Numbers in French any non-native French man learning the speech will concur that one of the hardest things to get to grips with is the amount system. It might be smooth sailing until you get to sixty-nine, but funny things begin to happen since they do not have a separate term for seventy, or eighty, or perhaps ninety for that matter. Even the most proficient French speaker will relate to that all-too-familiar moment in which you freeze because you jot down a phone number or need to scribble out a couple of digits because that which you thought was sixty-something proven to be 72.
With French, it isn’t just about being good at the language, to be able to get to grips with much higher numbers, it seems you have to be good at mental maths too. Take 77 for example, or instead, ‘sixty-ten-seven’ because it would be mentioned in French. Ninety-nine translates into “four-twenty-ten-nine” or quatre-vingt-dix-neuf.
Amounts in French
Numbers are undeniably important when it comes to interacting with other people, from telling somebody how old you are to find out how much something in a shop expenses, to maybe even exchanging numbers with this adorable Frenchie you’ve been conversing. French numbers are not quite as simple as numbers in English; at a certain level, they actually need you to do a little math.
However, like any other sort of vocabulary, once you’ve memorized and practiced them, they will get easier.
Before we begin, the fantastic news is, this set of numbers is just like those in many other languages: simply a word for each that you need to memorize.
Amounts in French 1-1000
Amounts in French 1-10
0 zéro
1 un
2 deux
3 trois
4 quatre
5 cinq
6 six
7 sept
8 huit
9 neuf
10 dix
Consider getting to understand these French figures by repeating them a few times daily until you’ve got them down.
If you’re one of those men and women who finds out your Zen by counting to ten, then why not try doing it in French next time?
The figures in French 11-20
Now let us take things to the next level: the adolescents.
The fantastic news is, there’s a French equivalent to the suffix “-teen” in English: the prefix dix-.
The only downside is that whereas “-teen” can be used in English beginning with the number 13, in French you’ll have to wait till 17.
From the teens, you’ll see the very first examples of a few of the essential rules of writing French numbers in letters: When there are multiple phrases at a number, they’re connected by hyphens.
Here goes:
11 onze
12 douze
15 quinze
17 dix-sept
18 dix-huit
19 dix-neuf
20 vingt
The figures in French 21-69
As in English, if you buy past 20 in French, then you simply have to add the extra number after it. Therefore, by way of instance, 24 is vingt-quatre.
The sole exception is with those. If you add “un” to a number ending in no time, you also need to add the word “and” (et). Can you guess how to say 21 in French? That is right: vingt-et-un. Best Read – Alphanumeric Character | Definition & Characters
Let’s look at how to write a Few of the numbers from 21-69 in French
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
40 quarante
41 quarante-et-un
42 quarante-deux
50 cinquante
51 cinquante-et-un
52 cinquante-deux
60 soixante
61 soixante-et-un
62 soixante-deux
Pop quiz: how can you say “54” in French? Take a guess, then check it with whatever method you would like. Can you get it done right?
The numbers in French 70-79
Now let us check out the amounts 70-79 in French.
That is where the mathematics I was talking about comes from. Instead of 70 being some form of sept in French, it is soixante-dix. If you are starting to get the hang of the numbers already, you are going to recognize that 70 in French essentially translates to”60 and 10″.
With this logic, for 71-79, use the numbers 11-19, not 1-9, in the conclusion.
70 soixante-dix
71 soixante-et-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-dix-neuf
Ordinal Numbers in French
With Ordinal Numbers
How blessed you are to be in France during the famous cycling race, le Tour de France! You and your buddy Claire are watching the cyclists finish the sixth phase of the race la sixième (pronounced: see-zee-em) étape.
You excitedly telephone out to Claire, ‘Fabrice arrive premier!’ (pronounced: pruh-mee -ay). Fabrice finishes first!
‘Manuel arrive deuxième!’ (pronounced: duh-zee-em). Claire sees a Spanish fisherman, Manuel, finish moment.
‘Et Laurent arrive troisième!’ (pronounced: trwa-zee-em). Laurent, a French cyclist, finishes third.
After several more cyclists cross the finish line, Claire says, ‘Ah non, Grégoire arrive dixième!’ (pronounced: dee-zee-em). She’s so disappointed that Gregoire is now tenth!
Can you observe the form of the numbers in the dialogue? These ordinal numbers are shaped from the normal number and the ending -ième. For example, ‘third’ is the number ‘three’ (trois) and -ième, to form the ordinal number troisième, or third. In English, we usually include’-th’ to the number, to form the ordinal number. For instance, we say ‘fourth, fifth, fifth,’ and so on. However, in French the end is -ième, so we say, quatrième, cinquième, sixième.
Other Forms of Ordinal Numbers
There are a couple of exceptions, though!
The equivalent of ‘original’ in French is premier for the manly form and première for its female form. It needs to agree with the gender of the noun it’s modifying. In other words, if it’s modifying a female word like in ‘the very first time,’ the expression could be la première fois (pronounced: pruh-mee-air) because fois is female.
But for other numbers like 21, 31, 41, and 51, we don’t utilize premier. Rather, these numbers follow the normal pattern: vingt-et-unième.
The number nine, or neuf, drop the ‘f’ and replaces it with a ‘v’: neuvième (pronounced: nuh-vee-em).
A number ending in ‘e,’ like quatre, drops the ‘e’ from the conclusion: quatrième.
The number five, cinq, adds a’u’ prior to the -ième: cinquième.
You may also hear second (pronounced: suh-gonde) rather than deuxième in certain situations. By way of instance, the term for ‘in 2nd class’ on a train is en seconde. This is because there is not any ‘third-class’ on a train. When there’s not any ‘third’ in the series, deuxième isn’t used but the next (e) can be used instead. Suggested – What Is Angular Velocity Equation? Definition, Formula, Examples