6 in German is sechs, pronounced approximately “zeks.” It is used for counting, prices, ages, and times: sechs Euro means “six euros,” and sechs Uhr means “six o’clock.” The word itself does not take a different ending simply because the noun is masculine, feminine, or neuter.
6 = sechs. Say sechs with one syllable and an initial voiced z-like sound. Wir sind sechs Personen means “There are six of us” or “We are six people,” depending on the context.
- How Do You Say 6 in German?
- Six in the German Number System
- 6 in German: Quick Comparison
- How to Pronounce Sechs
- Using Six for Quantities, Age, and Prices
- Six O’clock and Six Hours
- 6th in German: Sechste
- Example Sentences Using Six in German
- Frequently Asked Questions About 6 in German
- Summary: How to Say 6 in German
How Do You Say 6 in German?
The standard cardinal number is sechs. A cardinal tells you how many there are. Sechs Bücher means “six books,” sechs Tage means “six days,” and sechs Minuten means “six minutes.”
When someone asks Wie viele?, “How many?”, you can answer Sechs if the counted thing is already understood. A complete phrase is more useful when you need to identify both the quantity and the object.
Meaning: Six / 6
Six in the German Number System
Learn sechs first, then notice how its spelling changes in some related numbers. Sixteen and sixty use a shorter stem, while numbers such as twenty-six retain the full sechs.
1. Sechs — Six
Sechs is the ordinary standalone form. In a count, vier, fünf, sechs, sieben means “four, five, six, seven.” The final written s belongs to the normal spelling.
The same form appears before a plural noun: sechs Kinder, “six children.” You do not change it into a gender-specific form to match Kinder or another counted noun.
2. Sechzehn — Sixteen
Sechzehn means sixteen. Its spelling drops the s found at the end of sechs. Do not form the word by simply writing the complete sechs followed by zehn.
The words sechs and sechzehn name different values, so listen to the whole number before writing it down. In a price or an appointment time, mistaking six for sixteen can change the practical meaning substantially.
3. Sechzig — Sixty
Sechzig means sixty and also uses the shorter sech- spelling. The ending -zig is part of the tens number. It is not an ending you add to the full standalone word without a spelling change.
Compare sechs, 6; sechzehn, 16; and sechzig, 60. Practice them as a small group so that the similar beginnings do not blur together.
4. Sechsundzwanzig — Twenty-Six
Sechsundzwanzig means twenty-six, literally “six and twenty.” Here the s in sechs remains. German usually places the unit before the tens in these two-digit numbers.
The same structure produces sechsunddreißig, thirty-six. The shorter stem in sechzehn and sechzig is not a rule that removes s from every larger number containing six.
6 in German: Quick Comparison
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| Number | German | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | fünf | five |
| 6 | sechs | six |
| 7 | sieben | seven |
| 16 | sechzehn | sixteen; shortened stem |
| 26 | sechsundzwanzig | twenty-six; full sechs |
| 60 | sechzig | sixty; shortened stem |
| 6th | sechste | ordinal form in a suitable construction |
The ordinal in the last row identifies position rather than quantity. Its ending may change in a sentence. Learn a complete phrase such as der sechste Tag, “the sixth day,” rather than treating sechste as a form that fits every grammatical environment.
How to Pronounce Sechs
Sechs has one syllable. The initial s has a voiced sound, approximately the z in English “zoo.” The vowel is short, and the final part is a ks-like consonant sequence.
The written ch in this particular word does not use the soft sound of ich. It is part of the spelling pattern that produces the ks sound in sechs. A rough guide is “zeks,” without an extra vowel at the end.
Do not pronounce each written letter as if it were a separate syllable. Listen to sechs Euro and sechs Personen to hear the number connected naturally to the next word.
Using Six for Quantities, Age, and Prices
For a quantity, put sechs before the noun: sechs Äpfel, “six apples,” or sechs Tickets, “six tickets.” The noun normally uses the form appropriate to the counted quantity.
For age, German uses sein, “to be”: Das Kind ist sechs Jahre alt, “The child is six years old.” The phrase Jahre alt makes the age meaning explicit.
For a price, Das kostet sechs Euro means “That costs six euros.” With an exact amount, Euro is commonly used unchanged after the number. Do not add an English plural s to the German currency phrase.
- sechs Personen — six people
- sechs Tage — six days
- sechs Wochen — six weeks
- sechs Kilometer — six kilometers
- sechs Euro — six euros
Some nouns have identical singular and plural forms, such as Kilometer. The fact that the written noun does not change does not make the quantity singular. Learn the noun’s plural pattern alongside the number phrase.
Six O’clock and Six Hours
Sechs Uhr means six o’clock. Wir treffen uns um sechs Uhr means “We will meet at six o’clock.” The preposition um introduces the specified meeting time.
A duration of six hours is sechs Stunden. Compare um sechs Uhr, “at six o’clock,” with sechs Stunden lang, “for six hours.” The difference is the point on the clock versus the length of time.
If the time of day could be unclear, specify morning or evening or use a twenty-four-hour expression where appropriate. The number sechs alone does not tell the listener whether you mean the morning or evening.
6th in German: Sechste
The ordinal stem is sechst-. Der sechste Tag means “the sixth day,” and die sechste Seite means “the sixth page.” The adjective ending follows the grammar of the phrase.
For a date, am sechsten Mai means “on the sixth of May.” In digits, German writes am 6. Mai, with a full stop after the number to mark the ordinal.
Compare sechs Tage, a total of six days, with der sechste Tag, one day occupying the sixth position. Keeping the quantity and ordinal meanings separate makes dates and instructions easier to understand.
Example Sentences Using Six in German
Use: Giving the size of a group in the appropriate context.
Use: Stating an exact price.
Use: Using um for a specified meeting time.
Frequently Asked Questions About 6 in German
Tap a question below to see the answer.
How do you say six in German?
Say sechs, with one syllable. A rough English pronunciation guide is “zeks.”
Do you pronounce the ch like ich in sechs?
No. In sechs, the final spelling produces a ks-like sound rather than the soft ch of ich.
How do you say six years old?
Use sechs Jahre alt. Das Kind ist sechs Jahre alt means “The child is six years old.”
What is the difference between six and sixteen?
Six is sechs. Sixteen is sechzehn, with a shortened spelling of the first part.
How do you say six o’clock?
Say sechs Uhr. For “at six o’clock,” use um sechs Uhr. A duration of six hours is sechs Stunden.
How do you say sixth in German?
Use an ordinal form based on sechst-, such as der sechste Tag or am sechsten Mai.
Summary: How to Say 6 in German
6 in German is sechs. Use it in phrases such as sechs Personen, sechs Euro, and sechs Uhr. Keep the pronunciation to one syllable.
Remember the shortened spellings sechzehn and sechzig, but retain the full sechs in sechsundzwanzig. For positions and dates, learn the ordinal forms such as sechste and am sechsten.
