Numbers

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Numbers are slightly important in everyday life, so they get their own section.

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THE NUMBERS 0-69
French numbers are pretty simple once you get the hang of them. Numbers zero through 20 are very similar to English numbers. I only have one thing to note for this set of numbers. Lets assume that you’ve looked through the numbers vocabulary... You may have noticed this:

  • trente-quatre = thirty four
  • trente = thirty
  • quatre = four

    Note the hyphen between the two numbers. This connects them.

  • vingt et un = twenty one

    What’s that?

  • vingt et un = twenty one
  • vingt = twenty
  • et = and
  • un = one

    Remember to put in that "et" for those numbers.

    Can we do this?

    Trente un

    Answer: No, the "et" between "trente" and "un" is missing.

    Can we do this?

    Trente et un

    Answer: Yes. For twenty one, thirty one, forty one, fifty one and sixty one, you have to put in that et.

    Can we do this?

    Quarante et cinq

    Answer: No... You only use "et" between a number and "un." Simply put quarante-cinq.

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    Numbers 70-79

    Up to sixty-nine, the French language uses the same system for numbers. However, when you get to seventy, things get tricky...

  • Soixante-dix = Seventy

    What’s happening here? Note the way the word is built.

  • Soixante-dix = Seventy
  • Soixante = Sixty
  • Dix = Ten

    Note that soixante-dix has the words for "sixty" and "ten." Add sixty and ten together and you get seventy. When you get to the number seventy, you have to start doing some math... So how do you say "seventy-one?"

  • soixante-onze = Seventy-one

    Did you recognize the numbers? Add soixante (60) and onze (11) together and you get seventy-one. This pattern continues until seventy-nine. What do you think soixante-douze means? Soixante (60) + douze (12) = soixante-douze (72). Guess what the numbers below mean:

  • soixante-treize
  • soixante-quatorze
  • soixante-quinze
  • soixante-seize
  • soixante-dix-huit
  • soixante-dix-neuf

    There.

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    Numbers 80-99

    The word for eighty is "quatre-vingt."

  • Quatre-vingt = Eighty
  • quatre = four
  • vingt = twenty

    What do four and twenty have to do with eighty? Multiply four times twenty and the product is eighty. You'll find that the numbers past sixty-nine involve math...

  • Quatre-vingt-un = Eighty-one
  • quatre = four
  • vingt = twenty
  • un = one

    Note that you don’t have to put in an "et un" for the eighties. You simply put a hyphen and "un."

    Next we move onto the nineties.

  • Quatre-vingt-onze = Ninety-one
  • quatre = four
  • vingt = twenty
  • onze = eleven

    Four times twenty is eighty. Add eleven to eighty and you get ninety-one. This system is similar to the system for the seventies.

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    The Big Numbers

    This section covers numbers one hundred and up. ^_^ You're almost done, don't give up!

  • cent = one hundred

    Does this word look familiar to you?... Think of the words century (one hundred years...) and centessimal (one hundredth in a series)...

  • cent et un = one hundred and one

  • deux cents = two hundred
  • trois cents = three hundred
  • quatre cents = four hundred
  • cinq cents = five hundred
  • six cents = six hundred
  • sept cents = seven hundred
  • huit cents = eight hundred
  • neuf cents = nine hundred

    Take note of this. Deux means two and cents means hundreds. It merely means two hundred, but I am pointing this out for a reason.

  • deux cent trois = two hundred three

    The "s" in cents has disappeared. For the numbers 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, and 900, (Note that I didn't include one hundred in this list), one puts the number and then cents.

  • cinq cents = five hundred

    Because it is more than one hundred, right? It's five hundreds. ^_^ But look what happens

  • cinq cent quatre = five hundred four

    If you add a number to the hundred... The final "s" disappears. I believe this rule only applies to the hundreds.

    All of the French numbers follow the rules of before and are pretty simple to create... They follow the English rules from this point forward, so here's a list of terms.

  • mille = thousand
  • dix mille = ten thousand
  • cent mille = hundred thousand
  • million= million
  • milliard = billion
  • billion = trillion

    Be careful not to mix up your numbers. This could be considered a very confusing part of the French language.

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