French Numbers 1-100: How to Count in French

Numbers 0 to 20

0

zéro

zay-ROH

1

un

uhn

2

deux

duh

3

trois

twah

4

quatre

KATR

5

cinq

sank

6

six

seess

7

sept

set

8

huit

weet

9

neuf

nuhf

10

dix

deess

11

onze

onz

12

douze

dooz

13

treize

trez

14

quatorze

ka-TORZ

15

quinze

kanz

16

seize

sez

17

dix-sept

dee-SET

From here the teens are just ten plus the digit

18

dix-huit

deez-WEET

19

dix-neuf

deez-NUHF

20

vingt

van

Counting by tens

10

dix

deess

20

vingt

van

30

trente

tront

40

quarante

ka-RONT

50

cinquante

san-KONT

60

soixante

swa-SONT

70

soixante-dix

swa-sont-DEESS

Sixty-ten

80

quatre-vingts

katr-uh-VAN

Four-twenties

90

quatre-vingt-dix

katr-uh-van-DEESS

Four-twenties-ten

100

cent

son

How 70, 80 and 90 are formed

French stops inventing new words after soixante. 70 is soixante-dix, sixty plus ten, and it keeps counting in teens: 71 is soixante et onze, 72 is soixante-douze, all the way to soixante-dix-neuf for 79.

80 is quatre-vingts, four twenties, a leftover from an older counting system. 81 is quatre-vingt-un, and 90 restarts the teens on top: quatre-vingt-dix, quatre-vingt-onze, up to quatre-vingt-dix-neuf.

Quatre-vingts keeps its s only when it ends the number. Add anything after it and the s disappears: quatre-vingts, but quatre-vingt-trois.

Belgium and Switzerland skip all of this and say septante for 70 and nonante for 90, with huitante for 80 in parts of Switzerland. In France those sound foreign, so learn the long forms first.

soixante et onze71, sixty and eleven
quatre-vingt-quinze95, four-twenties-fifteen

21 to 30

21

vingt et un

van tay UHN

et appears in 21, 31, 41, 51, 61 and 71 only

22

vingt-deux

vant-DUH

23

vingt-trois

vant-TWAH

24

vingt-quatre

vant-KATR

25

vingt-cinq

vant-SANK

26

vingt-six

vant-SEESS

27

vingt-sept

vant-SET

28

vingt-huit

vant-WEET

29

vingt-neuf

vant-NUHF

30

trente

tront

31 to 40

31

trente et un

tront ay UHN

32

trente-deux

tront-DUH

33

trente-trois

tront-TWAH

34

trente-quatre

tront-KATR

35

trente-cinq

tront-SANK

36

trente-six

tront-SEESS

37

trente-sept

tront-SET

38

trente-huit

tront-WEET

39

trente-neuf

tront-NUHF

40

quarante

ka-RONT

41 to 50

41

quarante et un

ka-ront ay UHN

42

quarante-deux

ka-ront-DUH

43

quarante-trois

ka-ront-TWAH

44

quarante-quatre

ka-ront-KATR

45

quarante-cinq

ka-ront-SANK

46

quarante-six

ka-ront-SEESS

47

quarante-sept

ka-ront-SET

48

quarante-huit

ka-ront-WEET

49

quarante-neuf

ka-ront-NUHF

50

cinquante

san-KONT

51 to 60

51

cinquante et un

san-kont ay UHN

52

cinquante-deux

san-kont-DUH

53

cinquante-trois

san-kont-TWAH

54

cinquante-quatre

san-kont-KATR

55

cinquante-cinq

san-kont-SANK

56

cinquante-six

san-kont-SEESS

57

cinquante-sept

san-kont-SET

58

cinquante-huit

san-kont-WEET

59

cinquante-neuf

san-kont-NUHF

60

soixante

swa-SONT

61 to 70

61

soixante et un

swa-sont ay UHN

62

soixante-deux

swa-sont-DUH

63

soixante-trois

swa-sont-TWAH

64

soixante-quatre

swa-sont-KATR

65

soixante-cinq

swa-sont-SANK

66

soixante-six

swa-sont-SEESS

67

soixante-sept

swa-sont-SET

68

soixante-huit

swa-sont-WEET

69

soixante-neuf

swa-sont-NUHF

70

soixante-dix

swa-sont-DEESS

Sixty-ten

71 to 80

71

soixante et onze

swa-sont ay ONZ

72

soixante-douze

swa-sont-DOOZ

73

soixante-treize

swa-sont-TREZ

74

soixante-quatorze

swa-sont-ka-TORZ

75

soixante-quinze

swa-sont-KANZ

76

soixante-seize

swa-sont-SEZ

77

soixante-dix-sept

swa-sont-dee-SET

78

soixante-dix-huit

swa-sont-deez-WEET

79

soixante-dix-neuf

swa-sont-deez-NUHF

80

quatre-vingts

katr-uh-VAN

Four-twenties

81 to 90

81

quatre-vingt-un

katr-uh-van-UHN

82

quatre-vingt-deux

katr-uh-van-DUH

83

quatre-vingt-trois

katr-uh-van-TWAH

84

quatre-vingt-quatre

katr-uh-van-KATR

85

quatre-vingt-cinq

katr-uh-van-SANK

86

quatre-vingt-six

katr-uh-van-SEESS

87

quatre-vingt-sept

katr-uh-van-SET

88

quatre-vingt-huit

katr-uh-van-WEET

89

quatre-vingt-neuf

katr-uh-van-NUHF

90

quatre-vingt-dix

katr-uh-van-DEESS

Four-twenties-ten

91 to 100

91

quatre-vingt-onze

katr-uh-van-ONZ

92

quatre-vingt-douze

katr-uh-van-DOOZ

93

quatre-vingt-treize

katr-uh-van-TREZ

94

quatre-vingt-quatorze

katr-uh-van-ka-TORZ

95

quatre-vingt-quinze

katr-uh-van-KANZ

96

quatre-vingt-seize

katr-uh-van-SEZ

97

quatre-vingt-dix-sept

katr-uh-van-dee-SET

98

quatre-vingt-dix-huit

katr-uh-van-deez-WEET

99

quatre-vingt-dix-neuf

katr-uh-van-deez-NUHF

100

cent

son

Beyond 100

Hundreds are just the digit plus cent: deux cents, trois cents. The s drops as soon as another number follows, so it is deux cents but deux cent cinq.

Mille is invariable. It never takes an s, however many thousands there are: deux mille, dix mille, cent mille.

Million and milliard are nouns rather than number words, so they take an article and de before what they count: un million de personnes.

Hundreds, thousands and beyond

101

cent un

son UHN

200

deux cents

duh SON

cents takes an s only when nothing follows

500

cinq cents

sank SON

1000

mille

meel

mille is invariable and never takes an s

2000

deux mille

duh MEEL

10000

dix mille

dee MEEL

1000000

un million

uhn mee-LYON

Million is a noun and takes de: un million de personnes

Consonants that go silent

The final consonant of six, huit and dix is pronounced when the number stands alone, and goes quiet before a word starting with a consonant. Six alone is seess, but six livres is see LEEVR.

Before a vowel it links instead: dix ans sounds like dee-ZON.

French Numbers 1-100