Cardinal Numbers in French

How to count in French

Cardinal numbers (les nombres cardinaux) are the basic numbers (one, two, three, etc.). We use them to count, make calculations and say how many of something there are.

Examples:
J’ai deux soeurs.I have two sisters.
Il y a vingt-cinq étudiants dans la classe.There are twenty-five students in the class.

Contents

How to spell French numbers

Use the table below to learn the spelling of common French cardinal numbers.

1 un 11 onze 21 vingt et un 31 trente et un
2 deux 12 douze 22 vingt-deux 40 quarante
3 trois 13 treize 23 vingt-trois 50 cinquante
4 quatre 14 quatorze 24 vingt-quatre 60 soixante
5 cinq 15 quinze 25 vingt-cinq 70 soixante-dix
6 six 16 seize 26 vingt-six 80 quatre-vingts
7 sept 17 dix-sept 27 vingt-sept 90 quatre-vingt-dix
8 huit 18 dix-huit 28 vingt-huit 100 cent
9 neuf 19 dix-neuf 29 vingt-neuf 1 000 mille
10 dix 20 vingt 30 trente 1 000 000 un million

Un and une with gender

When we use the number one (un) with a feminine noun, we use the feminine form une.

Examples:
un chienone dog
une tableone table
quarante et une chaisesforty-one tables

Tens

Les dizaines are numbers divisible by ten (20, 30, 40, etc.). When un follows a ten, we connect them using et. We don’t use hyphens in this case.

Examples:
21 – vingt et un
131 – cent trente et un

81 and 91 are exceptions. Here we use hyphens instead of et.

Examples:
81 – quatre-vingt-un
91 – quatre-vingt-onze

When un follows cent (hundred), we don’t use et or hyphens.

Examples:
101 – cent un
601 – six cent un

70–99

French doesn’t have separate base words for 70, 80 and 90. Instead, we build these numbers by combining tens with smaller numbers:

  • 70 = soixante-dix – literally “60 + 10”
  • 80 = quatre-vingts – literally “4 × 20” (four twenties)
  • 90 = quatre-vingt-dix – literally “4 × 20 + 10” (four twenties plus ten)

Their form can be tricky for English speakers so here’s a full list of numbers between 71 and 99.

71 – soixante et onze
72 – soixante-douze
73 – soixante-treize
74 – soixante-quatorze
75 – soixante-quinze
76 – soixante-seize
77 – soixante-dix-sept
78 – soixante-dix-huit
79 – soixante-dix-neuf
91 – quatre-vingt-onze
92 – quatre-vingt-douze
93 – quatre-vingt-treize
94 – quatre-vingt-quatorze
95 – quatre-vingt-quinze
96 – quatre-vingt-seize
97 – quatre-vingt-dix-sept
98 – quatre-vingt-dix-huit
99 – quatre-vingt-dix-neuf

Hundreds

Les centaines are numbers divisible by one hundred (200, 300, etc.).

The hundreds from 200 to 900 are written in plural by adding an -s to cent: cents. However, this is only in the case for the whole hundreds. If another number follows, cent doesn’t take an -s.

Examples:
100 – cent
300 – trois cents
304 – trois cent quatre

Thousands and millions

Mille (1,000) has only one form in French and never takes -s.

Examples:
1 000 – mille
3 000 – trois mille

Million has a singular and a plural form.

Examples:
1 000 000 – un million
2 000 000 – deux millions

Good to know

In French, we separate groups of three numbers with a space, not with a comma or decimal point like in other languages.

Examples:
1 250 (not 1,250)
5 620 477 (not 5,620,477)