# Numbers in French

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Updated 2026-10-23 · HTML version: https://learnwithkin.com/french/numbers

> French counts like English up to 69. Then it changes: 70 is *soixante-dix* (sixty-ten), 80 is *quatre-vingts* (four twenties) and 90 is *quatre-vingt-dix* (four twenties and ten). Use *et* only for 21, 31, 41, 51, 61 and 71 (*vingt et un*, *soixante et onze*), never for 81 or 91. *Vingt* and *cent* take an *s* only when nothing follows (*quatre-vingts*, *deux cents*, but *deux cent trois*), and *mille* never does. Belgium and Switzerland say *septante* and *nonante* for 70 and 90.

## 0 to 20


|   | French |   | French |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 0 | zéro | 11 | onze |
| 1 | un · une | 12 | douze |
| 2 | deux | 13 | treize |
| 3 | trois | 14 | quatorze |
| 4 | quatre | 15 | quinze |
| 5 | cinq | 16 | seize |
| 6 | six | 17 | dix-sept |
| 7 | sept | 18 | dix-huit |
| 8 | huit | 19 | dix-neuf |
| 9 | neuf | 20 | vingt |
| 10 | dix |  |  |

11 to 16 have their own words; from 17 you build them: *dix-sept* is ten-seven. *Un* becomes *une* before a feminine noun: *une heure*, *vingt et une pages*.

## Tens, and the famous 70 to 99


|   | French |   | French |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 21 | vingt et un | 70 | soixante-dix |
| 22 | vingt-deux | 71 | soixante et onze |
| 30 | trente | 72 | soixante-douze |
| 31 | trente et un | 79 | soixante-dix-neuf |
| 40 | quarante | 80 | quatre-vingts |
| 50 | cinquante | 81 | quatre-vingt-un |
| 60 | soixante | 90 | quatre-vingt-dix |
| 61 | soixante et un | 91 | quatre-vingt-onze |
| 69 | soixante-neuf | 99 | quatre-vingt-dix-neuf |

From 70, French counts in twenties: 70 is sixty plus ten, so 71 is *soixante et onze* (sixty and eleven) and 77 is *soixante-dix-sept* (sixty-ten-seven). 80 is four twenties, *quatre-vingts*, and 90 to 99 are four twenties plus ten to nineteen. It's a leftover of an older way of counting, and once you hear the pattern it stops being strange.

## Hundreds, thousands and millions


|   | French |   | French |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 100 | cent | 1,000 | mille |
| 101 | cent un | 2,000 | deux mille |
| 200 | deux cents | 2,500 | deux mille cinq cents |
| 203 | deux cent trois | 1,000,000 | un million |
| 999 | neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix-neuf | 1,000,000,000 | un milliard |

## The rules that trip people up

- ***Et* only for the ones.** *Vingt et un*, *trente et un* up to *soixante et un*, and *soixante et onze*. Never with 81 or 91: *quatre-vingt-un*, *quatre-vingt-onze*. And never *cent et un*: it's *cent un*.
- ***Vingt* and *cent* take an *s* only at the end.** *Quatre-vingts* and *deux cents*, but *quatre-vingt-deux* and *deux cent trois*. One *cent* on its own never takes an *s*.
- ***Mille* never changes.** *Deux mille*, *dix mille*. And no *un* in front: 1,000 is just *mille*.
- ***Million* and *milliard* are nouns.** They take an *s* and *de*: *deux millions d'habitants*. And *un milliard* is an English billion.
- **Hyphens.** Traditionally only numbers under 100 are hyphenated, except around *et*: *vingt et un*, *quatre-vingt-deux*, *deux cent trois*. Since the 1990 spelling reform, hyphens everywhere are also correct: *vingt-et-un*, *deux-cent-trois*.
- **Listen for silent letters.** *Vingt* alone sounds like *vin*, but its *t* is heard in 21 to 29 (*vingt-deux*) and silent again in 81 to 99. *Six*, *huit* and *dix* lose their last sound before a consonant (*six livres*) and link with a *z* or *t* sound before a vowel (*six amis*, *huit heures*).

Written numbers use a space for thousands and a comma for decimals: 1 000 and 3,50.

## Belgium and Switzerland: septante and nonante


|   | France | Belgium | Switzerland |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 70 | soixante-dix | septante | septante |
| 80 | quatre-vingts | quatre-vingts | huitante (in some cantons) |
| 90 | quatre-vingt-dix | nonante | nonante |

Everyone understands the France forms, so learn those first and recognise the others. *Huitante* is used in parts of French-speaking Switzerland, such as Vaud and Valais; elsewhere you'll hear *quatre-vingts*.

## Dates


| English | French |
| --- | --- |
| October 23, 2026 | le 23 octobre 2026 |
| May 1st | le premier mai (le 1er mai) |
| May 2nd | le deux mai |
| What's the date today? | On est le combien aujourd'hui ? · Quelle est la date aujourd'hui ? |
| in 1998 | en mille neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix-huit · en dix-neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix-huit |
| in 2026 | en deux mille vingt-six |

Day, month, year, with no *de* in between and months and weekdays in lowercase: *janvier, février, mars, avril, mai, juin, juillet, août, septembre, octobre, novembre, décembre*. Only the first of the month uses an ordinal (*le premier*); every other day is a plain number (*le deux*, *le trois*).

## Telling the time


| Time | French |
| --- | --- |
| What time is it? | Quelle heure est-il ? |
| 1:00 | Il est une heure. |
| 2:00 | Il est deux heures. |
| 3:15 | Il est trois heures et quart. |
| 4:30 | Il est quatre heures et demie. |
| 4:45 | Il est cinq heures moins le quart. |
| 6:10 | Il est six heures dix. |
| 6:40 | Il est sept heures moins vingt. |
| 12:00 · 0:00 | Il est midi. · Il est minuit. |
| At 8:30 p.m. | À vingt heures trente. |

Always say *heure(s)*: *il est deux heures*, never just *il est deux*. The 24-hour clock is everyday speech in France, not just for timetables: you'll hear *on se voit à dix-neuf heures* (see you at 7 p.m.).

## Prices


| English | French |
| --- | --- |
| How much is it? | C'est combien ? · Ça coûte combien ? |
| That's 20 euros. | Ça fait vingt euros. |
| €3.50 | trois euros cinquante |
| €0.80 | quatre-vingts centimes |

## Phone numbers

French phone numbers have ten digits and are written and read in pairs: 06 12 34 56 78 is *zéro six, douze, trente-quatre, cinquante-six, soixante-dix-huit*. So you'll need 70 to 99 quickly; it's worth practising the pairs out loud.

## Ordinals: first, second, third


|   | French |   | French |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1st | premier · première | 6th | sixième |
| 2nd | deuxième · second | 7th | septième |
| 3rd | troisième | 8th | huitième |
| 4th | quatrième | 9th | neuvième |
| 5th | cinquième | 10th | dixième |

Add *-ième* to the number, dropping a final *e* (*quatre* → *quatrième*); *cinq* adds a *u* and *neuf* turns its *f* into a *v*. Abbreviations are *1er*, *1re*, *2e*. Kings and centuries use them too, with Roman numerals: *le XXIe siècle* (*vingt et unième*), but *Louis XIV* is read *Louis quatorze*, a plain number. Only first kings get the ordinal: *François Ier*, *François premier*.

## Questions

### Why is 80 quatre-vingts in French?

French kept an older habit of counting in twenties for 80 to 99: *quatre-vingts* is literally four twenties. 70 sits halfway, as sixty-ten (*soixante-dix*). Belgium and Switzerland simplified 70 and 90 to *septante* and *nonante*.

### Is it quatre-vingt or quatre-vingts?

*Quatre-vingts* with an *s* when it's the whole number (80, or 80 before a noun: *quatre-vingts euros*). Without the *s* when another number follows: *quatre-vingt-trois*.

### Do they say septante in France?

No. *Septante* and *nonante* are Belgian and Swiss; in France it's *soixante-dix* and *quatre-vingt-dix*. Everyone understands both.

### What is a billion in French?

An English billion (1,000,000,000) is *un milliard*. *Un billion* in French is a million million (10¹²).

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