French Numbers: Why 70, 80 and 90 Look So Strange

How French numbers work from 1 to 100 and beyond, the logic of soixante-dix and quatre-vingts, and the simpler forms used in Belgium and Switzerland.

French numbers are straightforward until 70. Then, suddenly, "seventy" becomes "sixty-ten". It's confusing but logical, once you see the pattern.

1 to 20

un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf, dix, onze, douze, treize, quatorze, quinze, seize, dix-sept, dix-huit, dix-neuf, vingt.

20 to 69: regular

20 vingt, 30 trente, 40 quarante, 50 cinquante, 60 soixante
21 vingt et un, 22 vingt-deux, 23 vingt-trois...
31 trente et un, 41 quarante et un, 51 cinquante et un, 61 soixante et un

Notice et (and) only with 1: vingt et un, but vingt-deux, vingt-trois.

70 to 79: sixty plus ten

70 soixante-dix (sixty-ten)
71 soixante et onze (sixty and eleven)
72 soixante-douze
73 soixante-treize
...
79 soixante-dix-neuf

80 to 89: four twenties

80 quatre-vingts (four-twenties)
81 quatre-vingt-un (no et)
82 quatre-vingt-deux
...
89 quatre-vingt-neuf

Note the s in quatre-vingts only when nothing follows: quatre-vingts but quatre-vingt-un.

90 to 99: four twenties plus ten

90 quatre-vingt-dix
91 quatre-vingt-onze
92 quatre-vingt-douze
...
99 quatre-vingt-dix-neuf

100 and beyond

100 cent
101 cent un
200 deux cents (with s)
201 deux cent un (no s, since more numbers follow)
1,000 mille (never un mille, and mille never takes an s)
2,000 deux mille
1,000,000 un million
1,000,000,000 un milliard

Why the strange system?

The base-20 pattern in quatre-vingts is often explained as a survival of an older counting system, possibly influenced by Celtic languages, similar to English "fourscore" and Danish counting. Medieval French had more base-20 forms, such as trois-vingts (60), which gradually simplified, but quatre-vingts stuck.

Belgium, Switzerland and elsewhere

In Belgium, and in parts of Switzerland and some other francophone regions, people use simpler forms:

70: septante
80: huitante (parts of Switzerland) or quatre-vingts (Belgium and much of Switzerland)
90: nonante

So in Brussels or Geneva, you might hear septante-cinq for 75, where in Paris you'd hear soixante-quinze. Both are understood.

Tips for learning

Learn 1 to 69 first. These are regular.
Practise 70 to 99 in groups: sixty-plus and four-twenty-plus.
Write numbers in words for practice.
Say phone numbers in pairs, as French speakers do.
Practise prices and years.

Years

Years are said as whole numbers: 2026 is deux mille vingt-six. 1999 is mille neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix-neuf, or dix-neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix-neuf.

Ordinals

1st premier / première
2nd deuxième (or second when only two)
3rd troisième
Add -ième to the number: quatrième, cinquième.

Prices and money

Ça coûte quatre-vingt-quinze euros (95 euros). Practise prices aloud.

Practice

Say your age, your phone number, the year you were born and today's date in French.

Look up French numbers with English French Dictionary →