French Numbers 1–100: The Complete Guide with Pronunciation
By Miracle Team ·
Numbers are the French you will actually use on day one: prices at the bakery, train platforms, phone numbers, “a table for two”. The good news is that French numbers are perfectly regular up to 69. Then they take a famous detour — 80 is literally “four-twenties” — and that detour is easier than its reputation once you see the logic. Here is the whole system, from un to cent.
0 to 10 — learn these cold
| Number | French | Sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | zéro | zay-RO |
| 1 | un | uhn (nasal — through the nose) |
| 2 | deux | duh |
| 3 | trois | trwah |
| 4 | quatre | KAT-ruh |
| 5 | cinq | sank |
| 6 | six | sees |
| 7 | sept | set |
| 8 | huit | weet |
| 9 | neuf | nuhf |
| 10 | dix | dees |
These ten words carry the whole system — every bigger number is built from them. Drill them until they are automatic: our free French numbers game quizzes exactly these, with spelling and memory modes to lock them in.
11 to 19 — six specials, three compounds
| Number | French | Sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | onze | onz |
| 12 | douze | dooz |
| 13 | treize | trez |
| 14 | quatorze | ka-TORZ |
| 15 | quinze | kanz |
| 16 | seize | sez |
| 17 | dix-sept | dees-SET |
| 18 | dix-huit | deez-WEET |
| 19 | dix-neuf | deez-NUHF |
Only 11–16 are new words. From 17, French just says “ten-seven, ten-eight, ten-nine” — the LEGO logic begins.
The tens, 20 to 60
| Number | French | Sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | vingt | van (nasal) |
| 30 | trente | tront |
| 40 | quarante | ka-RONT |
| 50 | cinquante | san-KONT |
| 60 | soixante | swa-SONT |
Combining is simple: tens + hyphen + unit. Vingt-deux (22), trente-cinq (35), cinquante-huit (58).
The “et un” rule: for 21, 31, 41, 51 and 61, French adds “and”: vingt et un, trente et un, quarante et un — no hyphens, just “twenty and one”.
70, 80, 90 — the famous detour
This is the part everyone warns you about, and it is really just arithmetic:
- 70 = soixante-dix — “sixty-ten”. Then 71 is soixante et onze (“sixty and eleven”), 72 is soixante-douze (“sixty-twelve”)… up to 79, soixante-dix-neuf.
- 80 = quatre-vingts — “four-twenties”. A leftover from an old Celtic habit of counting in twenties. Only the round 80 takes the final -s: quatre-vingts, but quatre-vingt-un (81).
- 81 breaks the “et” rule: it is quatre-vingt-un, not
quatre-vingts et un. - 90 = quatre-vingt-dix — “four-twenties-ten”. So 91 is quatre-vingt-onze, 95 is quatre-vingt-quinze, and 99 — the full workout — is quatre-vingt-dix-neuf: “four-twenty-ten-nine”.
And 100 is simply cent (son) — after 99, the reward.
A comforting footnote: Belgium and Switzerland gave up the arithmetic — they say septante (70) and nonante (90), and the Swiss add huitante (80). Everyone understands both systems, but in France, stick to the four-twenties.
Pronunciation traps worth knowing
- Six and dix change with what follows. Alone: “sees” / “dees”. Before a consonant the final sound drops: six livres → “see leevr”. Before a vowel it becomes a soft z: six ans → “see-zahn”.
- Cinq and huit also drop their final sound before a consonant: cinq minutes → “san mee-NUT”.
- Neuf turns its f into a v in two set phrases: neuf ans (nine years) and neuf heures (nine o’clock) → “nuh-VAHN”, “nuh-VUHR”.
- Vingt wakes its t up inside 22–29: vingt-deux → “vant-DUH”.
Do not memorise these as rules — say the examples aloud a few times and your mouth will keep the habit. Our guide on how to pronounce French covers the nasal vowels that make un, vingt and cent sound properly French.
How to actually memorise them
- Learn 1–16 as words, everything else as LEGO. Sixteen words plus five tens plus the four-twenties trick — that is the entire system to 100.
- Count real things, out loud. Stairs as you climb them, plates as you set the table, prices as you shop. Numbers stick through use, not through lists.
- Say your phone number in French. French speakers read theirs in pairs (06 12 34… = “zéro six, douze, trente-quatre…”) — pair practice is exactly 0–99 training.
- Play until it is reflex. Ten rounds of the numbers game beats one long study session — the same spaced-repetition idea from our 7-step beginner plan.
Mistakes to avoid
- Saying “huitante” in Paris — France never uses it; that one is Swiss.
- Forgetting “et” in 21–61 (vingt et un, not
vingt-un) — and adding it in 81/91, which take none. - Writing the -s in 81–99 — quatre-vingts keeps its s only at exactly 80.
- Reading numbers letter by letter. Practise hearing whole numbers at speed — cashiers will not slow down.
Want the numbers with native audio and games that quiz you daily? Learn French for Beginners teaches numbers alongside 4,500+ everyday words, each with pictures and native-speaker pronunciation. Download it free on Google Play and count to cent by the end of the week.