French guides · Vocabulary you can hear
French numbers 1–100: three patterns, not a hundred words.
One to ten is un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf, dix. Learn those, the tens, and the three odd turns at 70, 80 and 90. The rest is assembly. Every pronunciation below is readable, and the listening quiz lets you check whether the pattern has landed.
French numbers 0–20
| Number | French | Say it | Hear it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | zéro | ZAY-roh | |
| 1–5 | un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq | uhn, duh, trwah, kat-ruh, sank | |
| 6–10 | six, sept, huit, neuf, dix | sees, set, weet, nuhf, dees | |
| 11–15 | onze, douze, treize, quatorze, quinze | onz, dooz, trez, ka-torz, kanz | |
| 16–20 | seize, dix-sept, dix-huit, dix-neuf, vingt | sez, dees-set, deez-weet, deez-nuhf, van |
French starts building at seventeen: dix-sept is ten-seven, dix-huit is ten-eight and dix-neuf is ten-nine. That is your first glimpse of the system.
Twenty to sixty-nine is regular
Put the tens first and the unit after it: vingt-deux is 22, trente-huit is 38, and cinquante-neuf is 59. Numbers ending in one take et un: vingt et un, trente et un, through soixante et un.
The French logic of 70, 80 and 90
Think in additions and twenties
70 = soixante-dix (60 + 10), 80 = quatre-vingts (4 × 20), and 90 = quatre-vingt-dix (80 + 10).
Seventy-one is the last number to use et: soixante et onze. Then the pattern rolls forward: soixante-douze (72), quatre-vingt-un (81, no et), and quatre-vingt-quinze (95).
The final s in quatre-vingts belongs only to exactly 80. Add another number and it disappears: quatre-vingt-deux.
Listen before you look
Listen, then choose the number you hear.
Question 1 of 6Numbers in real French
Ça coûte douze euros means “It costs twelve euros.” J’ai trente-deux ans means “I am thirty-two”—French says “I have thirty-two years.” For phone numbers, French speakers often group digits in pairs, so 06 24 38 91 70 becomes five two-digit numbers.
Years are normally read as whole numbers: 1998 is mille neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix-huit. For a first week, though, prices, ages and times give you far more useful practice than historical dates.
Numbers inside a story
Hear the price. See the coffee.
Cocoon French puts numbers inside visual scenes—ages, times, prices and addresses—so they stop sounding like a list. Six full lessons are free.
Quick answers
French numbers, settled.
How do you count from 1 to 10 in French?+
Un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf, dix. Roughly: uhn, duh, trwah, kat-ruh, sank, sees, set, weet, nuhf, dees.
Why is 80 quatre-vingts?+
It literally means four twenties: 4 × 20 = 80. The final s appears in exactly 80, but disappears when another number follows.
How do you say 70 and 90?+
Seventy is soixante-dix, literally sixty-ten. Ninety is quatre-vingt-dix, literally four-twenties-ten.
Does every number ending in one use et?+
No. Use it through soixante et un and in soixante et onze. But 81 and 91 have no et.