Learn French Numbers 1 to 100

The French numbers 1-100 are much more complex than un, deux trois (one, two, three). While counting from 1-20 is very straight forward, the numbers 60-100 become much more complicated. Apply useful tips and learn how to easily count to from one hundred in French. In this article we are providing the French number 1 to 100.

French Numbers 1-100

English Number	English Names of Numbers	french Numbers	french Names of Numbers	Pronouncing french Numbers
0	zero	0	zéro	[zay-ro]
1	one	1	un	[uh]
2	two	2	deux	[duhr]
3	three	3	trois	[twa]
4	four	4	quatre	[katr]
5	five	5	cinq	[sank]
6	six	6	six	[sees]
7	seven	7	sept	[set]
8	eight	8	huit	[weet]
9	nine	9	neuf	[nurf]
10	ten	10	dix	[dees]
11	eleven	11	onze	[onz]
12	twelve	12	douze	[dooz]
13	thirteen	13	treize	[trez]
14	fourteen	14	quatorze	[katorz]
15	fifteen	15	quinze	[kanz]
16	sixteen	16	seize	[sez]
17	seventeen	17	dix-sept	[dee-set]
18	eighteen	18	dix-huit	[dees-weet]
19	nineteen	19	dix-neuf	[dees-nurf]
20	twenty	20	vingt	[van]
21	twenty one	21	vingt et un	[vant-ay-uh]
22	twenty two	22	vingt-deux	[van-duhr]
23	twenty three	23	vingt-trois	[van-twa]
24	twenty four	24	vingt-quatre	[van-katr]
25	twenty five	25	vingt-cinq	[van-sank]
26	twenty six	26	vingt-six	[van-sees]
27	twenty seven	27	vingt-sept	[van-set]
28	Twenty eight	28	vingt-huit	[van-weet]
29	twenty nine	29	vingt-neuf	[van-nurf]
30	thirty	30	trente	[tront]
31	thirty one	31	Trente et un	[tront ay-uh]
32	thirty two	32	Trente-deux	[tront-durh)
33	thirty three	33	Trente-trois	[tront-twa)
34	thirty four	34	Trente-quatre	[tront-katr)
35	thirty five	35	Trente-cinq	[tront-sank)
36	thirty six	36	Trente-six	[tront-sees)
37	thirty seven	37	Trente-sept	[tront-set)
38	thirty eight	38	Trente-huit	[tront-weet)
39	thirty nine	39	Trente-neuf	[tront-nurf)
40	forty	40	quarante	[karont]
41	forty one	41	quarante et un	[karont-ay-uh]
42	forty two	42	quarante-deux	[karont-deux]
43	forty three	43	quarante-trois	[karont-twa]
44	forty four	44	quarante-quatre	[karont-katr]
45	forty five	45	quarante-cinq	[karont-sank]
46	forty six	46	quarante-six	[karont-sees]
47	forty seven	47	quarante-sept	[karont-set]
48	forty eight	48	quarante-huit	[karont-weet]
49	forty nine	49	quarante-neuf	[karont-nurf]
50	fifty	50	cinquante	[sank-ont]
51	fifty one	51	cinquante et un	[sank-ont-ay-uh]
52	fifty two	52	cinquante-deux	[sank-ont-deux]
53	fifty three	53	cinquante-trois	[sank-ont-twa]
54	fifty four	54	cinquante-quatre	[sank-ont-katr]
55	fifty five	55	cinquante-cinq	[sank-ont-sank]
56	fifty six	56	cinquante-six	[sank-ont-sees]
57	fifty seven	57	cinquante-sept	[sank-ont-set]
58	fifty eight	58	cinquante-huit	[sank-ont-weet]
59	fifty nine	59	cinquante-neuf	[sank-ont-nurf]
60	sixty	60	soixante	[swa-sont]
61	sixty one	61	soixante et un	[swa-sont-ay-un]
62	sixty two	62	soixante-deux	[swa-sont-dur]
63	sixty three	63	soixante-trois	[swa-sont-twa]
64	sixty four	64	soixante-quatre	[swa-sont-katr]
65	sixty five	65	soixante-cinq	[swa-sont-sank]
66	sixty six	66	soixante-six	[swa-sont-sees]
67	sixty seven	67	soixante-sept	[swa-sont-set]
68	sixty eight	68	soixante-huit	[swa-sont-weet]
69	sixty nine	69	soixante-neuf	[swa-sont-nurf]
70	seventy	70	soixante-dix	[swa-sont-dees]
71	seventy one	71	soixante-et-onze	[swa-sont-ay-onz]
72	seventy two	72	soixante-douze	[swa-sont-dooz]
73	seventy three	73	soixante-treize	[swa-sont-trez]
74	seventy four	74	soixante-quatorze	[swa-sont-katorz]
75	seventy five	75	soixante-quinze	[swa-sont-kanz]
76	seventy six	76	soixante-seize	[swa-sont-sez]
77	seventy seven	77	soixante-dix-sept	[swa-sont-dee-set]
78	seventy eight	78	soixante-dix-huit	[swa-sont-dees-weet]
79	seventy nine	79	soixante-dix-neuf	[swa-sont-dees-nurf]
80	eighty	80	quatre-vingts	[kat-ra-van]
81	eighty one	81	quatre-vingt-un	[kat-ra-vant-uh]
82	eighty two	82	quatre-vingt-deux	[kat-ra-van-dur]
83	eighty three	83	quatre-vingt-trois	[kat-ra-van-twa]
84	eighty four	84	quatre-vingt-quatre	[kat-ra-van-katr]
85	eighty five	85	quatre-vingt-cinq	[kat-ra-van-sank]
86	eighty six	86	quatre-vingt-six	[kat-ra-van-sees]
87	eighty seven	87	quatre-vingt-sept	[kat-ra-van-set]
88	eighty eight	88	quatre-vingt-huit	[kat-ra-van-weet]
89	eighty nine	89	quatre-vingt-neuf	[kat-ra-van-nurf]
90	ninety	90	quatre-vingt-dix	[kat-ra-van-dees]
91	ninety one	91	quatre-vingt-onze	[kat-ra-van-onz]
92	ninety two	92	quatre-vingt-douze	[kat-ra-van-dooz]
93	ninety three	93	quatre-vingt-treize	[kat-ra-van- trez]
94	ninety four	94	quatre-vingt-quatorze	[kat-ra-van-katorz]
95	ninety five	95	quatre-vingt-quinze	[kat-ra-van- kanz]
96	ninety six	96	quatre-vingt-seize	[kat-ra-van- sez]
97	ninety seven	97	quatre-vingt-dix-sept	[kat-ra-van- dee-set]
98	ninety eight	98	quatre-vingt-dix-huit	[kat-ra-van- dees-weet]
99	ninety nine	99	quatre-vingt-dix-neuf	[kat-ra-van- dees-nurf]
100	one hundred	100	cent	[son]

What are French numbers up to 100?

Let’s keep going! As you might have noticed, the last few numbers in the teens were simple maths problems.

Seventeen in French is ‘dix-sept‘ – ten (‘dix‘) plus seven (‘sept‘), and the same pattern continues through the remaining numbers up to 20. This pattern of adding numbers together to form the name of a bigger number will appear again later.

But for now, let’s get started on how to count up to one hundred from twenty. The next number, twenty-one, is ‘vingt-et-un‘ in French – which literally translates as ‘twenty and one’, but after this, the next number, twenty-two is ‘vingt-deux‘, and the pattern of ‘twenty-‘ followed by the relevant number continues after that up to thirty.

Thirty in French is ‘trente‘ (pronounced as ‘tront’) and after that, the rest of the ‘thirties’ follow the same pattern as the twenties – ‘trente-et-un‘, ‘trente-deux‘ and so on. This pattern continues up to 60, with the only part that changes being the multiple of ten. Here’s the next 3 ‘tens’ in French:

• 40 is ‘Quarante‘, pronounced as ‘ka-Ront’
• 50 is ‘Cinquante‘, pronounced as ‘sank-ont’
• 60 is ‘Soixante‘, pronounced as ‘so-ah-sont’

However, the pattern changes when we get to seventy. Rather than attaching ‘ante’ onto a prefix based on the French word for seven, ‘sept‘, the French word for seventy is ‘soixante-dix‘: literally ‘sixty-ten’.

From there, the rest of the seventies are made by combining ‘sixty‘ with the appropriate number from the ‘teens’: seventy-one is ‘soixante-et-onze‘ (‘sixty and eleven’), seventy-two is ‘soixante-douze‘ (‘sixty-twelve’), and then it continues like this up to eighty, which is where things get a bit more complicated.

Rather than having an ‘-ante‘ number like the numbers up to sixty, or adding numbers onto sixty, like the seventies, eighty in French is ‘quatre-vingts‘ – ‘four twenties’.

From there, we use a similar formula as we do for the numbers between 20 and 69. Eighty-one (81) is ‘quatre-vingt-un‘, then from there, the numbers follow the same pattern up to ninety -‘quatre-vingt-deux‘ (eighty-two), ‘quatre-vingt-trois‘ (‘eighty-three’), and so on.

When we get to ninety, things get a little more complicated. ‘Ninety’ in French is ‘quatre-vingt-dix’ – ‘four twenties – ten’, combining the two composite forms we have for the seventies and eighties. The rest of the nineties follow the same pattern of ‘quatre-vingt-‘ followed by the appropriate number from the teens, from twelve up to nineteen.

Finally, we get to one hundred, which is ‘cent‘ (pronounced ‘son’), rounding off the first one hundred numbers.

A Short History Of Numbers In French

While we don’t know for definite why the French multiples of ten from seventy upwards work the way they do, some linguists have a theory.

Firstly, let’s just quantify what’s actually going on. Historically, there is more than one method for counting:

• There’s the method that English-speakers know, which comes from the Romans and is called ‘base ten’. This means that everything is based on multiples of ten.
• Up to sixty-nine, French also uses a ‘base ten’ system, but at seventy, it switches to the “vigesimal system” which uses the base twenty. This is how we end up with numbers like ‘quatre-vingt-quatre‘ (84).

Languages with vigesimal systems are believed to have developed this system because originally they used their feet as well as their hands to count. Adding the total number of fingers and toes together, you get twenty.

Many believe that the vigesimal system ended up in French due to the influence of the Celts in France, whose languages use the base 20 system. Others say it was due to Viking influences during the Dark ages and point to the fact that Danish numbers also works on the base 20 “vigesimal system”.

However, we don’t know for sure, and this doesn’t answer the main question – why does French mix and match decimal and vigesimal counting systems?

Well, the answer might lie in the Roman period. The theory goes that when the Roman invaders came to France, they tried to impose their language and methods on the French, but they weren’t totally successful.

There was a short period during the Middle Ages when the Roman versions – ‘septante’, ‘huitante’ and ‘nonante’ – looked like they were going to stick, but then tradition partially prevailed for the French, and they managed to reclaim their ancient ways of saying eighty (‘quatre-vingt’) to ninety-nine (‘quatre-vingt-dix-neuf’).

However, in some French-speaking countries and regions, the rules aren’t quite the same. In Belgium and Switzerland, ‘seventy’ is ‘septante’and ‘ninety’ is ‘nonante’. As for 80, Belgium uses the standard ‘quatre-vingts’, while Switzerland uses ‘huitante’. There’s also an archaic word ‘octante’that you might hear in Switzerland or the South of France.

What are French numbers for telling the time?

Knowing how to tell time in French is essential for travelling, meeting up with friends, making appointments, and getting to work or school on time. Once you learn these formulas, you’ll never have an excuse to be late again!

Firstly, we need to explain how to ask what time it is. Although there are several words for ‘time’ in French, the only one of them you need to know to master this topic is ‘l’heure ‘, which means time in the sense of telling the time. ‘Heure‘ is a noun, so it’s singular withune(une heure, une heure vingt, etc) and plural with all other numbers (deux heures, quinze heures trente, etc).

Here’s the key phrase to ask the time: ‘Quelle heure est-il?‘, which translates as ‘What time is it?

After posing the question, here’s a list of how we describe the time at each point in the hour:

• It’s one o’clock – ‘il est une heure’
• It’s five past one – ‘il est une heure cinq’
• It’s ten past one – ‘il est une heure dix’
• It’s quarter-past one – ‘il est une heure et quart’
• It’s twenty past one – ‘il est une heure vingt’
• It’s twenty-five past one – ‘il est une heure vingt-cinq’
• It’s half past one – ‘il est une heure et demi’
• It’s twenty-five to two – ‘il est deux heures moins vingt-cinq’
• It’s twenty to two – ‘il est deux heures moins vingt’
• It’s quarter to two – ‘il est deux heures moins le quart’
• It’s ten to two – ‘il est deux heures moins dix’
• It’s five to two – ‘il est deux heures moins cinq’

After this, there’s two more important terms you need to know when talking about time in French:

• midday in French is ‘midi’
• midnight in French is ‘minuit’

How do you say how old are you in French?

Talking about age in French works a little differently to how it does in English. In English, we talk about age as a state of being – for example, ‘I am 20 years old’.

However, in French, age is a sort of quantity that we acquire throughout our lives – we ‘have’ years of life! Because of this, if you want to say how old you are in French, the questions and answers about age might look a bit odd when translated literally:

• ‘Quelle age as-tu?’ is ‘How old are you?’ In translation, it is: ‘What age do you have?’
• ‘J’ai dix ans.’ is I’m ten years old’. In translation, it is ‘I have ten years’.

Conclusion

French numbers generally look the same as English numbers. In this article we have tried to give you an idea about French numbers and their pronunciation. Hope our article will be useful for you. If you like our article then share it with your friends and stay with us. Thank you.