FlexiLingoIn one line
Up to sixty it is easy; from sixty to a hundred French counts in twenties, and that is where everybody gets stuck.
The table
0 zéro /ze.ʁo/ | 1 un /œ̃/ | 2 deux /dø/ | 3 trois /tʁwa/ |
4 quatre /katʁ/ | 5 cinq /sɛ̃k/ | 6 six /sis/ | 7 sept /sɛt/ |
8 huit /ɥit/ | 9 neuf /nœf/ | 10 dix /dis/ | 11 onze /ɔ̃z/ |
12 douze /duz/ | 13 treize /tʁɛz/ | 14 quatorze /ka.tɔʁz/ | 15 quinze /kɛ̃z/ |
16 seize /sɛz/ | 17 dix-sept /di.sɛt/ | 18 dix-huit /di.zɥit/ | 19 dix-neuf /diz.nœf/ |
20 vingt /vɛ̃/ | 30 trente /tʁɑ̃t/ | 40 quarante /ka.ʁɑ̃t/ | 50 cinquante /sɛ̃.kɑ̃t/ |
60 soixante /swa.sɑ̃t/ | 70 soixante-dix /swa.sɑ̃t.dis/ | 80 quatre-vingts /katʁ.vɛ̃/ | 90 quatre-vingt-dix /katʁ.vɛ̃.dis/ |
100 cent /sɑ̃/ | 1000 mille /mil/ | 1000000 un million /œ̃ mi.ljɔ̃/ | un milliard /œ̃ mi.ljaʁ/ |
seizeis the last single-word number. From 17 on they are compounds:dix-sept= ten-seven.
English breaks at exactly the same point. Eleven, twelve, thirteen… are single words and twenty-one onwards are compounds — English simply switches at sixteen/seventeen too, then hides it (sixteen is "six-teen", a compound wearing a disguise). French just stops disguising it at seventeen.
The four hard spots
1. Seventy = sixty-ten
French has no word for 70 and says "sixty-ten":
| Number | French | Analysis | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 70 | soixante-dix | 60 + 10 | /swa.sɑ̃t.dis/ |
| 71 | soixante et onze | 60 and 11 | /swa.sɑ̃.t‿e ɔ̃z/ |
| 72 | soixante-douze | 60 + 12 | /swa.sɑ̃t.duz/ |
| 79 | soixante-dix-neuf | 60 + 19 | /swa.sɑ̃t.diz.nœf/ |
2. Eighty = four twenties
| Number | French | Analysis | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 80 | quatre-vingts | 4 × 20 | /katʁ.vɛ̃/ |
| 81 | quatre-vingt-un | 80 + 1 | /katʁ.vɛ̃.œ̃/ |
| 90 | quatre-vingt-dix | 80 + 10 | /katʁ.vɛ̃.dis/ |
| 91 | quatre-vingt-onze | 80 + 11 | /katʁ.vɛ̃.tɔ̃z/ |
| 99 | quatre-vingt-dix-neuf | 80 + 19 | /katʁ.vɛ̃.diz.nœf/ |
The
sinquatre-vingtsappears only when the number ends there.quatre-vingtsbutquatre-vingt-unwith nos.
English used to do this too, and one famous sentence still does it. "Fourscore and seven years ago" — that is 87, counted exactly as
quatre-vingt-sept. A "score" is twenty, and English counted in scores for centuries before decimal counting took over completely. French kept the habit for 80 and 90; English kept it only in the phrase.
3. et in only one place
With et | Without et |
|---|---|
vingt et un /vɛ̃.t‿e œ̃/ | vingt-deux /vɛ̃t.dø/ |
trente et un /tʁɑ̃.t‿e œ̃/ | trente-deux /tʁɑ̃t.dø/ |
soixante et onze /swa.sɑ̃.t‿e ɔ̃z/ | soixante-douze /swa.sɑ̃t.duz/ |
| — | quatre-vingt-un /katʁ.vɛ̃.œ̃/ — no et /e/ |
| — | quatre-vingt-onze /katʁ.vɛ̃.tɔ̃z/ — no et /e/ |
The rule: only with un, and with onze in 71. The eighties never take et.
4. cent and mille — which one takes an s
Takes s? | Example | |
|---|---|---|
cent /sɑ̃/ alone | no | cent euros /sɑ̃.t‿ø.ʁo/ |
cent /sɑ̃/ multiplied and at the end | yes | deux cents euros /dø sɑ̃.z‿ø.ʁo/ |
cent /sɑ̃/ multiplied with something after it | no | deux cent trois /dø sɑ̃ tʁwa/ |
mille /mil/ | never | deux mille /dø mil/ trois mille /tʁwa mil/ |
million /mi.ljɔ̃/ milliard /mi.ljaʁ/ | yes | deux millions /dø mi.ljɔ̃/ |
millenever takes ans— not indeux mille, not indix mille. That one is absolute.
Pronunciation — numbers that change shape
A few numbers have three different pronunciations depending on the next word:
| Number | Alone | + consonant | + vowel |
|---|---|---|---|
six | /sis/ | /si/ — six francs | /siz/ — six ans |
dix | /dis/ | /di/ — dix francs | /diz/ — dix ans |
huit | /ɥit/ | /ɥi/ — huit francs | /ɥit/ — huit ans |
neuf | /nœf/ | /nœf/ | /nœv/ — neuf ans |
cinq | /sɛ̃k/ | /sɛ̃/ or /sɛ̃k/ | /sɛ̃k/ |
vingt | /vɛ̃/ | /vɛ̃/ | /vɛ̃t/ — vingt ans |
neuf ans/nœ.v‿ɑ̃/ andneuf heures/nœ.v‿œʁ/ are the only two places whereneufsounds /v/. Everywhere else it stays /f/.
un is the only number with a gender
| Pronunciation | ||
|---|---|---|
un livre | one book | /œ̃ livʁ/ |
une table | one table | /yn tabl/ |
vingt et une minutes | twenty-one minutes | /vɛ̃.t‿e yn mi.nyt/ |
Every other number is invariable.
Writing decimals and large numbers
| French | English | |
|---|---|---|
| decimal separator | 3,5 — a comma | 3.5 — a point |
| thousands separator | 1 000 — a space | 1,000 — a comma |
| reading a decimal | trois virgule cinq /tʁwa viʁ.ɡyl sɛ̃k/ | "three point five" |
The two conventions are exact opposites, and both look like valid English.
1,5in French is one and a half, not fifteen hundred;1 000is a thousand, not a broken number. On a French price tag,1 250,50 €is one thousand two hundred and fifty euros fifty. Read the comma as a decimal point and the space as a comma, and everything falls into place.
Examples
| English | French | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Twenty-one. | Vingt et un. | /vɛ̃.t‿e œ̃/ |
| Seventy-five. | Soixante-quinze. | /swa.sɑ̃t kɛ̃z/ |
| Eighty. | Quatre-vingts. | /ka.tʁə vɛ̃/ |
| Ninety-nine. | Quatre-vingt-dix-neuf. | /ka.tʁə vɛ̃ diz nœf/ |
| Two hundred euros. | Deux cents euros. | /dø sɑ̃.z‿ø.ʁo/ |
| Two thousand and twenty-five. | Deux mille vingt-cinq. | /dø mil vɛ̃t sɛ̃k/ |
| I'm nine years old. | J'ai neuf ans. | /ʒe nœ.v‿ɑ̃/ |
| Three point five. | Trois virgule cinq. | /tʁwa viʁ.ɡyl sɛ̃k/ |
| I have six books. | J'ai six livres. | /ʒe si livʁ/ |
| I'm twenty. | J'ai vingt ans. | /ʒe vɛ̃.t‿ɑ̃/ |
Common mistakes
| ❌ | ✅ | Why |
|---|---|---|
septante | soixante-dix | Not used in France |
quatre-vingt-et-un | quatre-vingt-un | The eighties take no et |
deux milles | deux mille | mille never takes an s |
deux cents trois | deux cent trois | Something follows, so the s drops |
reading six livres as /sis livʁ/ | /si livʁ/ | The x is silent before a consonant |
1.5 for one and a half | 1,5 | French uses a comma |
Why seventy and eighty are like this
a base-twenty system left over from the Celts
Medieval French counted in twenties — in groups of twenty rather than ten. six-vingts (120) and even quinze-vingts (300) were in use.
It probably came from the Celtic language of the Gauls — the people who were in France before the Romans. Modern Celtic languages still count in twenties.
Then the decimal system took over and the vigesimal forms fell away one by one — but 80 and 90 survived, because they were used too often to be replaced in time.
And Belgium and Switzerland did replace them:
| Number | France | Belgium and Switzerland |
|---|---|---|
| 70 | soixante-dix /swa.sɑ̃t.dis/ | septante /sɛp.tɑ̃t/ |
| 80 | quatre-vingts /katʁ.vɛ̃/ | huitante /ɥi.tɑ̃t/ (Switzerland) |
| 90 | quatre-vingt-dix /katʁ.vɛ̃.dis/ | nonante /no.nɑ̃t/ |
But international exams use the French-of-France system, so soixante-dix is the one to know. Understand septante if you hear it; do not produce it.
One survival worth knowing: a hospital in Paris is still called Quinze-Vingts — that is 300, the number of beds it had in the thirteenth century.