Numbers from 0 to one billion in French

Numbers in French are often seen as difficult, this is not totally wrong, but it is not that difficult.

The mistake that many students make is to try to learn them all at once, from 0 to 1,000,000. A good way to get disgusted with French! If you learn the numbers in several steps, as we do in our 601 course, it will be much more enjoyable and effective!

Here you will find a reminder and exercises that summarize everything.


Numbers 1 to 10

  1. Un/Une
  2. Deux
  3. Trois
  4. Quatre
  5. Cinq
  6. Six
  7. Sept
  8. Huit
  9. Neuf
  10. Dix

Repeat the numbers

Listen to this clip, change the speed if you want

Numbers 11 to 20

In the last lesson we saw numbers from 0 to 10, today we saw numbers from 11 to 20.

  1. Onze
  2. Douze
  3. Treize
  4. Quartoze
  5. Fifteen
  6. Seize
  7. Dix-sept
  8. Dix-huit
  9. Dix-neuf
  10. Vingt

Repeat the numbers

Listen to this clip, change the speed if you want


And now you remember the time?


Les nombres de 21 à 69

We continue with numbers, and get into the hard part of the numbers that “make up” in French (a real mathematicians’ country!), it is strange at first, but there is a certain logic to it.

To learn numbers quickly, we advise that you always start by learning the tens and then understand the structure. You already know “dix” (10) and “vingt” (20).

  • 30 : trente
  • 40 : quarante
  • 50 : cinquante
  • 60 : soixante

Voilà quelques exemples :

21vingt-et-untwenty one
22vingt-deuxtwenty-two
23vingt-troistwenty-three
24vingt-quatretwenty-four
25vingt-cinqtwenty-five
26vingt-sixtwenty-six
27vingt-septtwenty-seven
28vingt-huittwenty-eight
29vingt-neuftwenty-nine
30trentethirty
50cinquantefifty
51cinquante-et-unfifty-one
52cinquante-deuxfifty-two
53cinquante-troisfifty-three
54cinquante-quatrefifty-four
55cinquante-cinqfifty-five
56cinquante-sixfifty-six
57cinquante-septfifty-seven
58cinquante-huitfifty-eight
59cinquante-neuffifty-nine
60soixantesixty
61soixante-et-unsixty-one

Names from 70 to 100

Just keep in mind and memorize the tens, then it is always the same structure.

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Les nombres (les dizaines)

10 Dix
20 Vingt
30Trente
40Quarante
50Cinquante
60Soixante
70Soixante-dix
80Quatre-vingts
90Quatre-vingt-dix
100Cent

It is always the same structure until 69:

  • 21: Vingt et un
  • 22: Vingt-deux
  • 31: Trente et un
  • 35: Trente-cinq

Then 69:

  • 71: Soixante-et-onze = 60 + 11
  • 72: Soixante-douze = 60 + 12
  • 81: Quatre-vingt-un = 4*20 + 1
  • 83: Quatre-vingt-trois = 4*20 + 3
  • 91: Quatre-vingt-onze = 4*20 + 11
  • 93: Quatre-vingt-treize = 4*20 + 13

Think about the fact that there are no tens after “60” and so we had to deal with the tens that exist before, like seventy = 60 + 10

Tips: In the beginning, don’t focus too much on spelling, but concentrate on pronunciation. Most of the time the French have difficulty understanding the


Les nombres de 100 à 1.000.000.000 !

Now that you have the logic, everything becomes easier for the rest:

  • Mille : Mil
  • Million : million
  • Milliard: billion

The numbers are then composed according to the following logic: the largest before the smallest.

  • 1402 : Mille-quatre-cent-deux
  • 2500 : deux-mille-cinq-cent s
  • 2520 : deux-mille-cinq-cent-vingt
  • 5.000.000 : cinq milliards

Un “s” or pas de “s” ?

  • On écrit: cent-vingt (120) sans ” s “, car cent et vingt ne sont pas multipliés; trois-cent-quatre-vingt-dix (390) parce que cent et vingt ne terminent pas le nombre; mais deux-mille-sept-cents ans (2 700), car cent est multiplié et en fin de nombre.
  • Attention ! As you can see from the examples, “mille” is invariable, but “millions” and “milliards” are not.

It doesn’t matter if you forget the “s” or put an extra “s” if you are not going to participate in a competition any time soon. But we write it down so that you will know this rule.


Now, practice!

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