Wie alt bist du?
How old are you?
German A1 · Lesson 4/30 · Free
Numbers, age and phone
In this lesson you will learn to using numbers and exchanging personal information.
Lektion 401 · First, listen
Dialogue in context
Listen to the complete conversation and follow the translation.
AnnaWie alt bist du?How old are you?
02 · Essential phrases
Listen and repeat
Learn each expression as a complete block.
Ich bin vierundzwanzig Jahre alt.
I am twenty-four years old.
Wie ist deine Telefonnummer?
What is your phone number?
Meine Nummer ist null eins sieben sechs, zwei vier neun acht, drei fünf null.
My number is zero one seven six, two four nine eight, three five zero.
Kannst du sie wiederholen?
Can you repeat?
Ja, natürlich.
Yes, of course.
bist du,
Wie alt bist du? literally means 'how old are you?'. German uses the verb sein, to be, not haben, to have: that's why it's bist du, and the answer also uses ich bin..
ich bin.
Wie alt bist du? literally means 'how old are you?'. German uses the verb sein, to be, not haben, to have: that's why it's bist du, and the answer also uses ich bin..
03 · Understand the logic
Explanation
Keep the German visible while you listen to the explanation.
Explanation 1
Dialog im Kontext
Note that age uses the verb to be and the phone number is said digit by digit. These are two different uses of the same numerals.
Explanation 2
Wie alt bist du?
Wie alt bist du? literally means 'how old are you?'. German uses the verb sein, to be, not haben, to have: that's why it's bist du, and the answer also uses ich bin..
Explanation 3
Vierundzwanzig
Ich bin vierundzwanzig Jahre alt shows the peculiarity of German numbers: the units come before the tens. Vierundzwanzig is 'four and twenty', i.e., twenty-four.
Explanation 4
Nummer
Wie ist deine Telefonnummer? asks for the phone number. Telefonnummer is a compound word: Telefon plus Nummer.
04 · Review
Test what you learned
Choose the correct translation and check your answer instantly.