Wednesday 21 November 2012

Un, deux, trois,....Partez! How to count in French

French numbers take a little while to master: 
0
zéro
1
un
2
deux
3
trois
4
quatre
5
cinq
6
six
7
sept
8
huit
9
neuf
10
dix
11
onze
12
douze
13
treize
14
quatorze
15
quinze
16
seize
17
dix-sept
18
dix-huit
19
dix-neuf

To learn and practice go to this website 

Numbers 20-69

The number consists of a word for the multiple of ten plus optionally the number for the unit 1-9 from the list opposite. Names of the tens:
20vingt
30trente
40quarante
50cinquante
60soixante
Tens and units are joined with a hyphen. So, 
22 = vingt-deux
45 =quarante-cinq etc. 
If the unit is a 1, then the word et is inserted between tens and units: 
21 = vingt et un
31 = trente et un etc.

Numbers 70-79

These continue on from soixante-neuf
70 = soixante-dix
71 = soixante et onze
72 = soixante-douze
73 = soixante-treize etc.

 Notice the et in 71 which mimics the behaviour of 21, 31 etc.

Numbers 80-99

The French for eighty is quatre-vingts
Numbers 81-99 consist of quatre-vingt- (minus the -s) plus a number 1-19: 81 = quatre-vingt-un
82 =quatre-vingt-deux

90 = quatre-vingt-dix
91 = quatre-vingt-onze etc. 

Notice that none of these numbers use the word et.