Bienvenue! Apprenons le français ensemble.
If you're currently on a mini-quest to master French numbers then you've come to the right place. But before we start counting, we also recommend this comprehensive post with great tips on how to learn French from home.
In this post, we're going to help you take one of the first steps on your path toward learning French (and rocking it!). With a little assistance here and a little practice there, you'll know how to count in French in a heartbeat.
We'll provide you with sentence examples so you know how and when to use your French numbers as well as tips for how to memorize them and variations to look out for.
Get started with learning how to count in French! Oh, and while you're here, why not check out Lingopie for fun and engaging content to support you in learning a foreign language?
Learn French Numbers 0-10
Let's start with the basics... The numbers from zero to ten will come up frequently in everyday life and you'll have to get them down before moving on to larger numbers.
Here's how you'd count in French:
- 0 - Zéro
- 1 - Un/une
- 2 - Deux
- 3 - Trois
- 4 - Quatre
- 5 - Cinq
- 6 - Six
- 7 - Sept
- 8 - Huit
- 9 - Neuf
- 10 - Dix
Number one is the only gendered number in French. The feminine version of one is une and the masculine version is un.
Example sentences:
- J'ai deux frères. I have two brothers.
- Ils ont huit et dix ans. They are eight and ten years old.
- Je voudrais garder une fleur, s'il vous plaît. I would like to keep a flower, please.
The Teens in French
- 11 - Onze
- 12 - Douze
- 13 - Treize
- 14 - Quatorze
- 15 - Quinze
- 16 - Seize
- 17 - Dix-sept
- 18 - Dix-huit
- 19 - Dix-neuf
Example Sentences:
- Il a couru douze tours autour du terrain. He ran twelve laps around the field.
- L'âge de la majorité est atteint à dix-huit ans. Adulthood is reached at eighteen years old.
- J'attends depuis quinze minutes. I've been waiting for your for fifteen minutes.
Multiples of ten in French
If you're in for a challenge, then let's look at how French numbers evolve into the tens...
- 20 – Vingt
- 30 – Trente
- 40 – Quarante
- 50 – Cinquante
- 60 – Soixante
For the next multiples of ten, you'll need to count even harder because they don't follow the same rules as the ones before!
- 70 – Soixante-dix
Literally means sixty-ten. - 80 – Quatre-vingts
Literally means four-twenties. - 90 – Quatre-vingt-dix
Literally means four-twenty-ten.
Learn French Numbers 20-100
- 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
- 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 - Quarente
- 41 - Quarente-et-un
- 42 - Quarente-deux
- 43 - Quarente-trois
- 44 - Quarente-quatre
- 45 - Quarente-cinq
- 46 - Quarente-six
- 47 - Quarente-sept
- 48 - Quarente-huit
- 49 - Quarente-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
- 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
At this point it changes:
- 70 - Soixante-dix
- 71 - Soixante-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-neuf
- 80 - Quatre-vingts
- 81 - Quatre-vingt-et-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
Example Sentences:
- Ce serait bien si la journée avait vingt-cinq heures. It would be nice if the day had twenty-five hours.
- Ma grand-mère a quatre-vingt-onze ans. My grandmother is ninety-one years old.
- Ils ont vendu soixante-et-un tickets de tombola. They sold sixty-one raffle tickets.
Numbers up to 1,000 in French
- 100-199
To get the numbers from 100 to 199, just use cent followed by the number to count from cent to cent-quatre-vingt-dix-neuf!
- 108 - Cent huit
- 131 - Cent trente-et-un
- 189 - Cent quatre-vingt-neuf
Très facile, isn't it?
The same patterns will apply to the following hundreds:
- 200 - Deux cents
- 300 - Trois cents
- 400 - Quatre cents
- 500 - Cinq cents
- 600 - Six cents
- 700 - Sept cents
- 800 - Huit cents
- 900 - Neuf cents
- 1000 - Mille
Example sentences:
- Ma fille mesure cent quarante et un centimètres. My daughter is one-hundred and forty-one centimetres tall.
- Le vol coûte trois cents soixante-treize euros. The flight costs three-hundred and seventy-three euros.
- Il me doit quatre-vingt-quinze euros. He owes me ninety-five euros.
Numbers above 1,000 in French
For the French numbers above one thousand, the same rule applies:
- 6000 - Six mille
- 9000 - Neuf mille
- 1293 - Mille deux cents quatre-vingt-treize
Example Sentences:
- Jésus est né il y a deux mille ans. Jesus was born two thousand years ago.
- Mon fils est né en 1998, mil neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix-huit. My son was born in 1998.
- Les objets en plastique peuvent mettre jusqu'à mille à se décomposer.
Millions and Billions (Long vs Short scale numbers) in French
Now for the larger French numbers...
- Un million - one million
- Un milliard - one billion
- Un billion - one trillion
Be sure to remember that one billion and one trillion are not true cognates!
This means that even though billion is written exactly the same as billion in English, it actually means trillion. Oh, mon Dieu ! Just one of our many favorite French expressions.
Other important information relating to French numbers
If you want to sound like the French, you've got to learn how the French count... in practice!
Let's take a look at some more practical tips that you can use to learn the French numbers.
Some good tips for memorizing French numbers:
- Write down some sample sentences with numbers in them and repeat them aloud ten times every day for one whole week.
- When you check the time, say it out loud in French to yourself.
- Practice counting in French up to 100 before falling asleep.
Now we're going to teach you how to get by in a few practical scenarios where you'll need to be able to count in French as well as understand (listening skills) how native French speakers will communicate the numbers in French to you.
Decimal points and commas in French numbers
In French, you'll need to use a comma instead of a decimal point, as in the example below:
It's €51,50 as opposed to €51.50 and you write it in the following way:
Cinquante-et-un euros et cinquante centimes.
Saying Prices in French
One of the main uses of learning the French numbers will have to do with being able to navigate situations where you need to buy something or deal with anything that is money-related.
In any of these interactions, you'll need to know how to count in French.
The french word for cost is coûter. Let's go ahead and use it to ask about the price of an item in a store.
Shop assistant: Excusez-moi, combien coûte ce chapeau? Excuse me, how much does this hat cost?
Customer: Ce chapeau coûte quarante et un euros. It costs forty-one euros.
Giving your phone number in French
Exchanging phone numbers is another scenario where you'll need solid counting skills in French. It'll surely come in handy if you move to one of the many French-speaking countries!
Anne: Quel est votre numéro de téléphone?
Marie: Mon numéro de téléphone est 06 49 77 31 02.
The numbers would be pronounced in the following way:
Zéro six quarente-neuf soixante-dix-sept treinte et un zéro deux.
Using numbers in French when shopping
Especially if you're visiting France, you'll need to know how to interact while out shopping.
Here is an example that may be useful:
Customer: Je voudrais deux tablettes de chocolat, s'il vous plaît.
Shop assistant: Bien sûr, le total est €5,90 - cinq euros et quatre-vingt-dix centimes.
Summing up: Numbers in French
Il y a 99 (quatre-vingt-dix) raisons d'apprendre le français!
Learn French numbers and you can start counting the number of opportunities you'll be attracting your way with your newly acquired French skills.
By following our tips and mastering the French numbers, the counting system and the vocabulary of the different scenarios where you'll need to count, you'll be proud to say that you know the numbers in French.
Once you've mastered how to count in French, you're ready to take on other linguistic challenges and Lingopie is here to help you. Check out this list of 13 beginner friendly French movies to assist your studies.
When you're feeling comfortable enough, you can dive a little deeper into grammar points by going through our awesome guide to learning French conjugations.
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