French Numbers 1–100: Pronunciation & Spelling

French numbers 1 to 100: the full chart

Every number from 1 to 100 written out in French. Notice the patterns: 21, 31, 41, 51, 61 and 71 use "et", 70–79 count on from soixante, and 80–99 build on quatre-vingts.

Belgium and Switzerland often say septante (70) and nonante (90), and parts of Switzerland say huitante (80). In Canada and France, use soixante-dix, quatre-vingts and quatre-vingt-dix.

1 to 10 in French

Counting from 1 to 10 in French goes: un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf, dix. Say them aloud with the audio cards above until you can do it without looking. Two details matter from the start. First, un changes to une before a feminine noun: un livre (one book) but une pomme (one apple). Second, the final consonant of cinq, six, huit and dix is pronounced when you count or when the number stands alone (/sɛ̃k/, /sis/, /ɥit/, /dis/), but six, huit and dix drop it before a noun that starts with a consonant: six livres /si livʁ/, dix jours /di ʒuʁ/. Most speakers today keep the k sound in cinq in every position.

French numbers 0–20

The numbers from 0 to 16 each have their own word and simply have to be memorized. From 17 to 19, French combines dix (ten) with the unit, joined by a hyphen: dix-sept is "ten-seven". Note the z sound that appears in dix-huit and dix-neuf.

Counting by tens: 20 to 100

From 20 to 60 the tens are regular words: vingt, trente, quarante, cinquante, soixante. After 60, French stops creating new words and counts in twenties instead, which is why 70, 80 and 90 look like small sums.

21, 31, 41…: when to use "et un"

For 21, 31, 41, 51 and 61, French puts et (and) between the ten and un, with no hyphens: vingt et un, trente et un. The same rule gives soixante et onze for 71. Every other compound number from 17 to 99 uses a hyphen: vingt-deux, trente-cinq, quarante-huit. The t of vingt is silent on its own (/vɛ̃/) but pronounced from 21 to 29: vingt-deux is /vɛ̃tdø/. Since the 1990 spelling reform, writing hyphens everywhere (vingt-et-un) is also correct, but the traditional spelling is still the most common.

70 to 79: soixante-dix and onwards

Seventy is literally "sixty-ten": soixante-dix. The seventies continue by adding the numbers 11 to 19 to soixante, so 71 is soixante et onze ("sixty and eleven"), 72 is soixante-douze ("sixty-twelve") and 79 is soixante-dix-neuf ("sixty-nineteen"). If you already know 11 to 19 well, the seventies need no new vocabulary.

80 to 99: quatre-vingts and its pattern

Eighty is "four twenties": quatre-vingts. It takes an s because vingt is multiplied and ends the number. As soon as another number follows, the s disappears: quatre-vingt-un (81), quatre-vingt-deux (82). There is no et in 81 or 91, and the t of vingt stays silent in 81 to 99: quatre-vingt-un is /katʁəvɛ̃œ̃/. The nineties work like the seventies, adding 10 to 19 to quatre-vingt: quatre-vingt-dix (90), quatre-vingt-onze (91), quatre-vingt-dix-neuf (99). Then comes cent (100), with no un in front.

Septante and nonante

Belgium and Switzerland use septante (70) and nonante (90), and some Swiss regions also say huitante (80). Canada and France use soixante-dix, quatre-vingts and quatre-vingt-dix, which are the forms expected in the TEF Canada and the TCF Canada. You only need to recognize the regional words.

Liaison with numbers

In French, a silent final consonant is often pronounced when the next word begins with a vowel or a silent h. This linking is called liaison, and numbers use it all the time with ans (years), heures (hours, o'clock) and euros. Getting it right makes ages, times and prices sound natural.