Numbering in French

 

Numbers 20-69

The number consists of a word for the multiple of ten plus optionally the number for the unit 1-9 from the list up. Names of the tens:

20	vingt
30	trente
40	quarante
50	cinquante
60	soixante

Tens and units are joined with a hyphen. So, 22 = vingt-deux, 45 = quarante-cinq etc. If the unit is a 1, then the word et is inserted between tens and units: 21 = vingt et un, 31 = trente et un etc.

Numbers 70-79

These continue on from soixante-neuf: 70 = soixante-dix, 71 = soixante et onze, 72 = soixante-douze, 73 = soixante-treize etc. Notice the et in 71 which mimics the behaviour of 21, 31 etc.

Numbers 80-99

The French for eighty is quatre-vingts. Numbers 81-99 consist of quatre-vingt- (minus the -s) plus a number 1-19: 81 = quatre-vingt-un, 82 = quatre-vingt-deux, 90 = quatre-vingt-dix, 91 = quatre-vingt-onze etc. Notice that none of these numbers use the word et.

0	zéro	[zay-ro]
1	un	[uh]
2	deux	[duhr]
3	trois	[twa]
4	quatre	[katr]
5	cinq	[sank]
6	six	[sees]
7	sept	[set]
8	huit	[weet]
9	neuf	[nurf]
10	dix	[dees]
11	onze	[onz]
12	douze	[dooz]
13	treize	[trez]
14	quatorze	[katorz]
15	quinze	[kanz]
16	seize	[sez]
17	dix-sept	[dee-set]
18	dix-huit	[dees-weet]
19	dix-neuf	[dees-nurf]
20	vingt	[van]
21	vingt et un	[vant-ay-uh]
22	vingt-deux	[van-duhr]
23	vingt-trois	[van-twa]
24	vingt-quatre	[van-katr]
25	vingt-cinq	[van-sank]
26	vingt-six	[van-sees]
27	vingt-sept	[van-set]
28	vingt-huit	[van-weet]
29	vingt-neuf	[van-nurf]
30	trente	[tront]
31	Trente et un	[tront ay-uh]
32	Trente-deux	[tront-durh)
33	Trente-trois	[tront-twa)
34	Trente-quatre	[tront-katr)
35	Trente-cinq	[tront-sank)
36	Trente-six	[tront-sees)
37	Trente-sept	[tront-set)
38	Trente-huit	[tront-weet)
39	Trente-neuf	[tront-nurf)
40	quarante	[karont]
41	quarante et un	[karont-ay-uh]
42	quarante-deux	[karont-deux]
43	quarante-trois	[karont-twa]
44	quarante-quatre	[karont-katr]
45	quarante-cinq	[karont-sank]
46	quarante-six	[karont-sees]
47	quarante-sept	[karont-set]
48	quarante-huit	[karont-weet]
49	quarante-neuf	[karont-nurf]
50	cinquante	[sank-ont]
51	cinquante et un	[sank-ont-ay-uh]
52	cinquante-deux	[sank-ont-deux]
53	cinquante-trois	[sank-ont-twa]
54	cinquante-quatre	[sank-ont-katr]
55	cinquante-cinq	[sank-ont-sank]
56	cinquante-six	[sank-ont-sees]
57	cinquante-sept	[sank-ont-set]
58	cinquante-huit	[sank-ont-weet]
59	cinquante-neuf	[sank-ont-nurf]
60	soixante	[swa-sont]
61	soixante et un	[swa-sont-ay-un]
62	soixante-deux	[swa-sont-dur]
63	soixante-trois	[swa-sont-twa]
64	soixante-quatre	[swa-sont-katr]
65	soixante-cinq	[swa-sont-sank]
66	soixante-six	[swa-sont-sees]
67	soixante-sept	[swa-sont-set]
68	soixante-huit	[swa-sont-weet]
69	soixante-neuf	[swa-sont-nurf]
70	soixante-dix	[swa-sont-dees]
71	soixante-et-onze	[swa-sont-ay-onz]
72	soixante-douze	[swa-sont-dooz]
73	soixante-treize	[swa-sont-trez]
74	soixante-quatorze	[swa-sont-katorz]
75	soixante-quinze	[swa-sont-kanz]
76	soixante-seize	[swa-sont-sez]
77	soixante-dix-sept	[swa-sont-dee-set]
78	soixante-dix-huit	[swa-sont-dees-weet]
79	soixante-dix-neuf	[swa-sont-dees-nurf]
80	quatre-vingts	[kat-ra-van]
81	quatre-vingt-un	[kat-ra-vant-uh]
82	quatre-vingt-deux	[kat-ra-van-dur]
83	quatre-vingt-trois	[kat-ra-van-twa]
84	quatre-vingt-quatre	[kat-ra-van-katr]
85	quatre-vingt-cinq	[kat-ra-van-sank]
86	quatre-vingt-six	[kat-ra-van-sees]
87	quatre-vingt-sept	[kat-ra-van-set]
88	quatre-vingt-huit	[kat-ra-van-weet]
89	quatre-vingt-neuf	[kat-ra-van-nurf]
90	quatre-vingt-dix	[kat-ra-van-dees]
91	quatre-vingt-onze	[kat-ra-van-onz]
92	quatre-vingt-douze	[kat-ra-van-dooz]
93	quatre-vingt-treize	[kat-ra-van- trez]
94	quatre-vingt-quatorze	[kat-ra-van-katorz]
95	quatre-vingt-quinze	[kat-ra-van- kanz]
96	quatre-vingt-seize	[kat-ra-van- sez]
97	quatre-vingt-dix-sept	[kat-ra-van- dee-set]
98	quatre-vingt-dix-huit	[kat-ra-van- dees-weet]
99	quatre-vingt-dix-neuf	[kat-ra-van- dees-nurf]
100	cent	[son]

 

Millions, billions etc

The French for 'million' is million; 'a million' translates literally as un million. After the million comes the remainder of the number without any intervening word for 'and': 1000450 = un million quatre cent cinquante, 3008000 = trois millions huit mille. Note that millions does take an -s in the plural. When followed by a noun, numbers like million must be used with the preposition de. So the French for 'a million people' is un million de personnes; the French for 'three and a half million trees' is trois millions cinq cent mille d'arbres.
Other large numbers (billion, trillion) behave the same way to million: they behave more like nouns, in that they are preceded by un or take a plural -s, and are followed by de ... when used with a following noun.
Superficially, the names of large numbers such as billion, trillion are the same in French as in English. In practice, however, these names now refer to numbers of different magnitude in the two languages. French usage generally follows the 'long scale', in which a French billion corresponds to a million million.
Most English speakers in both the UK and US now use the 'short scale', in which a billion is a thousand million. The French equivalent of English 'billion' is milliard (whereas this word is now obsolete in English).
Bearing all this in mind, here are the names of some common large numbers in French. The numerals in the first column are in scientific notation, so 10⁶ means a one with six noughts (1 000 000):

Number	English	French
106	a million...	un million de...
109	a billion...	un milliard de...
1012	a trillion...	un billion de...
1015	a quadrillion...	un billiard de...
1018	a quintillion...	un trillion de...
10100	a googol...	un gogol de...

 

 

Ordinal numbers are used to express rank or position - in other words, ORDinal numbers are used for ORDering, as opposed to Cardinal numbers which are used for Counting. French ordinal numbers are often taught at the same time as fractions because, beginning with "fifth," French ordinal numbers and fractions are the same word.

Ordinal numbers					Fractions
first	premier première	1st	1er 1re
second	deuxième	2nd	2e		1/2, half	un demi
third	troisième	3rd	3e		1/3	un tiers
fourth	quatrième	4th	4e		1/4	un quart
fifth	cinquième	5th	5e		1/5	un cinquième
sixth	sixième	6th	6e		1/6	un sixième
seventh	septième	7th	7e		1/7	un septième
eighth	huitième	8th	8e		1/8	un huitième
ninth	neuvième	9th	9e		1/9	un neuvième
tenth	dixième	10th	10e		1/10	un dixième
					3/4	trois quarts
					2/5	deux cinquièmes
All ordinal numbers (except first) and most fractions are created from their corresponding cardinal number:
cardinal number		drop the final e (if any)				add -ième
six		six				sixième
onze		onz				onzième
vingt et un		vingt et un				vingt et unième
"First" is the only ordinal number that doesn't follow the above rule: premier (masculine) and première (feminine). Note that twenty-first, thirty-first, etc. do follow it.
Notes Watch out for the spelling changes in cinquième and neuvième   Ordinal numbers are not used to talk about dates in French, except for premier