How to count in French (Switzerland)

Enter a number and get it written in full in French (Switzerland).

Language overview

French (français) is an indo-european language belonging to the romance group. Official language in 29 countries, including France, Belgium (with Dutch and German), Switzerland (with German, Italian and Romansh) and Canada (with English), it is spoken by about 80 million native speakers.
Switzerland counts around 1.5 million French speakers in Romandy.

French (Switzerland) numbering rules

  • Digits and numbers from zero to sixteen are specific words, namely zéro [0], un (une in its feminine form) [1], deux [2], trois [3], quatre [4], cinq [5], six [6], sept [7], huit [8], neuf [9], dix [10], onze [11], douze [12], treize [13], quatorze [14], quinze [15], seize [16]. Seventeen to nineteen are regular numbers, i.e. named after the word for ten followed by a hyphen and the unit (dix-sept [10+7], dix-huit [10+8], dix-neuf [10+9].
  • The tens are specific words too from ten to ninety, namely dix [10], vingt [20], trente [30], quarante [40], cinquante [50], soixante [60], septante [70], octante [80] and nonante [90]. Some cantons in Switzerland use huitante instead of octante. French used in Switzerland is thus based on a complete decimal system, whereas in Belgium and France, some traces from an older vigesimal system that seems to have been inherited from Celtic languages are still in use.
  • Tens and units are joined with a hyphen (e.g.: quarante-six [46]), unless the unit is one. In that case, the word et (and) is inserted between the ten and the unit (e.g.: septante et un [71]).
  • Cent (hundred) is set to the plural form when multiplied by a number greater than one while ending the number (e.g.: mille deux cents [1,200], but deux cent quarante-six [246]), or when directly before the big scale names as million, milliard (billion, 109)… (e.g.: six cents millions [600,000,000]).
  • French language uses the long scale for big numbers where every new word greater than a million is one million times bigger than the previous term. Thus, un milliard is 109 (the US billion), and un billion (1012) worths a thousand US billions.

Books

Schaum’s Outline of French Grammar, 5edSchaum’s Outline of French Grammar, 5ed
by Mary Crocker, editors McGraw-Hill (2008)
[ Amazon.com]

A Comprehensive French GrammarA Comprehensive French Grammar
by Glanville Price, editors Wiley-Blackwell (2007)
[ Amazon.com]

French Grammar: A Complete Reference GuideFrench Grammar: A Complete Reference Guide
by Daniel Calvez, editors McGraw-Hill (2004)
[ Amazon.com]

Le petit GrevisseLe petit Grevisse
by Maurice Grevisse, editors Duculot Louvain (2009)
[ Fnac.com, Amazon.com]

Nouvelle grammaire françaiseNouvelle grammaire française
by Maurice Grevisse, André Goosse, editors Duculot Louvain (1994)
[ Fnac.com, Amazon.com]

Numbers list

1 – un
2 – deux
3 – trois
4 – quatre
5 – cinq
6 – six
7 – sept
8 – huit
9 – neuf
10 – dix
11 – onze
12 – douze
13 – treize
14 – quatorze
15 – quinze
16 – seize
17 – dix-sept
18 – dix-huit
19 – dix-neuf
20 – vingt
30 – trente
40 – quarante
50 – cinquante
60 – soixante
70 – septante
80 – octante
90 – nonante
100 – cent
1,000 – mille
one million – un million
one billion – un milliard
one trillion – un billion

Romance languages

Asturian, Catalan, Corsican, Eonavian, French, French (Belgium), French (Switzerland), Friulian, Galician, Italian, Ladin, Latin, Lombard (Milanese), Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Romansh, Sardinian, Spanish, Spanish (Puerto Rico), and Venetian.

Other supported languages

Supported languages by families
As the other currently supported languages are too numerous to list extensively here, please select a language from the following select box, or from the full list of supported languages.