Why does French say soixante-dix, quatre-vingts and quatre-vingt-dix?

Above sixty, French kept an old base-20 habit. 70 is soixante-dix (60 + 10), 71 is soixante et onze (60 + 11), 80 is quatre-vingts (4 × 20), 90 is quatre-vingt-dix (4 × 20 + 10) and 99 is quatre-vingt-dix-neuf (4 × 20 + 10 + 9). Belgium and most of French-speaking Switzerland simplify this with septante (70) and nonante (90), and Vaud, Valais and Fribourg also use huitante (80). In France and in Québec, only the long forms are used.

When do you say 'et un' in French numbers?

Only in 21, 31, 41, 51, 61 and 71: vingt et un, trente et un, quarante et un, cinquante et un, soixante et un, soixante et onze. Note that 71 uses onze, not un. From 81 on, the 'et' disappears: quatre-vingt-un, quatre-vingt-onze, cent un. Traditional spelling leaves these without hyphens; the 1990 reform allows vingt-et-un, and both are accepted.

Does quatre-vingts have an -s or not?

It takes the -s only when it is the last element of the number: quatre-vingts, deux cent quatre-vingts. As soon as another number follows, the -s goes: quatre-vingt-un, quatre-vingt-cinq, quatre-vingt-dix-neuf. Plain vingt and compounds like vingt-deux never take an -s, because vingt is not multiplied there. Cent works the same way: deux cents, but deux cent dix.

Why do six, huit and dix sound different in different sentences?

Their final consonant depends on the next word. Alone or at the end of a phrase: 'siss', 'weet', 'diss'. Before a consonant the final consonant is dropped: six francs ('si'), dix jours ('di'), huit jours ('hui'). Before a vowel it links: six ans ('siz an'), dix euros ('diz euro'), huit heures ('weet eur'). Remember too that huit and onze take no elision: le huit mai, le onze juin.

French Numbers 1–100: Count from un to cent

🇫🇷 French · 100 cards · A1 · by Théo Marchand

I grew up saying soixante-dix in Lyon and I still say it in Montréal — that is the version you get here, with a note whenever Belgium or Switzerland does it differently. One to sixteen you simply learn by heart; from dix-sept on, French does the arithmetic out loud: ten-seven, then sixty-ten for 70, four-twenties for 80, four-twenties-ten for 90. Watch three things as you work through the deck: the little et in vingt et un, trente et un … soixante et onze; the -s that appears on quatre-vingts only when nothing follows it; and the way six, huit and dix change sound depending on the next word.

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All 100 cards

#	French	English	Example
1	un Becomes une before a feminine noun: une bière. Same word as the article 'a/an'.	one	Je prends juste un café, merci. I'll just have one coffee, thanks.
2	deux The x is silent, but links as /z/ before a vowel: deux amis.	two	On se retrouve dans deux minutes. See you in two minutes.
3	trois Ages use avoir, not être. The final s links as /z/: trois heures.	three	Ma fille a trois ans. My daughter is three.
4	quatre In fast, casual speech the final -re often drops: quat' minutes.	four	On est quatre à table ce soir. There are four of us at the table tonight.
5	cinq Alone the q is pronounced ('sank'); before a consonant many speakers drop it: cinq minutes.	five	Ça coûte cinq euros le kilo. It costs five euros a kilo.
6	six Alone or at the end of a phrase: 'siss'. Before a consonant: 'si' (six francs). Before a vowel: 'siz' (six ans).	six	Six personnes attendent devant la porte. Six people are waiting at the door.
7	sept The p is silent: 'set'.	seven	Le train part à sept heures. The train leaves at seven.
8	huit No elision: say le huit, not l'huit. The t is pronounced alone, but silent before a consonant: huit jours ('hui').	eight	Il reste huit places dans le bus. There are eight seats left on the bus.
9	neuf Also means 'new'. The f sounds like /v/ in just two cases: neuf ans, neuf heures.	nine	Neuf élèves sont absents ce matin. Nine pupils are absent this morning.
10	dix Alone 'diss'; 'di' before a consonant (dix jours); 'diz' before a vowel (dix ans).	ten	Donne-moi dix minutes, s'il te plaît. Give me ten minutes, please.
11	onze No elision either: le onze, de onze heures à midi.	eleven	Il y a onze joueurs dans une équipe. There are eleven players on a team.
12	douze A dozen is une douzaine.	twelve	J'achète douze roses pour son anniversaire. I'm buying twelve roses for her birthday.
13	treize Dates use plain numbers: le treize mai. Only the 1st is different: le premier mai.	thirteen	On est le treize aujourd'hui. Today is the thirteenth.
14	quatorze Le quatorze juillet is France's national holiday (Bastille Day in English).	fourteen	Le quatorze juillet, tout le monde sort. On the fourteenth of July, everyone goes out.
15	quinze Quinze jours means a fortnight — French counts 15 days where English counts 14.	fifteen	Rendez-vous dans quinze jours. See you in two weeks.
16	seize Last of the one-word numbers; from 17 on, French adds numbers together.	sixteen	Elle a seize ans la semaine prochaine. She turns sixteen next week.
17	dix-sept Literally 'ten-seven'. Hyphen required.	seventeen	Il y a dix-sept messages non lus. There are seventeen unread messages.
18	dix-huit Literally 'ten-eight'; the final t is pronounced here.	eighteen	On vote à partir de dix-huit ans. You can vote from eighteen.
19	dix-neuf Literally 'ten-nine'. Bus and tram lines are named with the bare number: le bus dix-neuf, le tram trois.	nineteen	Le bus dix-neuf passe toutes les heures. The number nineteen bus comes every hour.
20	vingt The t is silent on its own, but pronounced in 22–29 (vingt-deux) and in vingt ans.	twenty	Ça fait vingt euros tout compris. That comes to twenty euros all in.
21	vingt et un The 'et' appears in 21, 31, 41, 51, 61 and in 71 (soixante et onze) only. The 1990 spelling reform also allows vingt-et-un with hyphens.	twenty-one	Mon appartement fait vingt et un mètres carrés. My flat is twenty-one square metres.
22	vingt-deux From 22 on, just hyphenate: vingt-deux, vingt-trois…	twenty-two	Le colis pèse vingt-deux kilos. The parcel weighs twenty-two kilos.
23	vingt-trois Page numbers stay cardinal: page vingt-trois, not 'la vingt-troisième page'.	twenty-three	Ouvrez votre livre page vingt-trois. Open your book at page twenty-three.
24	vingt-quatre Dépanneur is the Québec word for a corner shop; in France you'd say une épicerie de nuit.	twenty-four	Le dépanneur est ouvert vingt-quatre heures sur vingt-quatre. The corner shop is open twenty-four hours a day.
25	vingt-cinq In Québec prices are in dollars; older speakers still call a 25-cent coin un trente sous.	twenty-five	Il me reste vingt-cinq dollars. I've got twenty-five dollars left.
26	vingt-six Six still follows its own rule inside the number: 'vingt-si kilomètres' before a consonant, 'vingt-siss' at the end of a sentence.	twenty-six	Elle court vingt-six kilomètres par semaine. She runs twenty-six kilometres a week.
27	vingt-sept Weather uses il fait + number + degrés.	twenty-seven	Il fait vingt-sept degrés dehors. It's twenty-seven degrees outside.
28	vingt-huit	twenty-eight	Février a vingt-huit jours cette année. February has twenty-eight days this year.
29	vingt-neuf Day of the month: le vingt-neuf, with no ordinal ending.	twenty-nine	Je paie mon loyer le vingt-neuf. I pay my rent on the twenty-ninth.
30	trente Timetables say vingt heures trente; in conversation people say huit heures et demie.	thirty	Le film commence à vingt heures trente. The film starts at 8:30 p.m.
31	trente et un Again with 'et', like vingt et un.	thirty-one	Mai a trente et un jours. May has thirty-one days.
32	trente-deux	thirty-two	Un adulte a trente-deux dents. An adult has thirty-two teeth.
33	trente-trois What a doctor says while listening to your chest — the French equivalent of 'say ninety-nine'.	thirty-three	Dites trente-trois, s'il vous plaît. Say thirty-three, please.
34	trente-quatre	thirty-four	J'ai imprimé trente-quatre pages. I printed thirty-four pages.
35	trente-cinq Les trente-cinq heures is the legal French working week; in Québec the standard week is forty hours.	thirty-five	On travaille trente-cinq heures par semaine en France. People work thirty-five hours a week in France.
36	trente-six Idiomatic: trente-six means 'loads of'. Also voir trente-six chandelles = to see stars.	thirty-six	Je n'ai pas trente-six solutions. I don't have a whole lot of options.
37	trente-sept Normal body temperature — France and Québec both use Celsius.	thirty-seven	Sa température est de trente-sept degrés. His temperature is thirty-seven degrees.
38	trente-huit chausser du + number for shoe size. In Québec, shoe sizes are often given in US numbers instead.	thirty-eight	Je chausse du trente-huit. I take a size thirty-eight shoe.
39	trente-neuf avoir + number + de fièvre is the everyday way to report a temperature.	thirty-nine	Le petit a trente-neuf de fièvre. The little one has a temperature of thirty-nine.
40	quarante Careful with the spelling: quarante, with one r.	forty	Elle nage quarante longueurs chaque matin. She swims forty lengths every morning.
41	quarante et un Still the 'et' pattern: quarante et un.	forty-one	Mon numéro de téléphone finit par quarante et un. My phone number ends in forty-one.
42	quarante-deux	forty-two	J'ai compté quarante-deux marches jusqu'en haut. I counted forty-two steps to the top.
43	quarante-trois Euro cents are centimes in France; in Québec people say quarante-trois cents or quarante-trois sous.	forty-three	Il me manque quarante-trois centimes. I'm forty-three cents short.
44	quarante-quatre faire du + number is used for clothing sizes.	forty-four	Mon frère fait du quarante-quatre. My brother is a size forty-four.
45	quarante-cinq For the time, 8:45 is huit heures quarante-cinq or neuf heures moins le quart.	forty-five	Le cours dure quarante-cinq minutes. The class lasts forty-five minutes.
46	quarante-six	forty-six	Cette boîte contient quarante-six pièces. This box has forty-six pieces in it.
47	quarante-sept	forty-seven	Le menu propose quarante-sept plats. The menu has forty-seven dishes.
48	quarante-huit sous quarante-huit heures = within 48 hours; very common in emails.	forty-eight	Je te réponds sous quarante-huit heures. I'll get back to you within forty-eight hours.
49	quarante-neuf	forty-nine	Ce pull est en solde à quarante-neuf euros. This jumper is on sale for forty-nine euros.
50	cinquante Pronounced 'sank-ant' — here the qu sounds like k.	fifty	On a marché cinquante kilomètres en deux jours. We walked fifty kilometres in two days.
51	cinquante et un Before a feminine noun, un becomes une: cinquante et une pages.	fifty-one	Il a écrit cinquante et une pages en un mois. He wrote fifty-one pages in a month.
52	cinquante-deux	fifty-two	Une année compte cinquante-deux semaines. A year has fifty-two weeks.
53	cinquante-trois	fifty-three	Le bébé mesure cinquante-trois centimètres. The baby is fifty-three centimetres long.
54	cinquante-quatre For 20th-century years, people drop the mille neuf cent: né en cinquante-quatre.	fifty-four	Mon père est né en cinquante-quatre. My dad was born in '54.
55	cinquante-cinq Heights are given as un mètre + the centimetres, never in feet.	fifty-five	Ma tante mesure un mètre cinquante-cinq. My aunt is one metre fifty-five tall.
56	cinquante-six	fifty-six	La chambre cinquante-six est libre. Room fifty-six is free.
57	cinquante-sept Scores use à: trois à deux.	fifty-seven	Le score final était cinquante-sept à quarante. The final score was fifty-seven to forty.
58	cinquante-huit	fifty-eight	Le trajet prend cinquante-huit minutes. The trip takes fifty-eight minutes.
59	cinquante-neuf The 24-hour clock is standard for schedules and official times.	fifty-nine	Il est vingt-trois heures cinquante-neuf. It's 11:59 p.m.
60	soixante Pronounced 'swa-ssant' — the x sounds like /s/.	sixty	Une minute, c'est soixante secondes. A minute is sixty seconds.
61	soixante et un The 'et' pattern also covers 71 (soixante et onze), then disappears for good from 81 on.	sixty-one	Le colis arrive au soixante et un, avenue des Lilas. The parcel is going to sixty-one, Lilac Avenue.
62	soixante-deux	sixty-two	La salle peut accueillir soixante-deux personnes. The room holds sixty-two people.
63	soixante-trois	sixty-three	Le chèque est de soixante-trois dollars. The cheque is for sixty-three dollars.
64	soixante-quatre	sixty-four	Un échiquier compte soixante-quatre cases. A chessboard has sixty-four squares.
65	soixante-cinq partir à la retraite à + age.	sixty-five	Beaucoup de gens partent à la retraite à soixante-cinq ans. A lot of people retire at sixty-five.
66	soixante-six	sixty-six	J'ai payé soixante-six euros de taxi. I paid sixty-six euros for the taxi.
67	soixante-sept	sixty-seven	Le mariage réunissait soixante-sept invités. The wedding had sixty-seven guests.
68	soixante-huit Mai 68 refers to the 1968 student and worker protests; the number alone is enough.	sixty-eight	Mai soixante-huit a changé la France. May '68 changed France.
69	soixante-neuf Lyon sits in the 69. Be ready for the giggle: as in English, the number also has a sexual meaning (vulgar).	sixty-nine	Le département soixante-neuf, c'est le Rhône. Department sixty-nine is the Rhône.
70	soixante-dix Literally 'sixty-ten'. Belgium and most of French-speaking Switzerland say septante; France and Québec do not.	seventy	Mon grand-père fête ses soixante-dix ans demain. My grandfather turns seventy tomorrow.
71	soixante et onze 60 + 11, and it keeps the 'et' like 21 and 31. Belgium/Switzerland: septante et un.	seventy-one	Il y avait soixante et onze participants. There were seventy-one participants.
72	soixante-douze From 72 to 79, hyphens only: soixante-douze, soixante-treize…	seventy-two	Il faut attendre soixante-douze heures. You have to wait seventy-two hours.
73	soixante-treize Wine vintages are said as bare numbers: un soixante-treize, un quatre-vingt-deux.	seventy-three	Ce vin de soixante-treize est excellent. This '73 wine is excellent.
74	soixante-quatorze The 74 is Haute-Savoie; in France people often name départements by their number.	seventy-four	On va souvent skier dans le soixante-quatorze. We often go skiing in the seventy-four.
75	soixante-quinze 75 cl is the standard bottle; 75 is also the number for Paris.	seventy-five	Une bouteille de vin fait soixante-quinze centilitres. A wine bottle holds seventy-five centilitres.
76	soixante-seize une copie = a pupil's written paper.	seventy-six	Le prof a corrigé soixante-seize copies. The teacher marked seventy-six papers.
77	soixante-dix-sept Three numbers in one: 60 + 10 + 7.	seventy-seven	Il a vendu soixante-dix-sept billets. He sold seventy-seven tickets.
78	soixante-dix-huit 60 + 10 + 8.	seventy-eight	Ce vieux disque tourne à soixante-dix-huit tours. This old record plays at seventy-eight rpm.
79	soixante-dix-neuf The longest of the seventies: 60 + 10 + 9. un forfait = a phone/data plan.	seventy-nine	Le forfait coûte soixante-dix-neuf euros par mois. The plan costs seventy-nine euros a month.
80	quatre-vingts Literally 'four twenties'. It takes -s only when it ends the number. Parts of Switzerland say huitante; Belgium says quatre-vingts like France.	eighty	Il souffle ses quatre-vingts bougies aujourd'hui. He's blowing out eighty candles today.
81	quatre-vingt-un No -s on vingt here, and no 'et': never 'quatre-vingts et un'.	eighty-one	Il y avait quatre-vingt-un candidats à l'examen. There were eighty-one candidates for the exam.
82	quatre-vingt-deux	eighty-two	Mon téléphone affiche quatre-vingt-deux pour cent. My phone shows eighty-two percent.
83	quatre-vingt-trois	eighty-three	Ce vol transporte quatre-vingt-trois passagers. This flight is carrying eighty-three passengers.
84	quatre-vingt-quatre	eighty-four	Elle a répondu à quatre-vingt-quatre questions. She answered eighty-four questions.
85	quatre-vingt-cinq	eighty-five	Elle a dépensé quatre-vingt-cinq dollars au marché. She spent eighty-five dollars at the market.
86	quatre-vingt-six pour cent stays singular and takes no hyphen.	eighty-six	Quatre-vingt-six pour cent des gens sont d'accord. Eighty-six percent of people agree.
87	quatre-vingt-sept That shortcut only works for 1900s years; after 2000 you say deux mille sept in full.	eighty-seven	Ma sœur est née en quatre-vingt-sept. My sister was born in '87.
88	quatre-vingt-huit	eighty-eight	Un piano a quatre-vingt-huit touches. A piano has eighty-eight keys.
89	quatre-vingt-neuf 1789, the French Revolution — in class it is usually just quatre-vingt-neuf.	eighty-nine	On a étudié quatre-vingt-neuf en histoire. We studied '89 in history.
90	quatre-vingt-dix Literally 'four-twenties-ten'. Belgium and most of French-speaking Switzerland say nonante.	ninety	Un match de foot dure quatre-vingt-dix minutes. A football match lasts ninety minutes.
91	quatre-vingt-onze No 'et' in the nineties: quatre-vingt-onze, never 'quatre-vingt et onze'.	ninety-one	Le devis s'élève à quatre-vingt-onze euros. The quote comes to ninety-one euros.
92	quatre-vingt-douze Québec schools grade in percentages; French schools usually mark out of 20.	ninety-two	Elle a eu quatre-vingt-douze sur cent. She got ninety-two out of a hundred.
93	quatre-vingt-treize The 93 is Seine-Saint-Denis, next to Paris; locals often read the digits: le neuf-trois.	ninety-three	Il habite dans le quatre-vingt-treize. He lives in the ninety-three.
94	quatre-vingt-quatorze	ninety-four	Le sondage portait sur quatre-vingt-quatorze personnes. The survey covered ninety-four people.
95	quatre-vingt-quinze Prices are said as un dollar quatre-vingt-quinze / un euro quatre-vingt-quinze, without the word for 'cents'.	ninety-five	L'essence est à un dollar quatre-vingt-quinze. Petrol is a dollar ninety-five.
96	quatre-vingt-seize	ninety-six	J'ai économisé quatre-vingt-seize euros ce mois-ci. I saved ninety-six euros this month.
97	quatre-vingt-dix-sept Four numbers in one: 4 × 20 + 10 + 7.	ninety-seven	Nous avons réservé la chambre quatre-vingt-dix-sept. We booked room ninety-seven.
98	quatre-vingt-dix-huit	ninety-eight	Il a obtenu quatre-vingt-dix-huit points. He got ninety-eight points.
99	quatre-vingt-dix-neuf The longest number under 100: 4 × 20 + 10 + 9.	ninety-nine	Le pain est à quatre-vingt-dix-neuf centimes. The bread is ninety-nine cents.
100	cent No un before cent: say cent euros, not 'un cent euros'. It takes -s only in multiples: deux cents, but deux cent dix.	one hundred	Je te l'ai répété cent fois. I've told you a hundred times.

Théo Marchand

Native French · Speaks English, Spanish

Born in Lyon, living in Montréal. I write the phrases the way people actually say them on both sides of the Atlantic and mark the difference when it matters.

Published 17 Sept 2026

Questions about this deck

Why does French say soixante-dix, quatre-vingts and quatre-vingt-dix?: Above sixty, French kept an old base-20 habit. 70 is soixante-dix (60 + 10), 71 is soixante et onze (60 + 11), 80 is quatre-vingts (4 × 20), 90 is quatre-vingt-dix (4 × 20 + 10) and 99 is quatre-vingt-dix-neuf (4 × 20 + 10 + 9). Belgium and most of French-speaking Switzerland simplify this with septante (70) and nonante (90), and Vaud, Valais and Fribourg also use huitante (80). In France and in Québec, only the long forms are used.
When do you say 'et un' in French numbers?: Only in 21, 31, 41, 51, 61 and 71: vingt et un, trente et un, quarante et un, cinquante et un, soixante et un, soixante et onze. Note that 71 uses onze, not un. From 81 on, the 'et' disappears: quatre-vingt-un, quatre-vingt-onze, cent un. Traditional spelling leaves these without hyphens; the 1990 reform allows vingt-et-un, and both are accepted.
Does quatre-vingts have an -s or not?: It takes the -s only when it is the last element of the number: quatre-vingts, deux cent quatre-vingts. As soon as another number follows, the -s goes: quatre-vingt-un, quatre-vingt-cinq, quatre-vingt-dix-neuf. Plain vingt and compounds like vingt-deux never take an -s, because vingt is not multiplied there. Cent works the same way: deux cents, but deux cent dix.
Why do six, huit and dix sound different in different sentences?: Their final consonant depends on the next word. Alone or at the end of a phrase: 'siss', 'weet', 'diss'. Before a consonant the final consonant is dropped: six francs ('si'), dix jours ('di'), huit jours ('hui'). Before a vowel it links: six ans ('siz an'), dix euros ('diz euro'), huit heures ('weet eur'). Remember too that huit and onze take no elision: le huit mai, le onze juin.

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French Numbers 1–100: Count from un to cent

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