NumbersFrench numbers are not very difficult to learn: they follow a similar pattern to naming numbers in English.

However, there are a few little quirks to French numbering that you should be aware of.

  • 21, 31, 41, etc: numbers like these that end in 1 (excluding 81, probably because it’s so many words already) are said with an et-un at the end, not just un. All the other numbers are just like how we say them in English, such as vingt-trois (twenty-three) not “vingt-et-trois” (twenty-and-three).
  • 70: Poor seventy doesn’t get its own word in traditional French (though other French-speaking nations use the word “septante“); instead, it’s called, literally, sixty-ten. From 71-79, the numbers follow this same pattern: soixante-onze for 71, soixante-douze for 72, etc.
  • 80-99: Again, the numbers 80 and 90 both get neglected and don’t get their own words in French. 80, quatre-vingts, is literally “four-twenties” and 90, quatre-vingt-dix is “four-twenties-ten.” (Other French-speaking nations may use “huitante” for 80 and “nonante” for 90.)
  • Be careful with the numbers for “billion” and “trillion” in French. For American English, where one billion is 1,000,000,000 and one trillion is 1,000,000,000,000, these need to be thought of in reverse: one “billion” is un milliard, and one “trillion” is un billion. (In UK English this is switched around, so the French words make sense if you speak British English. )
0 zéro 22 vingt-deux
1 un 23 vingt-trois
2 deux 24 vingt-quatre
3 trois 25 vingt-cinq
4 quatre 26 vingt-six
5 cinq 27 vingt-sept
6 six 28 vingt-huit
7 sept 29 vingt-neuf
8 huit 30 trente
9 neuf 40 quarante
10 dix 50 cinquante
11 onze 60 soixante
12 douze 70 soixante-dix
13 treize 80 quatre-vingts
14 quatorze 90 quatre-vingts-dix
15 quinze 95 quatre-vingts-quinze
16 seize 100 cent
17 dix-sept 200 deux cent
18 dix-huit 1,000 une mille
19 dix-neuf 1,000,000 un million
20 vingt 1,000,000,000 un milliard
21 vingt-et-un 1,000,000,000,000 un billion