German Phrase
Wir sind zu viert.
Meaning
Literally, 'We are to four.' In everyday German it means 'There are four of us' or 'We are a group of four people.' The construction emphasizes the number of people present rather than just stating the number.
When to use
Use this phrase when you want to tell someone how many people are in your party – for example, at a restaurant, when booking tickets, or when answering the question 'Wie viele seid ihr?' (How many are you?). It sounds natural in both casual and semi‑formal settings.
✦Grammar Breakdown
Wirsindzuviert
Wir (pronoun)
First‑person plural personal pronoun, equivalent to English 'we'.
sind (verb sein)
Present tense of 'sein' for 1st‑person plural; it links the subject to a description.
zu + cardinal (group size)
The preposition 'zu' followed by a cardinal number in dative (viert) expresses the size of a group: 'zu zweit', 'zu dritt', 'zu viert', etc.
viert (dative form)
The dative form of the cardinal 'vier' used after 'zu' to indicate a group of four.
🗨In Conversation
Wie viele seid ihr?
How many are you?
Wir sind zu viert.
We are four.
✕Common Mistakes
Wir sind zu vier.
After 'zu' the cardinal must be in dative form; the correct idiom is 'zu viert', not 'zu vier'.
Wir sind vier Personen.
While understandable, native speakers usually prefer the shorter idiom 'Wir sind zu viert' or simply 'Wir sind vier'.
↔Alternatives
Wir sind vier.
We are four.
Wir sind zu viert Personen.
We are four people.
Wir zu viert.
The four of us.
Cultural Tip
The 'zu + number' construction is a fixed idiom in German. It is more idiomatic than simply saying the number when you talk about a group that is together (e.g., at a table). The phrase works across all German‑speaking regions, but you’ll hear it most often in everyday conversation rather than in formal written reports.