French Numbers: Complete Guide on How to Count in French

In any language, one of the first thing you learn is how to count. So if you want to learn French, learning French numbers is one of your first task.

Now get ready, because I admit, French numbers are not the easiest to learn… In this article, we’re going to see everything you need to know about French numbers, from 0 to 100, to 1000, to 1,000,000 and beyond!

French Numbers

French Numbers:  0  to  100

Nothing really difficult here.

Just note that the ordinal number for “the first” is the only one that has a masculine and a feminine form.

The number 20 is quite weird, as you don’t pronounce the “g” and the “t“.

However, 21 makes a liaison with the silent “t” at the end, because there is the “et, and” in the middle which starts with a vowel sound.

Starting from 22, note that the “t” of “vingt” is still slightly pronounced even though the next word doesn’t start with a vowel sound. It almost sounds like a [n] sound when you say them fast: [vĩn-de] ; [vĩn-tro^a] ; [vĩn-katr]…

Ok, now things are going to get really strange…

The number 70 is not formed from the number “sept, seven“. No, you’re gonna have to do some maths here, because it’s “soixante-dix“, which you might notice literraly means “sixty-ten” (60 + 10).

Following that logic, to say the numbers 71 to 79, just use the numbers 11 to 19 (and not 1 to 9).

The number 80 is not formed from the number “huit, eight“. No, this time multiplications are involved, because it’s “quatre-vingts“. That’s right, it means “four-twenties” (4 x 20).

Then you just have to add the numbers “un, deux, trois…” after it.

Note that 80 takes an “s” at the end “quatre-vingts“, and that there’s no “et” this time for 81 “quatre-vingt-un“.

Besides, it’s one of the only exception in French where the “e” at the end of “quatre” is pronounced: [katre-vĩ] ; [katre-vĩ-ĩ] ; [katre-vĩ-de]…

This time, the numbers 90 to 99 in French, instead of being another weird form of “neuf, nine“, they are just the continuation of the previous ones.

So we have 90 “quatre-vingt-dix” which means “four-twenty-ten” (4 x 20 + 10).

French numbers:  100  to  1,000,000

Once you reach the hundreds, French numbers become easier.

You just have to add the numbers after “cent, hundred“. You don’t even need to put “et“, just connect them with a hyphen if you have to write them.

Note that “cent” takes an “s” for every hundred (200, 300, 400, 500…)

Also, French people don’t pronounce the last consonant of 400 (the “r” : [kat_-ssã] ), 600 (the “x” : [ssi_-ssã] ) and 800 (the “t” : [ùi_-ssã] ).

When you get to 1000, it’s even easier since “one thousand” which is “mille” never takes an “s“.

Also, it’s just like before, you just have to add the numbers after “mille“.

It goes on like this until the millions. Here’s a few examples:

The comma, the space and the period

As you can see, in French, we don’t separate the numbers every 3 digits with a comma. Most people usually just leave a space between them, and they usually start doing so from the ten thousands (10 000).

Sometimes, people use a period instead of a comma, which can be quite confusing as it’s used for decimal numbers in English.

Guess what? In French it’s the opposite, we use the comma for decimal numbers! So for example if you go in a bakery in France, you might see that a baguette costs 1,05€ (1 € and 5 cents).

Big French numbers: 1,000,000  and  beyond

For really big numbers, the rule is the same, except that now you have to add “un, one” to a single unit, exactly like in English. They also take an “s” in the plural (only “mille” (1000) never takes an “s“).

However, be careful because these big numbers are often false cognates:

As you can see, French people use another suffix: “-iard” after the “-ion” step. So be careful, “one billion” in English is “un milliard” in French. It’s a very common mistake.

You can check this page for more information.

Here’s one last example: how would you write “3 763 894” ?

> trois-millions-sept-cent-soixante-trois-mille-huit-cent-quatre-vingt-quatorze

French numbers in Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg

This kind of crazy way to count French numbers is not exactly the same for every French speaker in the world.

Basically, all the countries that adopted French due to colonization (Cameroun, Algeria, Quebec, New Caledonia…) have the same counting system as France.

However, other French-speaking countries like Belgium, Switzerland or Luxembourg are much more logical when it comes to say the numbers 70 to 99.

Note that you might sometimes see “octante” for 80 instead of “huitante“. It depends on the person and where she comes from.

Which number system you should use?

It’s true that the Belgian or Swiss way of counting French numbers is easier. But if you want to speak French like a French person, or like most of the French-speaking population in the world, it’s better to stick with the French way to count numbers. Something like 9 out of 10 French speaker in the world use it.

Of course, if you’re planning to live in Belgium, Swtizerland, Luxembourg… then why not learning the simpler way.

But know that French people may find it a bit strange and funny, even if they would probably understand you. They’re just not used to it.

A simple exercise to memorize French numbers

So I know it might take some time before you get used to say French numbers correctly. But you’ll see, you just need a bit of practice and at some point, it will become so natural for you to say 92 “four-twenty-twelve” instead of “ninety-two“.

Here’s a good website to help you practice. You just have to insert the number in the search bar, and you can see the correct name and spelling with a simple click of the “OK” button. Try to think of a number before clicking “OK”, and see if the result matches your answer.