Cardinal Numbers in French

Overview

Cardinal numbers are the counting numbers — the ones you use for prices, phone numbers, ages, and quantities. French numbers from 0 to 69 follow patterns that will feel familiar if you know English or other European languages, but things get interesting from 70 onward, where French uses a base-20 counting system inherited from older Celtic and Norman influences.

At the A1 level, learning numbers up to 100 is essential for practical tasks like shopping, telling time, giving your age, and understanding prices. The numbers themselves are not difficult to memorize, but the unique structures for 70 (soixante-dix, literally "sixty-ten"), 80 (quatre-vingts, "four-twenties"), and 90 (quatre-vingt-dix, "four-twenty-ten") will require extra attention.

One small but important detail: the number un (one) changes to une before feminine nouns. This is the only cardinal number in French that has a gender distinction.

How It Works

Numbers 0-20:

Number	French	Number	French
0	zéro	11	onze
1	un/une	12	douze
2	deux	13	treize
3	trois	14	quatorze
4	quatre	15	quinze
5	cinq	16	seize
6	six	17	dix-sept
7	sept	18	dix-huit
8	huit	19	dix-neuf
9	neuf	20	vingt
10	dix

Tens and compound numbers:

Tens	French	Pattern for 1-9
20	vingt	vingt et un, vingt-deux... vingt-neuf
30	trente	trente et un, trente-deux...
40	quarante	quarante et un, quarante-deux...
50	cinquante	cinquante et un, cinquante-deux...
60	soixante	soixante et un, soixante-deux...
70	soixante-dix	soixante et onze, soixante-douze...
80	quatre-vingts	quatre-vingt-un, quatre-vingt-deux...
90	quatre-vingt-dix	quatre-vingt-onze, quatre-vingt-douze...
100	cent

Key rules:

• Numbers 21, 31, 41, 51, 61, 71 use et: vingt et un, soixante et onze.
• Numbers 81 and 91 do NOT use et: quatre-vingt-un, quatre-vingt-onze.
• Quatre-vingts has an -s, but it drops when followed by another number: quatre-vingts (80) vs. quatre-vingt-trois (83).
• Un becomes une before feminine nouns: vingt et un garçons but vingt et une filles.

Examples in Context

French	English	Note
J'ai vingt-cinq ans.	I am twenty-five years old.	Telling your age
Ça coûte soixante-quinze euros.	It costs seventy-five euros.	60 + 15
Il y a quatre-vingts étudiants.	There are eighty students.	Note the -s on vingts
Mon numéro est le zéro six...	My number is zero six...	Phone numbers digit by digit
Quatre-vingt-dix-neuf bouteilles.	Ninety-nine bottles.	4x20 + 10 + 9
Il habite au numéro trente et un.	He lives at number thirty-one.	et un for 31
J'ai cinquante-deux cartes.	I have fifty-two cards.	Regular compound
Nous sommes vingt et une personnes.	We are twenty-one people.	une (feminine: personnes)
Soixante-dix pour cent des gens.	Seventy percent of people.	60 + 10
Le livre coûte quarante-huit euros.	The book costs forty-eight euros.	Shopping context

Common Mistakes

Forgetting the base-20 system

• Wrong: septante-cinq (This is Belgian/Swiss French, not standard)
• Right: soixante-quinze
• Why: In standard French (France), 70-79 build on 60 and 80-99 build on 80. Note that Belgian and Swiss French do use septante/nonante — but for standard French, stick with soixante-dix and quatre-vingt-dix.

Adding "et" to 81 and 91

• Wrong: quatre-vingt-et-un
• Right: quatre-vingt-un
• Why: The conjunction et is only used with 21, 31, 41, 51, 61, and 71. It is never used with 81 or 91.

Keeping the -s on quatre-vingts before another number

• Wrong: quatre-vingts-trois
• Right: quatre-vingt-trois
• Why: Quatre-vingts only has the -s when it stands alone (exactly 80). When followed by another number, the -s disappears.

Practice Tips

1. Count from 60 to 100 out loud every day for a week. The 70s and 90s will feel awkward at first, but repetition makes them automatic.
2. Practice with real prices: look at a French shopping website and read the prices aloud, including the cents.
3. Give your phone number in French, digit by digit, as French people commonly do — grouping digits in pairs: 06 45 23 78 91 becomes zéro six, quarante-cinq, vingt-trois, soixante-dix-huit, quatre-vingt-onze.

Related Concepts

• Ordinal Numbers — first, second, third and beyond
• Time & Dates — using numbers to tell time and express dates