French numbers: Learn how to count from 0 to 100

Updated: April 20, 2021 by Mylene in French VocabularyArray  ▪ English Français  

Learning to count in a foreign language is a skill that many language learners would like to acquire. Do you know how to count in French? This lesson is all about French numbers! Read the text and watch the video below to learn the numbers in French.

In this post, you’ll learn:

• How to count from 0-9 in French
• How to count from 10-19 in French
• French numbers 10-60 by tens
• How to count from 20-69 in French
• How to count from 70-99 in French

Learn to count French Numbers

Learning to count and mastering the French numbers is part of the useful vocabulary lists to build when learning French. With colors and greetings, French numbers are a great place to start your language learning journey.

In this guide, my best advice is, therefore, to encompass the following three steps:

Step 1: Learn the basics of French numerals

Step 2: Understand the process of counting from 20 to 69

Step 3: Understand the difficulties when counting from 70 to 100

As it is important to start with the basics, this article that you are reading now is part of the beginner’s topics to learning French vocabulary. If you want to know how to say numbers correctly in French, you can read this article about how to pronounce numbers correctly. You’re all set to start counting and to master the way to pronounce numbers in French with these two articles.

French numbers: 0-19

Step 1: The basics of French Numbers

Let’s start with the basics of French and learn that single numbers (0-9) are called “chiffres”. In the following, I list the numbers that would teach you how to count to 9 in French.

How to count from 0-9 in French

• 0 : zéro
• 1 : un
• 2 : deux
• 3 : trois
• 4 : quatre
• 5 : cinq
• 6 : six
• 7 : sept
• 8 : huit
• 9 : neuf

Real-life situation

Small numbers are frequently used in our day to day life. For instance:

• When buying a metro ticket: Je voudrais acheter un ticket de métro.
• When telling time in French: Je dois partir maintenant, j’ai un rendez-vous à cinq heures cet après-midi.
• When buying a baguette or a pain au chocolat at a bakery: Je voudrais acheter deux pains au chocolat.

How to count from 10-19 in French

In French, numbers refer to non-single digits. Use “nombres” to say the word numbers in French.

In the following, you’ll learn how to count from 10 to 19 in French:

• 10 : dix
• 11 : onze
• 12 : douze
• 13 : treize
• 14 : quatorze
• 15 : quinze
• 16 : seize
• 17 : dix-sept
• 18 : dix-huit
• 19 : dix-neuf

Real-life situation

Booking an appointment over the phone or confirming a travel date with a hotel is crucial to avoid you from getting into unwanted situations. 

This is one reason why it is important to learn French numbers. For example:

• I would like to book an appointment on the twelve of February: Je souhaite prendre un rendez-vous le douze février.

French numbers 10-60 by tens

Let’s continue with the basics and learn how to count in tens from 10 to 60:

• 10 : dix
• 20 : vingt
• 30 : trente
• 40 : quarante
• 50 : cinquante
• 60 : soixante

Unique Numbers in French

The way that the following numbers are unique means that they are formed of specific words. Here are the unique numbers in French:

• Numbers from 1 to 16 are unique
• The tens are also unique numbers
• Certain French numbers are unique

Other numbers are formed of two (or more) unique words/numbers and usually separated by a hyphen. For example, dix-sept [10+7] and dix-huit [10+8], soixante-dix-neuf [60+10+9].

French Numbers: 20-69

Step 2: Understand the process

Congratulations, now you know the basics of counting numbers in French. 

Let’s move to the next level and count from 20 to 69.

At this step, things are easy but you should understand the process and master the pattern.

How to count from 20-69 in French

• 20 : vingt
• 21 : vingt-et-un
• 22 : vingt-deux
• 23 : vingt-trois
• 24 : vingt-quatre
• 25 : vingt-cinq
• 26 : vingt-six
• 27 : vingt-sept
• 28 : vingt-huit
• 29 : vingt-neuf

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

Real-life situation

It is important to say an age correctly and understand the age of other persons. It’s also part of the useful birthday French vocabulary to say the date on which a person was born.

For instance, express the age of someone you know in French. Here is an example:

• Joe is forty-four years old: Joe a quarante-quatre ans.
• Jenny is 20 years old: Jenny a vingt ans.

French Numbers: 70-100

Step 3: Understand the difficulties

Counting past 69 might become more challenging for French learners.

So here it is important to understand the difficulties and then it will become easy to count from 70 to 100 in French.

Understand the underlying logic

Do you prefer to understand the underlying logic?

• sixty is soixante
• seventy is soixante-dix (literally sixty-ten)
• seventy-two is soixante-douze (literally sixty-twelve)
• seventy-three is soixante-treize (literally sixty-thirteen)
• seventy-nine is soixante-dix-neuf (literally sixty-ten-nine)
• eighty is quatre-vingts (literally four-twenties)
• eighty-two is quatre-vingt-deux (literally four-twenty-two)
• ninety is quatre-vingt-dix (literally four-twenty-ten)
• ninety-two is quatre-vingt-douze (literally four-twenty-twelve)

How to count from 60-99 in French

• 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

• 70 : soixante-dix
• 71 : soixante-et-onze
• 72 : soixante-douze
• 73 : soixante-treize
• 74 : soixante-quatorze
• 75 : soixante-quinze
• 76: soixante-seize
• 77 : soixante-dix-sept
• 78 : soixante-dix-huit
• 79 : soixante-dix-neuf

• 80 : quatre-vingts
• 81 : quatre-vingt-un
• 82 : quatre-vingt-deux
• 83 : quatre-vingt-trois
• 84 : quatre-vingt-quatre
• 85 : quatre-vingt-cinq
• 86 : quatre-vingt-six
• 87 : quatre-vingt-sept
• 88 : quatre-vingt-huit
• 89 : quatre-vingt-neuf

• 90 : quatre-vingt-dix
• 91 : quatre-vingt-onze
• 92 : quatre-vingt-douze
• 93 : quatre-vingt-treize
• 94 : quatre-vingt-quatorze
• 95 : quatre-vingt-quinze
• 96 : quatre-vingt-seize
• 97 : quatre-vingt-dix-sept
• 98 : quatre-vingt-dix-huit
• 99 : quatre-vingt-dix-neuf

Real-life situation

Here is another situation where you need to count in French:

• I spent ninety-seven euros yesterday: J’ai dépensé quatre-vingt-dix-sept euros hier. 
• These shoes were on sales and I paid 30 euros less: J’ai acheté ces chaussures pendant les soldes et j’ai payé trente euros de moins.

Special Case

• Only the number 80 ends with a silent s and is written as follows: quatre-vingts.
• French numbers take an extra “et” whenever “un” is encountered. Example:
  • Vingt-et-un
  • Cinquante-et-un
  • Soixante-et-un
• Exception:
  • The number 81 and 91 don’t have an “et”. They are written as follows: quatre-vingt-un and quatre-vingt-onze 
  • The number 71 takes an additional “et” and is written as follows: soixante-et-onze

How to master French numbers

To learn and to master French numbers, here is what I recommend:

1. Start by listening to the numbers:
   • I made a video that is freely available
   • Play the video until you master French numbers.
   • Check it below.
2. Memorize the spelling: The numbers are additional vocabulary!
3. Practice and Practice: This will make you easily remember numbers.

Exercises & Evaluation

As numbers are widely used and omnipresent in our daily life, they play a crucial part in successful real-life communications.

To learn French numbers, it would be helpful for any French learner to:

1. Record yourself saying the numbers in French
2. Listen to your recordings
3. Improve your pronunciation if needed
4. Use the recording as a dictation to write the numbers and to check your spelling

Now that you know how to count in French, try to implement what you just learned to different contexts where you can use numbers in French. This is a liberator and you’ll be proud of yourself. With Alexa or Siri around these days, things are easier than ever but nothing is like mastering the skills.

If you liked some of these tips to learn French numbers, you can also follow me on Instagram and on my YouTube channel for more videos. It will really help me! 

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