French Numbers 1–100: How to Count in French

Numbers are everywhere in daily French life — prices at the market, phone numbers, dates, ages, addresses. Learning them early pays off fast: within a few minutes you'll be able to ask "how much?", tell someone your age, or read a price tag with confidence. Most French numbers follow a clear pattern, but there's one famous exception, around 70–99, that catches every beginner off guard. By the end of this guide you'll know how to count from 1 to 100 (and beyond), how to pronounce the tricky ones, and exactly why the French do that odd thing with 80.

Numbers 1–20: the building blocks

These are worth memorising cold, since every larger number is built from them.

Note that un becomes une before a feminine noun (une pomme, one apple), the only French number with a gender.

Numbers 20–69: the regular pattern

From 20 onward, French numbers behave the way you'd expect: tens + a hyphen + the unit.

The pattern is consistent: vingt-trois (23), trente-cinq (35), quarante-huit (48). The one small quirk is that "and one" (et un) is used instead of a hyphen at 21, 31, 41, 51 and 61 — so it's vingt et un, not vingt-un. Every other unit uses a plain hyphen.

Numbers 70–99: where it gets interesting

This is the part that surprises every English speaker, and it's the single most-searched question about French numbers. Standard French (used in France) doesn't have separate words for 70, 80, and 90. Instead, it builds them out of the numbers you already know:

So soixante-quinze (75) is literally "sixty-fifteen," and quatre-vingt-treize (93) is literally "four-twenty-thirteen." It looks strange on paper, but native speakers don't do the arithmetic — they hear these as single words, the same way you don't think about "eleven" meaning "one left over" in English.

A useful side note: Belgium and Switzerland use simpler, separate words — septante (70), huitante or octante (80, regional), and nonante (90). If you're learning for a trip to Paris, stick with the standard French forms above.

100 and beyond

Note that cent takes an -s when it's an exact multiple with nothing after it (deux cents, 200) but drops the -s when followed by another number (deux cent un, 201). Mille never takes an -s, no matter how many thousands you have.

Numbers in everyday sentences

Common mistakes English speakers make

• Trying to say 70/80/90 as single new words. There's no shortcut — you have to internalise soixante-dix, quatre-vingts, and quatre-vingt-dix as set expressions, since there's no direct English equivalent to lean on.

• Forgetting the -s on quatre-vingts. It's quatre-vingts (80) with an -s, but quatre-vingt-un (81) drops it — the -s only appears when nothing follows.

• Mixing up cent and cents. Remember: the -s only appears on an exact round hundred with nothing after it.

• Mispronouncing six, dix, and huit before a noun. The final consonant of these numbers changes sound depending on what follows — six pommes softens the "x," while six euros links it. This takes listening practice more than memorisation.

Quick practice

Write these numbers in French:

1. 45

2. 78

3. 92

4. 100

5. 31

Answers: 1. quarante-cinq · 2. soixante-dix-huit · 3. quatre-vingt-douze · 4. cent · 5. trente et un

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does French say "four twenty" for 80? It's a remnant of an old base-20 (vigesimal) counting system once common across parts of Europe. Standard French kept it for 80, and built 70 and 90 the same way (as 60+10 and 4×20+10), while Belgian and Swiss French simplified to septante and nonante.

How do you say phone numbers in French? French phone numbers are read two digits at a time: 06 12 34 56 78 becomes zéro six, douze, trente-quatre, cinquante-six, soixante-dix-huit — not digit by digit as in English.

Do French numbers change for masculine and feminine nouns? Only the number un/une changes gender (un livre, one book; une pomme, one apple). All other numbers stay the same regardless of the noun's gender.

What's the easiest way to memorise 70–99? Practice them as fixed chunks rather than doing mental math each time: soixante-dix (70), quatre-vingts (80), quatre-vingt-dix (90) become automatic with repetition — the same way "eleven" doesn't require you to think about "one-teen."

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