# Numbers

https://langs123.com/en/french/bases/nombres/
CEFR A0–A2 · 2026-10-24 · CC BY 4.0, langs123 contributors (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

> 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

| Point | Rule | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 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

| Number | Word |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 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

| Number | Word |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 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.)

## 70 to 99

| Number | Word |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 70 | **soixante-dix** | seventy |
| 71 | **soixante** et onze | seventy-one |
| 77 | **soixante**-dix-sept | seventy-seven |
| 80 | **quatre-vingt**s | eighty |
| 81 | **quatre-vingt**-un | eighty-one |
| 90 | **quatre-vingt**-dix | ninety |
| 91 | **quatre-vingt**-onze | ninety-one |
| 99 | **quatre-vingt**-dix-neuf | ninety-nine |

- From 70 to 79, count from **soixante**: 60 + 10, 60 + 11, 60 + 12… Ma grand-mère a **soixante-quinze** ans. (My grandmother is seventy-five.)
- From 80 to 99, count from **quatre-vingts**: 4 × 20, 4 × 20 + 10… Mon grand-père a **quatre-vingt-douze** ans. (My grandfather is ninety-two.)
- **et** appears only in **soixante et onze**; say **quatre-vingt-un**, **quatre-vingt-onze**. **soixante et onze** / **quatre-vingt-onze** (seventy-one / ninety-one)
- **quatre-vingts** takes an s when it ends the number: **quatre-vingts** ans, but **quatre-vingt-deux** ans. Elle a **quatre-vingts** ans. / Il a **quatre-vingt**-deux ans. (She is eighty. / He is eighty-two.)

## Hundred, thousand, million

| Number | Word |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 100 | **cent** | a hundred |
| 101 | **cent** un | a hundred and one |
| 200 | deux **cents** | two hundred |
| 201 | deux **cent** un | two hundred and one |
| 1 000 | **mille** | a thousand |
| 2 000 | deux **mille** | two thousand |
| 10 000 | dix **mille** | ten thousand |
| 1 000 000 | un **million** | a million |
| 2 000 000 | deux **millions** | two million |

- **cent** and **mille** are said without **un**. Ça coûte **cent** euros. / Ça coûte **mille** euros. (It costs a hundred euros. / It costs a thousand euros.)
- **cent** takes an s after a number if it ends the number: **deux cents**, but **deux cent un**. Le livre coûte **trois cents** euros. / Il y a **trois cent** dix élèves. (The book costs three hundred euros. / There are three hundred and ten pupils.)
- **mille** never changes: **trois mille**, never **trois milles**. Il y a trois **mille** personnes. (There are three thousand people.)
- **million** and **milliard** are nouns: they take an s in the plural and **de** before the noun. Paris a plus de deux millions d’habitants. (Paris has more than two million inhabitants.)
- Large numbers are grouped in threes with a no-break space: 10 000, 1 000 000.
- A comma marks the decimals: 2,5 is said **deux virgule cinq**. Il fait **deux virgule cinq** mètres. (It is two point five metres long.)
- Since the 1990 spelling reform, all the words of a number may be joined by hyphens: **deux-cent-trois**.

## Un and une

- **un** becomes **une** before a feminine noun, also in **vingt et un**, **trente et un**… **vingt et un** ans / **vingt et une** personnes (twenty-one years / twenty-one people)
- The other numbers do not change with the gender of the noun. Il y a **deux** garçons et **deux** filles. (There are two boys and two girls.)
- For the gender of nouns, see Noun Gender.

## Ordinals

| Number | Ordinal |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1er, 1re | **premier**, **première** | first |
| 2e | deux**ième** | second |
| 3e | trois**ième** | third |
| 4e | quatr**ième** | fourth |
| 5e | cinq**uième** | fifth |
| 6e | six**ième** | sixth |
| 7e | sept**ième** | seventh |
| 8e | huit**ième** | eighth |
| 9e | neu**vième** | ninth |
| 10e | dix**ième** | tenth |

- The ordinal is the number and **ième**: **deux** → **deuxième**. Elle habite au **troisième** étage. (She lives on the third floor.)
- **Premier** is the only exception; it follows the gender of the noun: **premier**, **première**. C’est le **premier** jour. / C’est la **première** rue à gauche. (It's the first day. / It's the first street on the left.)
- A final e drops before **ième**: **quatre** → **quatrième**. C’est la **quatrième** fois. (It's the fourth time.)
- **cinq** gains a u, and **neuf** changes its f to v: **cinquième**, **neuvième**. Mon bureau est au **cinquième** étage. (My office is on the fifth floor.)
- Write **1er** and **1re**, then **2e**, **3e**… le **2e** étage (the second floor)
- In France, the **rez-de-chaussée** is not counted as a floor: the **premier étage** is above it. Le café est au **premier** étage. (The café is on the first floor above the ground floor.)
- Beyond ten, the rule is the same: **onzième**, **vingtième**, **vingt et unième**. C’est mon **vingtième** anniversaire. (It's my twentieth birthday.)
- **Second** and **seconde** replace **deuxième** when there are only two items. Je voyage en **seconde** classe. (I travel second class.)
- For dates, see Days, Months and Dates.

## Prices and phone numbers

| Written | Said |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 12,50 € | Ça fait **douze euros cinquante**. | That comes to €12.50. |
| 12,50 $ | Ça fait **douze dollars cinquante**. | That comes to $12.50. |
| 06 12 34 56 78 | Mon numéro, c’est le **zéro six, douze, trente-quatre, cinquante-six, soixante-dix-huit**. | My number is 06 12 34 56 78. |
| 514 555-1234 | Mon numéro, c’est le **cinq-un-quatre, cinq-cinq-cinq, un-deux-trois-quatre**. | My number is 514 555-1234. |

- The cents are said as a plain number, without the word **centimes**: **3,20 €** → **trois euros vingt**. Ça coûte combien ? — **Trois euros vingt**. (How much is it? — Three euros twenty.)
- **euro** takes an s from two on: **un euro**, **deux euros**. Un café, c’est **un euro** cinquante. (A coffee costs one euro fifty.)
- France: A French phone number has ten digits, said in groups of two.
- Canada: A Québec phone number has ten digits in three groups: the area code, then three digits and four.

## Typical errors

| ✗ | ✓ |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| vingt et deux | **vingt-deux** | **et** is used only with **un**: **vingt et un**, but **vingt-deux** |
| soixante-dix-un | **soixante et onze** | 71 is **soixante et onze**: it counts 60 + 11 |
| quatre-vingts-deux | **quatre-vingt**-deux | **quatre-vingts** loses its s before another number |
| quatre-vingt ans | **quatre-vingts** ans | **quatre-vingts** takes an s when it ends the number |
| deux cent euros | deux **cents** euros | **cent** takes an s after a number if it ends the number |
| un cent euros | **cent** euros | “a hundred” is **cent** alone, with no **un** |
| trois milles personnes | trois **mille** personnes | **mille** never takes an s |
| C’est le unième étage. | C’est le **premier** étage. | for 1, the ordinal is **premier**; **unième** exists only in **vingt et unième** |
| le cinqième étage | le **cinquième** étage | **cinq** gains a u before **ième** |
| le neufième étage | le **neuvième** étage | **neuf** changes its f to v before **ième** |
| un million personnes | un million **de** personnes | **million** is a noun: it takes **de** before the noun |
| 1,000 euros | 1 000 euros | a space groups the thousands and a comma marks the decimals: **1 000,50** |