Numbers

Numbers from 0 to a million, the ordinals premier to dixième, prices and phone numbers. After soixante, French counts in twenties: soixante-dix (60 + 10), quatre-vingts (4 × 20): soixante-quinze, quatre-vingt-douze

Summary

Nothing in this section is at or below. It starts at A0.

Point	Rule	Example	English
0–16	each number has its own word, zéro to seize	Il y a douze élèves.	There are twelve pupils.
17–69	from 17 to 19, dix and the unit; then the ten, a hyphen and the unit	dix-sept / vingt-deux / quarante-cinq	seventeen / twenty-two / forty-five
21, 31… 71	et with no hyphen in 21, 31, 41, 51, 61 and 71 only	vingt et un / soixante et onze	twenty-one / seventy-one
70–99	soixante + 10–19 ; quatre-vingts + 1–19	soixante-quinze / quatre-vingt-douze	seventy-five / ninety-two
100–999	cent alone; cents with s in deux cents, if nothing follows	cent euros / deux cents euros / deux cent un	a hundred euros / two hundred euros / two hundred and one
Thousand	mille never changes and takes no un	mille euros / trois mille euros	a thousand euros / three thousand euros
Million	million is a noun: millions in the plural, de before the noun	deux millions d’habitants	two million inhabitants
Ordinals	the number takes ième; only premier is different	le deuxième étage / le premier étage	the second floor / the first floor
Prices	the number of euros or dollars, then the cents, without the word centimes	Ça fait douze euros cinquante.	That comes to €12.50.
Phone numbers	ten digits, said in small groups	zéro six, douze, trente-quatre	zero six, twelve, thirty-four
Trap	quatre-vingts and cents lose their s before another number	quatre-vingt‑deux / deux cent un	eighty-two / two hundred and one
Trap	et only with un: vingt et un, but vingt-deux	vingt-deux ans	twenty-two years

0 to 16

Nothing in this section is at or below. It starts at A0.

Number	Word	English
0	zéro	zero
1	un	one
2	deux	two
3	trois	three
4	quatre	four
5	cinq	five
6	six	six
7	sept	seven
8	huit	eight
9	neuf	nine
10	dix	ten
11	onze	eleven
12	douze	twelve
13	treize	thirteen
14	quatorze	fourteen
15	quinze	fifteen
16	seize	sixteen

From 0 to 16, each number has a word of its own. J’ai treize ans.I'm thirteen.
The end of cinq, six, huit, neuf and dix sounds different depending on the next word: see Liaison and Elision.

17 to 69

Nothing in this section is at or below. It starts at A0.

Number	Word	English
17	dix‑sept	seventeen
18	dix‑huit	eighteen
19	dix‑neuf	nineteen
20	vingt	twenty
21	vingt et un	twenty-one
22	vingt-deux	twenty-two
30	trente	thirty
31	trente et un	thirty-one
40	quarante	forty
45	quarante-cinq	forty-five
50	cinquante	fifty
60	soixante	sixty

From 17 to 19, say dix and then the unit, with a hyphen. Elle a dix-huit ans.She is eighteen.
From 21 on, the ten and the unit are joined by a hyphen. Mon frère a trente-cinq ans.My brother is thirty-five.
With 21, 31, 41, 51 and 61, say et un, with no hyphen. Il y a vingt et un élèves.There are twenty-one pupils.