Cardinal numbers — un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq — are the words that count things. In French, they function as determiners when placed before a noun: trois enfants (three children), vingt étudiants (twenty students). Most of the system is straightforward, predictable, and transparent. Then you reach the seventies and the famous French oddity emerges: 70 is soixante-dix (literally "sixty-ten"), 80 is quatre-vingts ("four-twenties"), 90 is quatre-vingt-dix ("four-twenties-ten"). French does arithmetic out loud in this zone, and English speakers learning the language often need a dedicated week of drilling before the higher numbers come automatically.
This page covers all the forms, the gender agreement of un/une, the spelling rules for quatre-vingts and cents, the pronunciation traps for six, huit, dix, the regional alternatives (septante, huitante/octante, nonante), and the 1990 spelling reform. By the end you should be able to read, write, and pronounce any French number with confidence.
The first twenty: building blocks
The numbers from 1 to 16 are individual lexical items — you simply memorize them. From 17 to 19, French shifts to compound forms (dix-sept = "ten-seven"). The full list:
| Number | French | Number | French |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | un / une | 11 | onze |
| 2 | deux | 12 | douze |
| 3 | trois | 13 | treize |
| 4 | quatre | 14 | quatorze |
| 5 | cinq | 15 | quinze |
| 6 | six | 16 | seize |
| 7 | sept | 17 | dix-sept |
| 8 | huit | 18 | dix-huit |
| 9 | neuf | 19 | dix-neuf |
| 10 | dix | 20 | vingt |
J'ai trois frères et deux sœurs.
I have three brothers and two sisters.
Le bus arrive dans cinq minutes.
The bus is arriving in five minutes.
Il y a dix-huit étudiants dans la classe.
There are eighteen students in the class.
The compound forms 17–19 are written with hyphens: dix-sept, dix-huit, dix-neuf. This is the original spelling and remains standard.
Twenty to sixty-nine: the regular zone
From 20 to 69, French behaves much like English: a tens-word (vingt, trente, quarante, cinquante, soixante) followed by a units-word, joined by a hyphen — except when the units-word is un, where the connector et appears without hyphens.
| Tens | French |
|---|---|
| 20 | vingt |
| 30 | trente |
| 40 | quarante |
| 50 | cinquante |
| 60 | soixante |
The combinations:
- 21: vingt et un (no hyphens, with et)
- 22–29: vingt-deux, vingt-trois, vingt-quatre, vingt-cinq, vingt-six, vingt-sept, vingt-huit, vingt-neuf
- 31, 41, 51, 61: trente et un, quarante et un, cinquante et un, soixante et un
- 32, 33, ..., 69: hyphenated like vingt-deux
Mon grand-père a soixante-cinq ans.
My grandfather is sixty-five years old.
Il y avait quarante et un invités au mariage.
There were forty-one guests at the wedding.
J'ai trente-deux euros sur moi.
I have thirty-two euros on me.
The pattern X et un (without hyphens) holds for 21, 31, 41, 51, 61. From 71 onward, the pattern changes — see below.
The famous 70-80-90 zone
This is where French diverges sharply from most languages. Standard metropolitan French (France) uses vigesimal (base-20) arithmetic for the 70s, 80s, and 90s, inherited from medieval Gaulish counting. The result feels like elementary-school math problems read aloud.
70–79: soixante-dix
The seventies are formed by adding 10–19 to soixante (60). There is no separate word for "seventy" in standard French.
- 70: soixante-dix (60+10)
- 71: soixante et onze (60+11, with et mirroring 21)
- 72: soixante-douze (60+12)
- 73: soixante-treize
- 74: soixante-quatorze
- 75: soixante-quinze
- 76: soixante-seize
- 77: soixante-dix-sept (60+17, which itself is "ten-seven")
- 78: soixante-dix-huit
- 79: soixante-dix-neuf
Ma grand-mère a soixante-quinze ans.
My grandmother is seventy-five years old.
Il y avait soixante et onze personnes à la conférence.
There were seventy-one people at the conference.
80–89: quatre-vingts
Eighty in standard French is quatre-vingts — literally "four twenties." The s on vingts appears only when quatre-vingts stands alone or ends a number; it disappears as soon as another number follows.
- 80: quatre-vingts (with s)
- 81: quatre-vingt-un (no s, no et — this is a famous exception)
- 82: quatre-vingt-deux
- 83: quatre-vingt-trois
- 89: quatre-vingt-neuf
Il a quatre-vingts ans aujourd'hui.
He's eighty years old today.
Cette voiture coûte quatre-vingt-deux mille euros.
This car costs eighty-two thousand euros.
Notice the second oddity in this zone: 81 does not use et. We say quatre-vingt-un, not *quatre-vingt et un. The et connector is reserved for 21, 31, 41, 51, 61, 71 only.
90–99: quatre-vingt-dix
Ninety follows the same vigesimal logic as eighty — it is quatre-vingts + 10–19.
- 90: quatre-vingt-dix (80+10)
- 91: quatre-vingt-onze (80+11 — note: no et)
- 92: quatre-vingt-douze
- 95: quatre-vingt-quinze
- 97: quatre-vingt-dix-sept (80+17)
- 99: quatre-vingt-dix-neuf
Mon arrière-grand-mère a quatre-vingt-dix-huit ans.
My great-grandmother is ninety-eight years old.
Le restaurant a quatre-vingt-dix-neuf couverts.
The restaurant has ninety-nine seats.
Regional alternatives: septante, huitante/octante, nonante
Belgium and Switzerland (and parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Aosta Valley) use simpler decimal forms:
- 70: septante (Belgium, Switzerland)
- 80: huitante (parts of Switzerland), octante (older, regional)
- 90: nonante (Belgium, Switzerland)
In Switzerland the pattern is septante, huitante, nonante; in Belgium it is septante, quatre-vingts, nonante (Belgians keep quatre-vingts but use septante and nonante).
Il a septante-cinq ans. (Belgique, Suisse)
He's seventy-five years old. (Belgium, Switzerland)
Il a soixante-quinze ans. (France)
He's seventy-five years old. (France)
A French learner heading to Brussels or Geneva should recognize septante and nonante immediately; a learner staying in France will rarely hear them. (regional: Belgium / Switzerland)
Hundreds, thousands, millions
Cent (100)
The number 100 is cent — invariable when alone or before another number, but takes an s in the multiples deux cents, trois cents, quatre cents, etc., only when no further number follows.
- 100: cent (no article — cent euros, not *un cent euros)
- 101: cent un (no et, no hyphen in traditional spelling)
- 200: deux cents (with s)
- 201: deux cent un (no s — another number follows)
- 999: neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix-neuf
Il y avait deux cents personnes au concert.
There were two hundred people at the concert.
Le livre coûte trois cent cinquante euros.
The book costs three hundred fifty euros. (no *s* on cent)
The rule mirrors quatre-vingts: standalone cents keeps the s; followed by another number, drop it.
Mille (1,000)
The number 1,000 is mille. Unlike cent and vingt, mille is always invariable — it never takes an s, regardless of what follows or whether it stands alone.
- 1,000: mille
- 2,000: deux mille (no s)
- 10,000: dix mille
- 100,000: cent mille
- 999,999: neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix-neuf mille neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix-neuf
J'ai économisé cinq mille euros cette année.
I saved five thousand euros this year.
L'usine produit dix mille pièces par jour.
The factory produces ten thousand parts a day.
There is no article with mille in determiner use: mille euros, not *un mille euros. (Compare with un million, which does take an article.)
Million, milliard
These are technically nouns, not determiners, and they require un before them and de after when followed by a noun.
- 1,000,000: un million
- 1,000,000,000: un milliard
- 1 million de gens: a million people
- 2 milliards d'euros: two billion euros
La France a environ soixante-sept millions d'habitants.
France has about sixty-seven million inhabitants.
Le projet coûte un milliard d'euros.
The project costs one billion euros.
The de between million(s)/milliard(s) and the noun is mandatory and is one of the small grammatical points that separates intermediate from advanced learners.
Un and une: the only gendered cardinal
The only cardinal number that agrees in gender is un / une. All higher numbers — deux, trois, quatre, cinq — are invariable.
J'ai un livre et une revue.
I have a book and a magazine.
Vingt et un étudiants, vingt et une étudiantes.
Twenty-one (male) students, twenty-one (female) students.
Quatre-vingt-un hommes, quatre-vingt-une femmes.
Eighty-one men, eighty-one women.
The agreement applies whenever a number ends in un — so vingt et un, trente et un, ..., quatre-vingt-un, cent un all become vingt et une, trente et une, ..., quatre-vingt-une, cent une before a feminine noun.
Pronunciation traps
six, huit, dix
The numbers six, huit, dix have three pronunciations each, depending on what follows:
| Number | Alone or final | Before a consonant | Before a vowel |
|---|---|---|---|
| six | /sis/ | /si/ | /siz/ |
| huit | /ɥit/ | /ɥi/ | /ɥit/ |
| dix | /dis/ | /di/ | /diz/ |
J'en ai six. (/sis/)
I have six (of them). — final position
Six chats. (/si ʃa/)
Six cats. — before consonant, *x* is silent
Six enfants. (/si zɑ̃fɑ̃/)
Six children. — liaison, *x* sounds /z/
This is the rule of liaison applied to numerals. The same pattern affects neuf (the f sounds /v/ before ans and heures: neuf ans /nœv ɑ̃/, neuf heures /nœv œʁ/, but elsewhere /nœf/).
cinq
The final q of cinq is normally pronounced (cinq /sɛ̃k/), but in informal speech it often drops before a consonant: cinq cents may sound like /sɛ̃ sɑ̃/. Both pronunciations are accepted.
sept, neuf
The p of sept is silent (/sɛt/). The f of neuf is normally pronounced /nœf/, but becomes /v/ before ans and heures (the only two words that trigger this).
The 1990 spelling reform
The 1990 rectifications orthographiques (orthographic recommendations) introduced a single change to numbers: systematic hyphens between every component. Under the reform:
- 1990 reform: vingt-et-un, deux-cents, mille-deux-cents, quatre-vingt-onze
- Traditional: vingt et un, deux cents, mille deux cents, quatre-vingt-onze
The reformed spelling is officially recognized but the traditional spelling remains correct and is still dominant in published French. Either spelling is acceptable; consistency within a document is the rule. Most contemporary writing still uses the traditional form. Modern dictation exams typically accept either.
Common Mistakes
❌ J'ai vingt et deux ans.
Incorrect — *et* connects only with *un* (21, 31, 41, 51, 61, 71).
✅ J'ai vingt-deux ans.
I am twenty-two years old.
❌ Quatre-vingts un euros.
Incorrect — *s* drops on *vingt* before another number.
✅ Quatre-vingt-un euros.
Eighty-one euros.
❌ Quatre-vingt et un.
Incorrect — no *et* with eighties.
✅ Quatre-vingt-un.
Eighty-one.
❌ Trois milles euros.
Incorrect — *mille* is invariable, never takes *s*.
✅ Trois mille euros.
Three thousand euros.
❌ Un million personnes.
Incorrect — *million* requires *de* before the noun.
✅ Un million de personnes.
A million people.
❌ Vingt et un étudiantes.
Incorrect — *un* must agree with feminine *étudiantes*.
✅ Vingt et une étudiantes.
Twenty-one (female) students.
❌ Deux cents euros et cinquante.
Incorrect word order; also *cents* takes no *s* with another number.
✅ Deux cent cinquante euros.
Two hundred fifty euros.
The 70-80-90 zone is where most mistakes cluster. A practical tactic: when you reach 70, stop thinking in tens and start adding to soixante. When you reach 80, switch to quatre-vingt(s) and add. The mental arithmetic feels awkward for the first few weeks, then becomes automatic.
Key takeaways
French cardinals from 1 to 69 are mostly transparent: tens-words plus units, with et un at 21, 31, 41, 51, 61. The famous oddity is the 70-80-90 zone, where standard French uses vigesimal (base-20) construction: soixante-dix, quatre-vingts, quatre-vingt-dix. Belgium and Switzerland use simpler septante, nonante, and (Switzerland only) huitante. The spelling rule for vingt and cent is identical: keep the final s only when the word ends the number. Mille is always invariable. Million and milliard are nouns and require de before the noun they count. The only cardinal that agrees in gender is un/une. Master the irregular zone with patient drill — number recognition is the foundation of everything from telling time to reading prices to understanding dates.
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