Published: January 4, 2024

French Numbers: How to Count in French from 1-100+ Before Travel to France

French Numbers: How to Count in French from 1-100+

Bonjour and welcome to your guide to learning French numbers! In this post, we will embark on an exciting journey to uncover the secrets of counting in French.

Whether you're a beginner or looking to brush up on your skills, this comprehensive guide will equip you with the knowledge to confidently navigate the world of French numerals.

From the fundamental digits to the more complex numbers extending beyond 100, we will explore each numerical milestone with clarity and precision.

Along the way, we'll also delve into the intricacies of French number pronunciation, ensuring that you not only understand the numbers but can also pronounce them fluently. Get ready to dive into the enchanting realm of French numbers and expand your linguistic horizons.

Before We Get Started

Before we get started

Learning French numbers is an essential skill for anyone planning to travel to France. Beyond just the practicality of everyday interactions, knowing how to count in French enhances your travel experience in numerous ways.

From understanding prices and currency exchanges to reading timetables for trains and buses, mastering French numbers empowers you to navigate with ease and confidence.

Ordering in cafes and restaurants becomes a delightful experience when you can effortlessly communicate quantities and make accurate transactions. Moreover, locals appreciate the effort made to speak their language, and it fosters a deeper cultural connection.

So, embrace the beauty of French numbers before your journey begins, and unlock a world of possibilities during your travels through the charming streets of France. Bon voyage!

Counting in French

Counting in French

The counting system in French is essentially split into three phases.

The first phase is the numbers 1-16; these give you a base for all other numbers. Once you have these memorized, the rest of the French numbers are simple variations of them.

Below, you will find a list of numbers 1 to 100, grouped together in singles, 10s, 20s, 30s, etc.

Each number will be written in the Arabic numeral system, (1,2,3, etc.), then in French. For the first twenty numbers and the first number of each set, I will spell out the French pronunciation of each number, so that you will know the correct way to say each one.

After you practice a bit, I highly recommend you look up videos or recordings of native speakers saying these numbers so that you can get the pronunciation down.

Now, let's start easy with the single-digit French numbers 1-9.

Numbers 1-9

Numbers 1-9

These first nine numbers are the foundation for understanding French numbers pronunciation and for learning how to write out larger numbers.

1 un

2 deux duh

3 trois twah

4 quatre kat-ruh

5 cinq sank

6 six sees

7 sept set

8 huit wheet

9 neuf nuhf

Numbers 10-19

Numbers 10-19

10 dix dees

11 onze onz

12 douze dooz

13 treize trez

14 quatorze kah-tohr-z

15 quinze cans

16 seize sez

From 17 to 69, you will use the tens number and add every single number on the end.

For example, below you will see that the number 17 is dix-sept, which literally means ten-seven.

Each of the below numbers in French will follow this rule up until number 69.

Once we get to number 70, you will see that things get a bit more complicated. For now, just focus on this rule.

17 dix-sept dees set

18 dix-huit dees wheet

19 dix-neuf dees nuhf

Numbers 20-29

Numbers 20-29

The 20s follow the same rule as the last three 10s except you sill replace dix with vingt or twenty. This will continue with the 30's, 40's, 50's and 60's.

20 vingt van

21 vingt-et-un

22 vingt-deux

23 vingt-trois

24 vingt-quatre

25 vingt-cinq

26 vingt-six

27 vingt-sept

28 vingt-huit

29 vingt-neuf

Numbers 30-39

Numbers 30-39

30 trente tront

31 trente-et-un

32 trente-deux

33 trente-trois

34 trente-quatre

35 trente-cinq

36 trente-six

37 trente-sept

38 trente-huit

39 trente-neuf

Numbers 40-49

Numbers 40-49

40 quarante ka-ront

41 quarante-et-un

42 quarante-deux

43 quarante-trois

44 quarante-quatre

45 quarante-cinq

46 quarante-six

47 quarante-sept

48 quarante-huit

49 quarante-neuf

Numbers 50-59

Numbers 50-59

50 cinquante san-kont

51 cinquante-et-un

52 cinquante-deux

53 cinquante-trois

54 cinquante-quatre

55 cinquante-cinq

56 cinquante-six

57 cinquante-sept

58 cinquante-huit

59 cinquante-neuf

Numbers 60-69

Numbers 60-69

60 soixante swa-sont

61 soixante-et-un

62 soixante-deux

63 soixante-trois

64 soixante-quatre

65 soixante-cinq

66 soixante-six

67 soixante-sept

68 soixante-huit

69 soixante-neuf

Numbers 70-79

Numbers 70-79

This is when things start to get a bit complicated.

Depending on where you visit, you may hear different types of numbers in French.

The reason for this is that in France, people use the numbers in the first column, which requires a bit of math.

Instead of just saying seventy-two, they say sixty-twelve, because sixty plus twelve is 72.

However, if you go to Belgium or Switzerland, you may encounter a different way of counting.

These countries chose not to use the mathematical technique and so the rules above continue to apply to the numbers above 69.

It is best to learn the France version of these French numbers first. Once you figure the math out, the other versions will be a breeze.

Given that it is not essential to learn these versions of the French numbers, the alternatives will only be listed next to each number in this set of 70s.

This way, you will get a glimpse of how it is different.

French Numbers in France Vs Belgium & Switzerland

70 soixante-dix (literally meaning sixty ten) swa-sont dees 70 __septante

71 soixante-onze 71 septante-et-un

72 soixante-douze (sixty twelve) 72 septante-deux

73 soixante-treize 73 septante-trois

73 soixante-quatorze 74 septante-quatre

75 soixante-quinze 75 septante-cinq

76 soixante-seize 76 septante-six

77 soixante-dix-sept 77 septante-sept

78 soixante-dix-huit 78 septante-huit

79 soixante-dix-neuf 79 septante-neuf

Numbers 80-89

Numbers 80-89

The grouping of eighties starts each number with quatre-vingt, which literally means four twenty because 80 = 4 x 20.

For this grouping, the following numbers will have the French word et in them, which just means and.

A lot of times there will be versions of numbers with et and without et. For this grouping, I have written both versions side-by-side.

80 quatre-vingts (literally meaning four twenties) kat-re van

81 quatre-vingt-et-un (or quatre vingt un)

82 quatre-vingt-et-deux (or quatre vingt deux)

83 quatre-vingt-et-trois (or quatre vingt trois)

84 quatre-vingt-et-quatre (or quatre vingt quatre)

85 quatre-vingt-et-cinq (or quatre vingt cinq)

86 quatre-vingt-et-six (or quatre vingt six)

87 quatre-vingt-et-sept (or quatre vingt sept)

88 quatre-vingt-et-huit (or quarte vingt huit)

89 quatre-vingt-et-neuf (or quatre vingt neuf)

Numbers 90-99

Numbers 90-99

For this grouping, you have the same first two words as the eighties (quatre-vingt), but add teens instead of single numbers.

For example, 90 literally means "four-twenty-ten" because it is twenty times four plus ten (20 x 4 + 10), and 91 means "four-twenty-eleven" (20 x 4 + 11).

See the direct translations next to each of these numbers below so you can understand what each word means.

90 quatre-vingt-dix (four twenty ten) kat-re van dees

91 quatre-vingt-onze (see above)

92 quatre-vingt-douze (four twenty twelve)

93 quatre-vingt-treize (four twenty thirteen)

94 quatre-vingt-quatorze (four twenty fourteen)

95 quatre-vingt-quinze (four twenty fifteen)

96 quatre-vingt-seize (four twenty sixteen)

97 quatre-vingt-dix-sept (f0ur twenty seventeen)

98 quatre-vingt-dix-huit (four twenty eighteen)

99 quatre-vingt-dix-neuf (four twenty nineteen)

French Numbers in the 100s

number 100 and word cent

The triple digits have the same system as above, but they add the word cent to the front.

For numbers in the 100s, each French number will start with cent and add from there.

Below are a few examples of different combinations.

100 cent san

118 cent dix huit

122 cent vingt deux

124 cent vingt quatre

177 100 cent + 77 soixante dix sept = cent soixante dix sept

181 cent quatre vingt un

188 cent quatre vingt huit

194 cent quatre-vingt-quatorze

Numbers Above 200 in French

Numbers Above 200 in French

Each triple-digit number in French after the 100s will continue to use cent or cents. However, it will have a single digit before this word depending on what the number is.

For example, a number like 700 will start with sept (seven) and end with cents.

Based on this rule, the full name for 700 is sept cents.

Below, you can check out several examples of different types of triple digit numbers so that you can see all of the different ways in which they are written.

200 deux cents

217 deux cent dix sept

283 deux cent quatre vingt trois

295 deux cent quatre vingt quinze

298 deux cent quatre-vingt-dix-huit

300 trois cents

321 troi cent vingt et un

373 trois cent soixante treize

387 trois cent vingt sept

390 trois cent quatre vingt dix

399 trois cent quatre-vingt-dix-neuf

400 quatre cents

479 quatre cent soixante dix neuf

480 quatre cent quatre vingts

492 quatre cent quatre vingt douze

493 quatre cent quatre vingt treize

500 cinq cents

525 cinq cent vingt cinq

589 cinq cent quatre vingt neuf

597 cinq cent quatre vingt dix sept

685 six cent huitante cinq

688 six cent quatre vingt huit

French Numbers in the 1,000s

French Numbers in the 1,000s

After you have mastered the three-digit numbers, moving on to the four-digit numbers will be a breeze!

Every number follows the same rules that you have learned above, but you will now add a new word, mille, into the mix.

As you can guess, this means one thousand. Below, you can explore a few examples of different combinations of four-digit numbers in French.

If you want to challenge yourself a bit more, try making your own combinations and using the lists above to create the French numbers.

1,000 mille

1,080 mille quatre vingts

1,172 mille cent soixante douze

1,225 mille deux cent vingt cinq

1,991 mille neuf cent quatre vingt onze

3,071 trois mille soixante et onze

5,578 mille cinq cent soixante dix huit

6,000 six mille

Numbers in the Ten Thousands and Above

Numbers in the Ten Thousands and Above

10,000 dix mille

100,000 cent mille

500,000 cinq cent mille

1,000,000 un million

1,000,000,000 un milliard

French Expressions for Counting

French Expressions for Counting

Now, let's take a look at some number-related vocabulary in French for various settings.

Mathematics

Plus: plus

Moins: minus

Multiplié par: multiply by

Divisé par: divide by

Pour cent: percent

Years in French

You can say years the exact same way that you would say the French four-digit numbers.

There are a few examples below.

For practice, think about the year you were born and some other important years and try to write them out.

1996: mille neuf cent quatre vingt seize

1899: mille huit cent huitante cinq

2005: deux mille cinq

Ordinals

First - premier/première

Second - deuxième

Third - troisième

Fourth - quatrième

Fifth - cinquième

Sixth - sixième

Seventh - septième

Eighth - huitième

Ninth - neuvième

Tenth - dixième

Summing Up French Numbers: How to Count in French from 1-100+

Congratulations, you have successfully mastered the art of counting in French from 1 to 100 and beyond. Gone are the days when French numbers seemed intimidating or confusing.

Armed with this newfound knowledge, you can confidently navigate any numerical conversation in the French language.

Remember to keep this comprehensive guide on hand as a quick reference whenever you need a reminder. With these charts and your determination, forgetting French numbers will be a thing of the past.

So go ahead, venture out into the world, and astound your friends with your impressive command of French numbers.

You're now equipped to embrace the beauty of this linguistic skill with confidence and grace. Bonne chance!

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