Most French learners struggle with learning to count from 1 to 100 as the numbers 60-99 become quite complicated. This lesson provides audio for all of the numbers as well as five useful tips to learn them faster.
French cardinal numbers 1 to100
French numbers 1-20
Tip 1: To memorize 1-10, try counting in either even or odd numbers separately. Another effective tip is to try counting backwards from ten to zero.
French numbers 1-10
Tips for learning to count from 11-20
Many students get confused on the numbers quinze (fifteen) seize (sixteen). Tip 2: A simple trick is to repeat, “You can say quinze seize” (the C and S sounds repeat).
- 11 – onze
- 12 – douze
- 13 – treize
- 14 – quatorze
- 15 – quinze
- 16 – seize
- 17 – dix-sept
- 18 – dix-huit
- 19 – dix-neuf
Many of the numbers above 10 end in the -z sound, such as onze (eleven), douze (twelve) and treize (thirteen). Tip 3: You can remember that these are the teenz. This will help you to distinguish these numbers from the higher numbers covered below.
French numbers 20-59
The numbers 20-59 are not very complicated. To say twenty, say vingt (pronounced vɛ̃, the same pronunciation as the word for wine, vin!). To say twenty-one, add “et un” or and one. Then, for 22-29 add un, deux, trois, etc. This pattern works for all the numbers through 59.
Numbers 20-29
- 20 – vingt
- 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
Many students experience difficulties distinguishing the teens from these higher numbers. Tip 4: A way to remember numbers such as 30 (trente) is to say, “I have a lot of aunts”, using the New England or British pronunciation of aunt. This tip also applies to 40 (quarante), cinquante (50) and soixante (60).
- 30 – trente
- 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
- 40 – quarante
- 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
- 50 – cinquante
- 51 – cinqante 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
French numbers 60-79
The numbers 60-79 are often a big challenge for most French learners. This is where my key tip (see below) come into play. To count from 60-69, simply say soixante, then follow the same pattern as the numbers in the previous section covering 20-59.
Numbers 60-69
- 60 – soixante
- 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
When you come to seventy, you must say soixante-dix, which translates to “sixty ten”. For 71-79, you must add the corresponding teen (11-19) to soixante (sixty). Hence, seventy-one is soixante et onze (sixty and eleven). Seventy-two is soixante-douze (sixty twelve).
Tip 5: A useful tip to say the numbers 60-79 easier is to first say the word soixante without considering the entire number. If the number is 60-69 that’s easy: Just add un, deux, trois, etc. If the number is 70-79, the same tip applies. First say soixante. Then, add the corresponding teen. The key is to first say soixante quickly. That way, you prevent yourself from stumbling.
Numbers 70-79
- 70 – soixante-dix
- 71 – soixante et onze
- 72 – soixante-douze
- 73 – soixante-treize
- 74 – soixante-quatorze
- 75 – soixante-quinze
- 76 – soixante-seize
- 77 – soixante-dix-sept
- 78 – soixante-dix-huit
- 79 – soixante-dix-neuf
French numbers 80-99
The numbers 80-99 become much more complicated. This is because to say eighty, you must say quatre-vingts, which means “four twenties”. For the number eighty-one, the et disappears. Hence, 81 is quatre-vingt-un, which literally means “four twenty one”. For 82-89, say quatre-vingt (4 x 20), then add un, deux, trois, etc. through neuf. Eight-five, for example is quatre-vingt-cinq (4 x 20 + 5).
Numbers 80-89
- 80 – quatre-vingts
- 81 – quatre-vingt-un
- 82 – quatre-vingt-deux
- 83 – quatre-vingt trois
- 84 – quatre-vingt-quatre
- 85 – quatre-vingt-cinq
- 86 – quatre-vingt-six
- 87 – quatre-vingt-sept
- 88 – quatre-vingt-huit
- 89 – quatre-vingt-neuf
Ninety is quatre-vingt-dix (4 x 20 + 10). For 91-99, add the corresponding teen number. For example, ninety-five is quatre-vingt-quinze (4 x 20 + 15). The same tip for 60-79 applies to 80-99. For any of these numbers 80-99 first get out the word quatre-vingt. Then, worry about the rest of the number.
If you are in 81-89, simply add un, deux, trois, etc. For 90 and higher add the corresponding teen number. Again, the way to avoid stumbling is to immediately say quatre-vingt, then tackle the rest of the number.
Numbers 90-100
- 90 – quatre-vingt-dix
- 91 – quatre-vingt-onze
- 92 – quatre-vingt-douze
- 93 – quatre-vingt-treize
- 94 – quatre-vingt-quatorze
- 95 – quatre-vingt-quinze
- 96 – quatre-vingt-seize
- 97 – quatre-vingt-dix-sept
- 98 – quatre-vingt-dix-huit
- 99 – quatre-vingt-dix-neuf
- 100 – cent
Switzerland and Belgium
The numbers for 60-99 in Switzerland and Belgium are much less complicated. This is because these countries have specific words for seventy, eighty and ninety: Septante (70) and huitante (80) and nonante (90). For example, 75 in these countries is septante-cinq.
Big numbers 100 and beyond
One hundred and one thousand are cent and mille. Do not add un to either of these numbers. Hence, “one hundred one” and “one thousand one” are cent un and mille un, respectively.
For larger even multiples fo 100, add an S. For example, deux cents (200) and trois cents (300). However, there is no added S when the hundred has an added number such as trois cent cinq (305) or trois cent vingt-quatre (324).
For larger thousands, do not add an an S to mille. Hence, two thousand is deux mille. One million is un million and one billion is un milliard. Add an S to both of these to make higher numbers. Hence, two million is deux millions.
- 100 cent
- 101 cent un
- 150 cent cinquante
- 524 cinq cent vingt-quatre
- 1,000 mille
- 1,001 mille un
- 1,250 mille deux cent cinquante
- 10,000 dix mille
- 1,000,000 un million
- 1,000,000 un milliard (billion)
Decimals and percentages
In France, the decimal points are written with a comma (la virgule). Hence, 1.5 is written 1,5 (un vigrule cinq). Percent is pour cent. Hence, 50 % (cinquante pour cent).
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French vocabulary | Lessons by David Issokson
