Cardinal Numbers in Italian

In Brief

Italian cardinal numbers from zero to cento follow a regular pattern once you know the basic numbers and the tens. Join a ten directly to a unit—trentadue (“thirty-two”)—but drop the final vowel of the ten before uno and otto: trentuno, trentotto. The number uno also changes form before a noun: un libro, uno studente, una casa.

Overview

Cardinal numbers tell you how many: one ticket, twelve people, forty-eight euros. In Italian they are called numeri cardinali. You need them immediately for prices, ages, addresses, telephone numbers, times, dates, quantities, and travel. This is an A1 topic, but a few spelling and agreement details remain useful at every level.

English and Italian build most numbers above twenty in a similar logical way, but their written form differs. English normally uses two words and often a hyphen (thirty-two); Italian writes the whole number as one word: trentadue. Italian also changes the shape of a ten before one and eight, and compounds ending in three carry a written accent.

Learn the short lists first, then build rather than memorize every number separately. The core system up to 100 is highly predictable.

How It Works

Zero to ten

Number	Italian	Approximate sound cue
0	zero	DZEH-ro
1	uno	OO-no
2	due	DOO-eh
3	tre	treh
4	quattro	KWAHT-tro
5	cinque	CHEEN-kweh
6	sei	say
7	sette	SEHT-teh
8	otto	OHT-to
9	nove	NO-veh
10	dieci	DYEH-chee

The sound cues are only rough reminders; Italian spelling is more reliable than English-style approximations. Notice the doubled consonants in quattro, sette, and otto: they are held slightly longer in careful speech.

Eleven to nineteen

These forms need to be learned, although some family patterns are visible.

Number	Italian	Number	Italian
11	undici	15	quindici
12	dodici	16	sedici
13	tredici	17	diciassette
14	quattordici	18	diciotto
		19	diciannove

Do not apply the later “drop a vowel before eight” rule to diciotto. It is an established form of its own. The doubled consonant in diciassette and diciannove is part of the standard spelling.

The tens

Number	Italian	Number	Italian
20	venti	60	sessanta
30	trenta	70	settanta
40	quaranta	80	ottanta
50	cinquanta	90	novanta
100	cento

Two forms often catch English speakers: quaranta has no d, unlike English forty, and sessanta begins with sess-, not with the full form sei.

Building numbers from 21 to 99

For most numbers, place the unit immediately after the ten and write the result as one word:

• venti + due → ventidue
• trenta + quattro → trentaquattro
• cinquanta + sei → cinquantasei
• novanta + nove → novantanove

There is no Italian equivalent of the optional English and in a number such as “one hundred and one.” You simply combine the number parts.

Drop the final vowel before uno and otto

Before uno or otto, the ten loses its final vowel. This process is sometimes called elision here—that simply means that a vowel disappears when the parts join.

Base	+ uno	+ otto
venti	ventuno	ventotto
trenta	trentuno	trentotto
quaranta	quarantuno	quarantotto
cinquanta	cinquantuno	cinquantotto
sessanta	sessantuno	sessantotto
settanta	settantuno	settantotto
ottanta	ottantuno	ottantotto
novanta	novantuno	novantotto

Do not insert an apostrophe: ventuno, not vent'uno. The parts have become one word.

Add an accent when a compound ends in tre

The standalone number is tre, without an accent. When a number greater than three ends in -tre, standard spelling puts an acute accent on the final vowel:

• ventitré
• trentatré
• quarantatré
• novantatré

The accent shows that the stress falls on the final syllable. It is not optional in careful standard writing.

Uno before a noun

When uno directly counts a noun (a word naming a person, place, thing, or idea), its form follows the same pattern as the Italian indefinite article “a/an.”

Form	Use	Example	Meaning
un	most masculine nouns; also before a vowel	un libro, un amico	one book, one friend
uno	masculine nouns beginning with s + consonant, z, ps, gn, x, or y	uno studente, uno zaino	one student, one backpack
una	feminine nouns beginning with a consonant	una camera	one room
un’	feminine nouns beginning with a vowel	un’ora	one hour

Use uno when counting or naming the number itself: zero, uno, due. Use un/uno/una/un’ when the meaning is “one” before a noun. Unlike English, Italian does not always use the same visible form for the numeral and the article.

With compound numbers ending in one, gender agreement is also possible and common: ventuno studenti, ventuna studentesse. Before a following vowel, you may see an apostrophe in the feminine form: ventun’amiche. This detail is less urgent than learning the basic number pattern, and usage can vary when the noun is understood rather than stated.

Agreement with nouns

Most cardinal numbers do not change for gender (masculine or feminine) or number:

• due ragazzi / due ragazze — two boys / two girls
• quattro libri / quattro penne — four books / four pens
• cento euro / cento persone — one hundred euros / one hundred people

A noun after a number greater than one is normally plural. Uno/una is the main gender-sensitive number in this range.

Examples in Context

Italian	English	Note
Ho due fratelli.	I have two brothers.	Basic quantity
Vorrei un caffè e una bottiglia d’acqua.	I’d like one coffee and one bottle of water.	Un masculine; una feminine
Ci sono undici persone.	There are eleven people.	11
Marta ha diciotto anni.	Marta is eighteen years old.	Italian uses avere (“to have”) for age
Il biglietto costa ventuno euro.	The ticket costs twenty-one euros.	Final vowel dropped before uno
L’autobus numero ventotto è in ritardo.	Bus number twenty-eight is late.	Final vowel dropped before otto
Abbiamo trentadue studenti.	We have thirty-two students.	Regular ten + unit
La stanza è la quarantatré.	The room is number forty-three.	Accent on final -tré
Il conto è di quarantotto euro.	The bill is forty-eight euros.	quaranta + otto → quarantotto
Mia madre ha cinquantasei anni.	My mother is fifty-six years old.	Regular compound
Il numero vincente è il settantuno.	The winning number is seventy-one.	The number is named rather than used as a quantity
Il parcheggio ha ottanta posti.	The car park has eighty spaces.	Exact ten
Novantanove non è cento.	Ninety-nine is not one hundred.	Numbers used as nouns
In sala ci sono cento sedie.	There are one hundred chairs in the hall.	Cento is unchanged

The “seventy-one” example illustrates a useful distinction: when you are identifying a number rather than counting a following noun, settantuno remains the name of that number. It does not change to settantuna merely because numero is masculine or because another implied word might be feminine.

Common Mistakes

Keeping the final vowel before uno or otto

• Wrong: ventiuno, quarantaotto
• Right: ventuno, quarantotto
• Why: A ten drops its final vowel before uno and otto.

Writing compound numbers as separate words

• Wrong: trenta due, novanta nove
• Right: trentadue, novantanove
• Why: Italian cardinal numbers in this range are written as single words.

Adding an apostrophe where a ten loses its vowel

• Wrong: trent’uno, quarant’otto
• Right: trentuno, quarantotto
• Why: This is a fixed compound, not an apostrophe-marked omission. An apostrophe is appropriate in forms such as un’ora, where feminine una stands before a vowel.

Forgetting the accent on compound forms ending in tre

• Wrong: ventitre, trentatre
• Right: ventitré, trentatré
• Why: Standalone tre has no accent, but a compound ending in -tré has final stress and takes an acute accent.

Using uno before every noun

• Wrong: uno libro, uno casa
• Right: un libro, una casa
• Why: Before a noun, “one” follows the un/uno/una/un’ pattern. Uno is restricted by the noun’s gender and initial sound.

Translating age word for word from English

• Wrong: Sono venti anni.
• Right: Ho vent’anni.
• Why: Italian expresses age with avere (“to have”), not essere (“to be”). In vent’anni, the apostrophe belongs to the phrase before anni; do not confuse this conventional age form with the spelling of the number venti on its own.

Usage Notes

In prices, Italian normally places the currency after the number: dieci euro, venticinque euro. The word euro is usually unchanged in the plural. In writing, Italian uses a decimal comma: € 12,50 or 12,50 €, read dodici euro e cinquanta centesimi.

For phone numbers, codes, room numbers, and addresses, speakers may read digits separately or group them in convenient chunks. A zero in such a sequence is zero. Always listen to how the other person groups the number and repeat it back if accuracy matters.

Italian uses cardinal numbers in many places where English does too: pagina venti (page twenty), camera dodici (room twelve), and autobus quarantadue (bus forty-two). For dates, however, the first day of a month is commonly ordinal: il primo maggio (“the first of May”), while other dates use cardinals: il due maggio. Dates and clock time have their own conventions.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master larger numbers yet, but the same building logic continues. Cento means both “a hundred” and “one hundred”; normally there is no un before it. Compounds are again written together: centodue (102). Before ottanta, the final -o of cento is commonly dropped: centottanta (180). Numbers in the hundreds can therefore become long single words.

At 1,000, a new agreement pattern appears: mille is singular, but its plural is mila—duemila, not duemille. Millions behave as nouns: un milione, due milioni, followed by di before another noun (un milione di persone). These forms belong to the larger-number system rather than the 0–100 core.

Cardinal numbers can themselves function as nouns. In that use, the number word is generally unchanged: il tre (“the number three”), due tre (“two threes”), gli anni Ottanta (“the eighties”). Context, articles, and surrounding nouns tell you whether a form is a quantity, a label, or the name of a number.

Practice Tips

1. Build a number grid. Write the tens down the left side and 1–9 across the top. Say each compound aloud, circling every form with uno, otto, or tré.
2. Use real-life prompts. Read prices, addresses, ages, page numbers, and bus numbers in Italian. Random numbers are harder—and more useful—than reciting from one to 100 in order.
3. Practise contrast pairs. Alternate ventidue / ventuno, quarantanove / quarantotto, and tre / ventitré so that vowel loss and the final accent become automatic.

Related Concepts

• Next step: Ordinal Numbers — learn forms such as primo, secondo, and terzo for order and ranking.
• Next step: Time & Dates — use cardinal numbers to tell the time, state dates, and make appointments.