Numbers 1 to 100

Numbers are fundamental for everyday communication — telling time, shopping, giving phone numbers, and understanding prices. French numbers follow logical patterns, but some quirks (especially from 70 onwards) can surprise English speakers.

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Numbers 0 to 20

These must be memorised individually as they form the building blocks for all higher numbers.

Number	French	Pronunciation
0	zéro	"zay-ROH"
1	un	"uhn" (nasal)
2	deux	"duh"
3	trois	"trwah"
4	quatre	"KAH-truh"
5	cinq	"sank"
6	six	"sees"
7	sept	"set"
8	huit	"weet"
9	neuf	"nuhf"
10	dix	"dees"
11	onze	"ohnz"
12	douze	"dooz"
13	treize	"trehz"
14	quatorze	"kah-TOHRZ"
15	quinze	"kanz"
16	seize	"sehz"
17	dix-sept	"dee-SET"
18	dix-huit	"dee-ZWEET"
19	dix-neuf	"dee-ZNUHF"
20	vingt	"van" (nasal, t silent)

Pattern: Numbers 17, 18, and 19 are compounds: dix-sept (10-7), dix-huit (10-8), dix-neuf (10-9). This pattern does NOT continue for 21-29.

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Numbers 21 to 69

From 21 onwards, French uses a structure similar to English: tens word + units word. The word et (and) is used only with 1 (vingt-et-un, trente-et-un, etc.).

The Tens

Number	French	Pronunciation
20	vingt	"van"
30	trente	"trahnt"
40	quarante	"kah-RAHNT"
50	cinquante	"san-KAHNT"
60	soixante	"swah-SAHNT"

Building 21-69

Pattern	Example	French
Tens + et + un	21	vingt-et-un
Tens + deux	22	vingt-deux
Tens + trois	23	vingt-trois
Tens + quatre	24	vingt-quatre
Tens + cinq	25	vingt-cinq
Tens + six	26	vingt-six
Tens + sept	27	vingt-sept
Tens + huit	28	vingt-huit
Tens + neuf	29	vingt-neuf

The same pattern applies for 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s:

Number	French	Number	French
31	trente-et-un	51	cinquante-et-un
32	trente-deux	52	cinquante-deux
33	trente-trois	55	cinquante-cinq
41	quarante-et-un	61	soixante-et-un
42	quarante-deux	65	soixante-cinq
45	quarante-cinq	69	soixante-neuf

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Numbers 70 to 79: The "Sixty" System

Here is where French gets interesting. Standard French (used in France) does not have a unique word for 70. Instead, it uses soixante-dix (sixty-ten):

Number	French	Literal Meaning
70	soixante-dix	sixty-ten
71	soixante-et-onze	sixty-and-eleven
72	soixante-douze	sixty-twelve
73	soixante-treize	sixty-thirteen
74	soixante-quatorze	sixty-fourteen
75	soixante-quinze	sixty-fifteen
76	soixante-seize	sixty-sixteen
77	soixante-dix-sept	sixty-seventeen
78	soixante-dix-huit	sixty-eighteen
79	soixante-dix-neuf	sixty-nineteen

Belgian and Swiss French: In Belgium and Switzerland, 70 is septante — much simpler! But in France, you must use soixante-dix.

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Numbers 80 to 89: Four-Twenties

The number 80 in French is quatre-vingts (four-twenties, i.e., 4 x 20 = 80). This is a remnant of an old Celtic/Gallic base-20 counting system.