Les Nombres: How To Count To 99 In French

From the moment you wake up and before you put on your makeup, you look at the time. It is just 6:55 AM. Which means, you have 5 extra minutes before 7 AM. Should you go back to sleep or should you read your favorite newsletter already? The choice is up to you.

When telling the time, you are using numbers. You are using numbers when talking about the seconds, the minutes, and the hours. Tick tock. Tick tock. These numbers become an important part of our lives. They seem so trivial, but they are quite essential for many things.

What’s more interesting is that numbers can have different translations in different languages. For example, in most French-speaking countries, French numbers can be a little tricky. Maybe because with some numbers, you will be using math… Just a little addition here and there, and a sprinkle of multiplication. Allons y!

Les Nombres: 0 to 10

Counting from 1 to 10 in French is simple. The only thing you have to do is memorize these independent numbers:

• 0 – Zéro (zeyro)
• 1 – Un (uhn)
• 2 – Deux (duh)
• 3 – Trois (trwah)
• 4 – Quatre (katr)
• 5 – Cinq (senk)
• 6 – Six (sees)
• 7 – Sept (set)
• 8 – Huit (weet)
• 9 – Neuf (nuf)
• 10 – Dix (dees)

Les Nombres: 11 to 19

From 11 to 16, the numbers are independent. From 17 to 19, you use the prefix “dix” (10) followed by a hyphen:

• 11 – Onze (onz)
• 12 – Douze (duhz)
• 15 – Quinze (kanz)
• 17 – Dix-sept (dees set)
• 19 – Dix-neuf (dees nuf)

Les Nombres: 70 to 79 (The Math Part!)

In France, instead of a new word for 70, you say soixante-dix (60+10). For 71 to 79, you continue adding to 60:

• 70 – Soixante-dix (60+10)
• 71 – Soixante-et-onze (60+11)
• 73 – Soixante-treize (60+13)
• 77 – Soixante-dix-sept (60+17)

Les Nombres: 80 to 99

80 is quatre-vingts (4x20). For 90, you say quatre-vingt-dix (4x20+10):

• 80 – Quatre-vingts (4x20)
• 85 – Quatre-vingt-cinq (4x20+5)
• 90 – Quatre-vingt-dix (4x20+10)
• 95 – Quatre-vingt-quinze (4x20+15)
• 99 – Quatre-vingt-dix-neuf (4x20+19)