Les Nombres
Page last updated at:
15:41 BST, Sun, 11 September 2011
Whoever coined French numbers got as far as 60 before being sidetracked by matters evidently deemed more important at the time.
The resultant fix saw the number 70 branded soixante-dix, or 60 and 10; the number
80 as quatre-vingts, or four 20s (think four score); and even 99 as quatre-vingt-dix-neuf, or four 20s and 19.
While Swiss and Belgian French employ the more intuitive septante, huitante and nonante (70, 80 and 90 respectively),
old habits die hard, French numbers are, well, French, and they duly take a little getting used to.
Ordinal Numbers | Les Nombres Ordinal
| first | premier (m) / première (f) | |
| second | deuxième | |
| third | troisième | |
| fourth | quatrième | |
| fifth | cinquième | |
| sixth | sixième | |
| seventh | septième | |
| eighth | huitième | |
| ninth | neuvième | |
| tenth | dixième |
Cardinal Numbers | Les Nombres Cardinal
| 0 | zéro | 40 | quarante | ||
| 1 | un | 41 | quarante et un | ||
| 2 | deux | ||||
| 3 | trois | 50 | cinquante | ||
| 4 | quatre | ||||
| 5 | cinq | 60 | soixante | ||
| 6 | six | ||||
| 7 | sept | 70 | soixante-dix | ||
| 8 | huit | 71 | soixante et onze | ||
| 9 | nuef | 72 | soixante douze | ||
| 10 | dix | 73 | soixante-treize | ||
| 11 | onze | 74 | soixante-quatorze | ||
| 12 | douze | ||||
| 13 | treize | 80 | quatre-vingts | ||
| 14 | quatorze | 81 | quatre-vingt-un | ||
| 15 | quinze | 82 | quatre-vingt-deux | ||
| 16 | seize | ||||
| 17 | dix-sept | 90 | quatre-vingt-dix | ||
| 18 | dix-huit | 91 | quatre-vingt-onze | ||
| 19 | dix-neuf | ||||
| 20 | vingt | 100 | cent | ||
| 21 | vingt et un | 200 | deux cent | ||
| 22 | vingt-deux | 201 | deux cent un | ||
| 23 | vingt-trois | 1,000 | mille | ||
| 30 | trente | 2,000 | deux mille | ||
| 31 | trente et un | 1,000,000 | un million | ||
| 32 | trente-deux | 2,000,000 | deux millions | ||
| 33 | trente-trois | billion | un milliard |
