Let’s learn numbers in French
Numbers are very useful in everyday life. For this reason, learning French cardinal numbers is essential.
If you are afraid to learn all the numbers in French at once, you can simply start with the numbers from 1 to 20 here.
If not, click on each number to learn how to pronounce French numbers like a native speaker.
Then, repeat and practice !
Numbers from 1 to 20
It’s the first important step in learning French numbers. Once you master those numbers, it will be easier to learn other numbers even if it can sometimes get a bit tricky.
1 - un
2 - deux
3 - trois
4 - quatre
5 - cinq
6 - six
7 - sept
8 - huit
9 - neuf
10 - dix
11 - onze
12 - douze
13 - treize
14 - quatorze
15 - quinze
16 - seize
17 - dix-sept
18 - dix-huit
19 - dix-neuf
20 - vingt
Numbers from 21 to 40
When you know numbers from 1 to 20, you can continue with the following numbers. You will now notice that French numbers follow a certain logic.
However, be careful with 21: it can be written “vingt et un” (old orthograph) or “vingt-et-un” (new orthograph designed by the 1990 reform). It’s the same for 31, 41, 51 and 61.
Numbers finishing with 1 are often (but not always!) made with “et un”. Things will be slightly different for 71, 81 and 91…
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
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
40 - quarante
Numbers from 41 to 60
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
50 - cinquante
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
60 - soixante
Numbers from 61 to 80
Now that things seem easy with numbers, there are some subtleties to notice!
Please notice the number 70 that is written soixante-dix: the following numbers will logically create a compound number with onze, douze, treize… and 71 can either be written soixante et onze or soixante-et-onze.
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
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
80 - quatre-vingts
Numbers from 81 to 100
Did you notice that 80 is written quatre-vingts? The following numbers won’t keep the final s… and 81 is some kind of exception that doesn’t use any “et” it is written quatre-vingt-un!
Besides, 90 is like 70: it’s written quatre-vingt-dix. So the following numbers will be made with onze, douze, treize…
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
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
Numbers in Belgium and Switzerland
If you are travelling in Switzerland or Belgium, you may be surprised to hear some other numbers than those listed above.
Indeed, the Swiss and Belgian people count differently : 70 is septante and 90 is nonante for them. Thus, you can hear something like:
70 - septante
Numbers made with septante are : septante-et-un, septante-deux, septante-trois, septante-quatre, septante-cinq, septante-six, septante-sept, septante-huit, septante-neuf.
90 - nonante
Numbers made with nonante are : nonante-et-un, nonante-deux, nonante-trois, nonante-quatre, nonante-cinq, nonante-six, nonante-sept, nonante-huit, nonante-neuf.
What gets more complex is that Swiss and Belgian people can also differ in counting when it comes to 80. Indeed, the Belgians use quatre-vingts like French people but some Swiss use huitante:
80 - huitante
Don’t worry about this one because it’s quite very rare. However, it’s good to know if you’re planning to travel to Switzerland!
