How to count in French

Enter a number and get it written in full in French.

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.

French 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 sixty, namely dix [10], vingt [20], trente [30], quarante [40], cinquante [50] and soixante [60].
  • From sixty-one to ninety-nine, the base 20 is used (this vigesimal system seems to be an inheritance from Celtic languages), hence soixante-dix [60+10], soixante-dix-neuf [60+10+9], quatre-vingts [4*20], quatre-vingt-dix [4*20+10].
  • Tens and units are joined with a hyphen (e.g.: quarante-six [46]), unless the unit is a one. In that case, the word et (and) is inserted between tens and units (e.g.: quarante et un [41]).
  • Vingt (twenty) and cent (hundred) are 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 they are 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 – soixante-dix
80 – quatre-vingts
90 – quatre-vingt-dix
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
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