French numbers have a reputation. Ask anyone who has studied the language, and they will happily tell you about the moment they discovered that 80 is literally “four twenties.” It sounds intimidating, but here is the good news: once you understand the small pattern hiding underneath, French numbers become predictable, logical and even a little charming. In this guide we will build your counting skills from zero all the way past a thousand, with pronunciation help, clear tables and plenty of real examples for prices, years and phone numbers.
Numbers are one of the highest-value things you can learn early. You use them for shopping, telling time, giving your phone number, catching a train and understanding a bill. Master this one topic and you unlock dozens of everyday conversations. Let’s count.
French numbers 0 to 20: your foundation
Everything in French counting is built from the numbers 0 to 20, so this is the group worth memorizing first. Unlike the tens, these have their own individual names and follow no shortcut. The pronunciations below are rough English approximations to get you started, though listening to a native speaker will always refine your ear.
| Number | French | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | zéro | zay-roh |
| 1 | un | uhn |
| 2 | deux | duh |
| 3 | trois | twah |
| 4 | quatre | katr |
| 5 | cinq | sank |
| 6 | six | sees |
| 7 | sept | set |
| 8 | huit | weet |
| 9 | neuf | nuhf |
| 10 | dix | dees |
| 11 | onze | onz |
| 12 | douze | dooz |
| 13 | treize | trez |
| 14 | quatorze | kah-torz |
| 15 | quinze | kanz |
| 16 | seize | sez |
| 17 | dix-sept | dees-set |
| 18 | dix-huit | dees-weet |
| 19 | dix-neuf | dees-nuhf |
| 20 | vingt | van |
Notice a helpful pattern at the top of the teens: from 17 onward, French simply glues ten and a digit together (dix-sept is literally “ten-seven”). The numbers 11 to 16, however, are unique words you will need to learn by heart. If you are also working on vocabulary that surrounds counting, our roundup of the most common French words pairs nicely with this lesson.
Counting from 20 to 60: the easy, regular tens
Here comes the reassuring part. The tens from 20 to 60 behave exactly the way you would hope. Each has its own name, and you build the numbers in between by adding the digits 1 to 9.
- 20 — vingt (van)
- 30 — trente (tront)
- 40 — quarante (kah-ront)
- 50 — cinquante (sank-ont)
- 60 — soixante (swah-sont)
To make numbers in between, you attach the units with a hyphen: 32 is trente-deux, 45 is quarante-cinq, 58 is cinquante-huit. Simple and consistent.
The “et un” rule
There is one small elegance to remember. When a ten meets the number one, French adds the word et (“and”) instead of using a hyphen. So 21 is vingt et un (not vingt-un), 31 is trente et un, 41 is quarante et un, and so on through 61, soixante et un. This “et un” rule applies to the -1 numbers only. As you will see, it also stretches to 71, which is why that number surprises so many learners.
The famous tricky part: 70, 80 and 90
This is the section everyone warns you about, and it is genuinely the one quirk of French counting. From 70 upward, standard French switches to a base-20 (vigesimal) logic, a leftover from older Celtic counting systems. Instead of inventing new words for seventy, eighty and ninety, French does arithmetic out loud.
- 70 = soixante-dix — literally “sixty-ten” (60 + 10)
- 80 = quatre-vingts — literally “four twenties” (4 × 20)
- 90 = quatre-vingt-dix — literally “four-twenty-ten” (4 × 20 + 10)
Once you see the math, the rest of each decade follows logically. For the seventies, you keep counting into the teens: 71 is soixante et onze (“sixty and eleven”), 72 is soixante-douze, 75 is soixante-quinze, 79 is soixante-dix-neuf. For the nineties, you do the same on top of quatre-vingt: 91 is quatre-vingt-onze, 95 is quatre-vingt-quinze, 99 is quatre-vingt-dix-neuf. The table below breaks the whole tricky range down clearly.
| Number | French | Breakdown |
|---|---|---|
| 70 | soixante-dix | 60 + 10 |
| 71 | soixante et onze | 60 + 11 |
| 72 | soixante-douze | 60 + 12 |
| 75 | soixante-quinze | 60 + 15 |
| 79 | soixante-dix-neuf | 60 + 19 |
| 80 | quatre-vingts | 4 × 20 |
| 81 | quatre-vingt-un | 4 × 20 + 1 |
| 85 | quatre-vingt-cinq | 4 × 20 + 5 |
| 90 | quatre-vingt-dix | 4 × 20 + 10 |
| 91 | quatre-vingt-onze | 4 × 20 + 11 |
| 99 | quatre-vingt-dix-neuf | 4 × 20 + 19 |
Two spelling notes worth tucking away. First, 80 on its own carries an -s: quatre-vingts. But as soon as another number follows it, that -s disappears: quatre-vingt-un, quatre-vingt-trois. Second, notice that 71 keeps the “et” (soixante et onze), while 81 does not (quatre-vingt-un). And here is a lovely detail about hyphens: since the 1990 spelling reform, you are encouraged to hyphenate all the parts of a compound number, so ninety-one can be written quatre-vingt-onze with hyphens throughout. Both traditional and reformed spellings are accepted, so don’t panic if you see slight variations in print.
A kinder option: septante, huitante and nonante
Here is a relief for anyone daunted by the math. French speakers in Belgium and Switzerland use simpler, regular words: septante for 70, nonante for 90, and in much of Switzerland huitante (or octante) for 80. So 71 becomes septante et un and 92 becomes nonante-deux. If you are traveling in Brussels or Geneva you will hear these constantly, and they are perfectly correct French. It is a reminder that the “four twenties” system, while standard in France, is not the only way.
Hundreds, thousands and beyond
Big numbers are refreshingly straightforward. Cent means one hundred, and you simply place a number in front to multiply: deux cents (200), trois cents (300). Like quatre-vingts, cent takes an -s when it is a round multiple (deux cents) but drops it when another number follows (deux cent cinq = 205).
For thousands, the word is mille, and it is beautifully well-behaved: mille never changes and never takes an -s, no matter how many thousands you are counting. So 2,000 is deux mille and 5,000 is cinq mille. A number like 1,999 is mille neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix-neuf. Above that, un million (a million) and un milliard (a billion) do behave like nouns and take an -s in the plural: deux millions, trois milliards.
Using numbers in real life
Prices. In French, the currency word slots between the euros and the cents. Nineteen euros ninety-nine is dix-neuf euros quatre-vingt-dix-neuf, though in everyday speech people often just say dix-neuf quatre-vingt-dix-neuf. Note that French uses a comma as the decimal marker: 19,99 €.
Years. The year 2025 is deux mille vingt-cinq. Older dates could be said two ways: 1980 is mille neuf cent quatre-vingts or, more casually, dix-neuf cent quatre-vingts.
Phone numbers. The French read phone numbers in pairs of two digits. A number like 06 12 34 56 78 is spoken as zéro six, douze, trente-quatre, cinquante-six, soixante-dix-huit. Practicing this grouping is one of the fastest ways to sound natural, and it is excellent listening drill.
Because numbers appear constantly alongside greetings and small talk, it helps to study them next to your French greetings and to see how numbers behave with the verbs and French pronouns you use in a sentence. When you are ready to describe when something happened, our guides to French verb conjugation and the passé composé will let you say things like “I bought three” or “we waited twenty minutes.”
Common mistakes to avoid
- Forgetting “et” at 21, 31, 41, 51, 61 and 71. These take vingt et un, trente et un, and so on, while 81 and 91 do not.
- Adding -s to 80 when it isn’t alone. It is quatre-vingts (80) but quatre-vingt-deux (82).
- Trying to translate 70, 80 and 90 word for word into English logic. Accept the math instead: 60 + 10, 4 × 20, 4 × 20 + 10.
- Pluralizing mille. It never changes: deux mille, cent mille.
- Mixing up the six and dix pronunciation. They end in an “s” sound alone but soften or link before other words.
If you enjoy comparing systems, it is fascinating to line French up against its cousins. The Spanish numbers and Italian numbers both use fully regular tens (setenta, ottanta), which shows just how unusual the French “four twenties” really is.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is 80 “quatre-vingts” (four twenties) in French?
It is a survival of an old base-20 counting system, likely influenced by Celtic languages spoken in ancient Gaul. Rather than creating a separate word for eighty, French multiplies four by twenty. The same logic gives us 90 as quatre-vingt-dix (four twenties plus ten).
Is it easier to just use septante, huitante and nonante?
In Belgium and Switzerland, yes, and they are fully correct French. However, in France these forms are not used, so learners aiming for standard French should still master soixante-dix, quatre-vingts and quatre-vingt-dix. It is smart to recognize both.
When do I use “et” versus a hyphen?
Use “et” only when a ten is joined to the number one in 21, 31, 41, 51, 61 and 71 (vingt et un, soixante et onze). Every other combination uses a hyphen, such as vingt-deux or soixante-dix-huit. Note that 81 and 91 break the pattern and take no “et.”
Does “cent” and “mille” ever take an -s?
Cent takes an -s only when it is a round multiple with nothing after it (trois cents = 300, but trois cent un = 301). Mille never takes an -s at all. The nouns million and milliard, however, do pluralize: deux millions.
What is the fastest way to memorize French numbers?
Lock in 0 to 20 first, then learn the regular tens up to 60, and finally drill the 70 to 99 range as a separate “math” exercise. Practice by reading prices aloud, saying your phone number in pairs, and counting everyday objects. A little daily repetition beats one long session. You can check any spelling on a trusted dictionary like Larousse or practice listening with TV5Monde.
Ready to make French numbers automatic? Our tutors turn tricky rules into confident habits with real conversation practice. Book a class with The Cognitio and start counting like a native, quatre-vingts and all.