Numbers from 1 to 100 in French

Les nombres de 1 à 100 en français

We have already seen the numbers from 1 to 10 in French.

• 1 – un
• 2 – deux
• 3 – trois
• 4 – quatre
• 5 – cinq
• 6 – six
• 7 – sept
• 8 – huit
• 9 – neuf
• 10 – dix

Now we will take it to the next level…

Numbers from 10 to 20 in French

The numbers from 10-20 are a little irregular so unfortunately you will just have to learn them by heart.

• 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

Numbers from 20 to 69 in French

To write the numbers from 20 to 69 in French, you just add the single number (units) to the tens number.
A hyphen is used to join the two numbers together.

• vingt (20) + deux (2) = vingt-deux (22)
• trente (30) + sept (7) = trente-sept (37)
• quarante (40) + neuf (9) = quarante-neuf (49)

vingt et un OR vingt-et-un?

You may see the numbers ending in 1 after the number 20 (21, 31, 41, etc.) with two different spellings.
In 1990 a new spelling rule came into place where all numbers made up of two or more words, including large numbers, now need to be joined with hyphens (dashes).
21 = vingt et un (orthographe traditionnelle – traditional spelling)
21 = vingt-et-un (orthographe rectifiée de 1990 – rectified spelling as of 1990)

Numbers from 70 to 100 in French

The numbers after 69 follow a different rule that what you may be used to.
The number 70 in French is soixante-dix. You will notice that it is a combination of soixante (60) + dix (10)
The rest of the numbers in the 70s follow the same pattern of 60 + a number from 10-19.

• 70 – soixante-dix
• 71 – soixante-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 (which is literally 60 + 19)

With the numbers in the 80s, quatre-vingt is used which is like saying 4 twenties (in old English Four score was used instead of eighty thanks to this French influence)

• 80 – quatre-vingts (notice vingts ends in an S)
• 81 – quatre-vingt-un (notice vingt does not end in an S)
• 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

The number 90 in French is quatre-vingt-dix. You will notice that it is a combination of quatre-vingt (80) + dix (10)
The rest of the numbers in the 90s follow the same pattern of 80 + a number from 10-19.

• 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 (which is literally 4 x 20 + 19)

Isn’t that easy! 🙂

Another way of saying 70, 80 and 90 in French

In the French-speaking parts of Belgium and Switzerland they have their own separate words for 70, 80 and 90. They are:

• 70 – septante
• 80 – huitante
• 90 – nonante

So in these areas, 73 is septante-trois, 85 is huitante-cinq and 96 is nonante-six etc.

Throughout this course we will use the standard French numbers.

French numbers from 0-100 summary chart

We have a version of this numbers chart for French Teachers.

Lesson tags: Nombres, Numbers, Orthographe rectifiée de 1990, Regional Differences, Spelling

Back to: Basic French Course > Numbers in French