areoutside of Germany.
0190 is a special case within a special case: phone numbers with this area code are not cell phones buttoll calls that will charge you extra-ordinarily much for each minute, for example for adult content. It’sthe equivalent of 1-900 in the USA.
The most important phone number that you should know when travelling to a German-speakingcountry is 112. This number, which never needs an area code, will nevertheless connect you to thelocal emergency response, that can send firefighters or an ambulance to your place. In Germany, thepolice (Polizei) has a special number: 110; in Austria and Switzerland 112 is good for when you needthe police, too.
