French numbers: How to count and use numbers in French

French numbers start off simple enough, but once you reach 70, counting can suddenly feel more like solving a math problem. The good news is that there’s a clear logic behind numbers like soixante-dix and quatre-vingt-dix, and once you recognize the patterns, they become much easier to remember.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to count from 1 to 100 in French, understand the rules behind larger numbers, and use them naturally when talking about everything from your age to prices and phone numbers. We’ll also share practical ways to practice French numbers with native speakers on Tandem, so you can move beyond memorization and feel more confident using them in real conversations.

How French numbers work

When learning French, you’ll typically start with the basics: French greetings, maybe a few common French phrases, and numbers. French numbers are built using a combination of unique number words and repeatable patterns. The numbers from zero to 16 mostly need to be memorized, but once you reach 17, you can start combining words you already know. For example, dix-sept literally means “ten-seven,” while vingt-deux follows the same straightforward structure as “twenty-two.”

Most numbers from 20 to 69 follow this predictable pattern. You begin with the word for the multiple of ten, such as trente (30) or cinquante (50), and add the final number. Numbers ending in one are slightly different because they usually include et, meaning “and”: vingt et un (21), trente et un (31), and soixante et un (61).

The system changes when you reach 70, 80, and 90:

• 70 uses 60 + 10: Soixante-dix literally translates to “sixty-ten.”
• 80 uses 4 × 20: Quatre-vingts translates to “four twenties.”
• 90 uses 80 + 10: Quatre-vingt-dix translates to “four-twenties-ten.”

These combinations may seem unusual at first, but they follow consistent rules. Rather than memorizing every French number separately, it’s much easier to learn the main building blocks and use them to understand how larger numbers are formed.

French numbers 1 to 10: The essential building blocks

The French numbers from one to 10 are the building blocks for many of the larger numbers you’ll learn later. Because they don’t follow one shared pattern, it’s best to memorize them individually and practice saying them aloud, similar to how you would when learning the French alphabet.

• 1 — un: Pronounced roughly like uhn
• 2 — deux: Pronounced roughly like duh
• 3 — trois: Pronounced trwah
• 4 — quatre: Pronounced roughly like katr
• 5 — cinq: Pronounced sank
• 6 — six: Pronounced sees
• 7 — sept: Pronounced set
• 8 — huit: Pronounced weet
• 9 — neuf: Pronounced roughly like nuhf
• 10 — dix: Pronounced dees

French numbers 11 to 16: The numbers you need to memorize

Like the numbers from one to 10, French numbers 11 through 16 have unique names that you’ll need to memorize. They don’t yet follow the number-building pattern that begins at 17, but you’ll use several of them again when forming numbers in the 70s and 90s.

• 11 — onze: Pronounced roughly like onz
• 12 — douze: Pronounced dooz
• 13 — treize: Pronounced trez
• 14 — quatorze: Pronounced kah-torz
• 15 — quinze: Pronounced kanz
• 16 — seize: Pronounced sez

French numbers 17 to 19: The first number-building pattern

Once you reach 17, the numbers in French begin to follow a more recognizable pattern. Each number combines dix (10) with the number being added, making them easier to understand once you know the individual words.

• 17 — dix-sept: Literally “ten-seven,” pronounced dees-set
• 18 — dix-huit: Literally “ten-eight,” pronounced deez-weet
• 19 — dix-neuf: Literally “ten-nine,” pronounced deez-nuhf

French numbers 20 to 29

The number 20 is vingt, and the numbers that follow are formed by adding one through nine. The main exception is 21, which uses et (and) between vingt and un.

• 20 — vingt: Pronounced roughly like van
• 21 — vingt et un: Pronounced roughly like van-tay-uhn
• 22 — vingt-deux: Pronounced van-duh
• 23 — vingt-trois: Pronounced van-trwah
• 24 — vingt-quatre: Pronounced van-katr
• 25 — vingt-cinq: Pronounced van-sank
• 26 — vingt-six: Pronounced van-sees
• 27 — vingt-sept: Pronounced van-set
• 28 — vingt-huit: Pronounced van-tweet
• 29 — vingt-neuf: Pronounced van-nuhf

Although the final letters in vingt are usually silent when the word is said alone, the “t” can be heard in vingt et un and vingt-huit. Once you’re comfortable with this pattern, you’ll be able to apply almost the same structure to the numbers from 30 to 69.

French numbers 30 to 69

From 30 through 69, French numbers follow the same basic pattern you learned with the 20s. Start with the word for the multiple of 10, then add the number from one to nine. Numbers ending in one use et un, while the others are joined with a hyphen.

The French word for 30 is trente, pronounced roughly like tront.

• 30 — trente
• 31 — trente et un
• 32 — trente-deux
• 33 — trente-trois
• 34 — trente-quatre
• 35 — trente-cinq
• 36 — trente-six
• 37 — trente-sept
• 38 — trente-huit
• 39 — trente-neuf

The French word for 40 is quarante, pronounced roughly like kah-ront.

• 40 — quarante
• 41 — quarante et un
• 42 — quarante-deux
• 43 — quarante-trois
• 44 — quarante-quatre
• 45 — quarante-cinq
• 46 — quarante-six
• 47 — quarante-sept
• 48 — quarante-huit
• 49 — quarante-neuf

The French word for 50 is cinquante, pronounced roughly like sank-ont.

• 50 — cinquante
• 51 — cinquante et un
• 52 — cinquante-deux
• 53 — cinquante-trois
• 54 — cinquante-quatre
• 55 — cinquante-cinq
• 56 — cinquante-six
• 57 — cinquante-sept
• 58 — cinquante-huit
• 59 — cinquante-neuf

The French word for 60 is soixante, pronounced roughly like swah-sont.

• 60 — soixante
• 61 — soixante et un
• 62 — soixante-deux
• 63 — soixante-trois
• 64 — soixante-quatre
• 65 — soixante-cinq
• 66 — soixante-six
• 67 — soixante-sept
• 68 — soixante-huit
• 69 — soixante-neuf

The pattern remains consistent throughout this group: 31, 41, 51, and 61 all use et un, while the remaining numbers combine the multiple of 10 with another number. However, this system changes again when you reach 70, where French begins counting with 60 plus 10.

French numbers 70 to 79: Counting with 60

This is where French numbers take an unexpected turn. Instead of having a separate word for 70, standard French uses soixante (60) and adds the numbers from 10 to 19. In other words, 70 is formed as 60 + 10, 72 as 60 + 12, and so on.

• 70 — soixante-dix: 60 + 10
• 71 — soixante et onze: 60 + 11
• 72 — soixante-douze: 60 + 12
• 73 — soixante-treize: 60 + 13
• 74 — soixante-quatorze: 60 + 14
• 75 — soixante-quinze: 60 + 15
• 76 — soixante-seize: 60 + 16
• 77 — soixante-dix-sept: 60 + 17
• 78 — soixante-dix-huit: 60 + 18
• 79 — soixante-dix-neuf: 60 + 19

Similar to when you’re getting used to French grammar, trying to sort out how to say these higher numbers can take time. However, with enough listening and speaking practice, things will start to happen much more naturally.

French numbers 80 to 89

French uses another calculation-based structure for the 80s. The word quatre-vingts literally means “four twenties,” following the calculation 4 × 20 = 80. From 81 onward, you simply add the numbers from one to nine.

• 80 — quatre-vingts: 4 × 20
• 81 — quatre-vingt-un: 80 + 1
• 82 — quatre-vingt-deux: 80 + 2
• 83 — quatre-vingt-trois: 80 + 3
• 84 — quatre-vingt-quatre: 80 + 4
• 85 — quatre-vingt-cinq: 80 + 5
• 86 — quatre-vingt-six: 80 + 6
• 87 — quatre-vingt-sept: 80 + 7
• 88 — quatre-vingt-huit: 80 + 8
• 89 — quatre-vingt-neuf: 80 + 9

There are two important rules to remember here. First, quatre-vingts takes an s when it means exactly 80, but the s disappears when another number follows it. Second, 81 is quatre-vingt-un, not quatre-vingt et un. Unlike 21, 31, and 61, numbers in the 80s never use et before un.

French numbers 90 to 99

French numbers in the 90s build on the same system used for 80. Instead of using a separate word for 90, standard French combines quatre-vingt (80) with the numbers from 10 to 19. This means 90 follows the calculation 80 + 10, while 99 is formed as 80 + 19.

• 90 — quatre-vingt-dix: 80 + 10
• 91 — quatre-vingt-onze: 80 + 11
• 92 — quatre-vingt-douze: 80 + 12
• 93 — quatre-vingt-treize: 80 + 13
• 94 — quatre-vingt-quatorze: 80 + 14
• 95 — quatre-vingt-quinze: 80 + 15
• 96 — quatre-vingt-seize: 80 + 16
• 97 — quatre-vingt-dix-sept: 80 + 17
• 98 — quatre-vingt-dix-huit: 80 + 18
• 99 — quatre-vingt-dix-neuf: 80 + 19

As with the numbers from 81 to 89, vingt does not take an s because another number follows it. You should also leave out et in 91: the correct form is quatre-vingt-onze, not quatre-vingt et onze.

How to say 100 and beyond

The French word for 100 is cent. So, once you reach three-digit numbers, you can combine cent with the number patterns you’ve already learned. Unlike numbers such as 21 and 31, you don’t add et directly after cent.

• 100 — cent
• 101 — cent un
• 110 — cent dix
• 121 — cent vingt et un
• 175 — cent soixante-quinze
• 199 — cent quatre-vingt-dix-neuf
• 200 — deux cents
• 250 — deux cent cinquante
• 999 — neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix-neuf

There is one spelling rule to watch: cent takes an s when it is multiplied and appears at the end of a number, as in deux cents (200). The s disappears when another number follows, as in deux cent cinq (205).

Thousands and larger French numbers

The word for 1,000 is mille. It never takes an s, and French speakers say mille rather than un mille for exactly 1,000.

• 1,000 — mille
• 1,500 — mille cinq cents
• 2,000 — deux mille
• 10,000 — dix mille
• 100,000 — cent mille

For even larger figures, French uses million and milliard. These behave like nouns, so they take an s when plural.

• 1,000,000 — un million
• 2,000,000 — deux millions
• 1,000,000,000 — un milliard
• 2,000,000,000 — deux milliards

One potential source of confusion is that the English word “billion” translates to un milliard in French, not un billion. Fortunately, once you know the smaller number patterns, saying larger numbers is mostly a matter of combining familiar pieces.

Practice French numbers with native speakers on Tandem

French numbers become much easier when you stop treating them like calculations and start using them in real conversations. On Tandem, you can connect with native French speakers and practice talking about ages, prices, dates, phone numbers, and other everyday topics. Audio messages, video calls, and helpful corrections can also help you understand numbers at a natural speaking speed and improve your pronunciation. Download Tandem today and start practicing French numbers with native speakers from around the world.