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Cardinal Numbers 0–69

Author: Sophia

what's covered

In this lesson, you will learn about some of the cardinal numbers under 100 and how to state these numbers in French. Specifically, this lesson will cover:

1. Cardinal Numbers 0–20
- 1a. The Invariability of Numbers, with the Exception of un
- 1b. Pronunciation Changes
2. Cardinal Numbers 21–69
- 2a. Numbers Using un
3. Cardinal Numbers for Specific Uses
- 3a. Expressing Basic Mathematical Operations
- 3b. Stating Phone Numbers

1. Cardinal Numbers 0–20

Cardinal numbers are those that denote quantity (one, two, three, etc.), as opposed to ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc.). The first set of cardinal numbers that we will cover in this lesson ranges from 0 to 20. Take a look at the table below to see how the numbers are spelled out and listen to how each of them is pronounced. Repeat the numbers out loud as you follow along.

Numeral	French Number	French Pronunciation	English Number

0	zéro	“zay-ro”	zero
1	un	“uhn” (with the same “un” nasal sound you learned in French Pronunciation: Nasal Vowels)	one
2	deux	“deuh”	two
3	trois	“trwah”	three
4	quatre	“katr” (gentle “r” sound at the end)	four
5	cinq	“suhnk” (with the same “in” nasal sound you learned in French Pronunciation: Nasal Vowels)	five
6	six	“seece”	six
7	sept	“set”	seven
8	huit	“wheet”	eight
9	neuf	“neuhff”	nine
10	dix	“deece”	ten
11	onze	“onz” (with the same “on” nasal sound you learned in French Pronunciation: Nasal Vowels)	eleven
12	douze	“dooz”	twelve
13	treize	“trehz”	thirteen
14	quatorze	“ka-torz”	fourteen
15	quinze	“kuhnz” (with the same “in” nasal sound you learned in French Pronunciation: Nasal Vowels)	fifteen
16	seize	“sehz”	sixteen
17	dix-sept	“dee-set”	seventeen
18	dix-huit	“deez-wheet”	eighteen
19	dix-neuf	“deez-neuhff”	nineteen
20	vingt	“vuhn”(with the same “in” nasal sound you learned in French Pronunciation: Nasal Vowels)	twenty

hint

Did you notice the hyphens used in the numbers dix-sept (17), dix-huit (18), and dix-neuf (19)? These hyphens are mandatory and are used to show that the two digits go together to form a new compound number.

term to know

Cardinal Number

A number denoting quantity (one, two, three, etc.), as opposed to an ordinal number (first, second, third, etc.).

1a. The Invariability of Numbers, with the Exception of un

Similarly to English, almost all cardinal numbers in French are invariable, i.e., they are spelled out the same whether the noun that follows is a masculine or a feminine noun in the singular or the plural form.

However, the cardinal number un (one) does vary depending on whether the noun that follows it is in the masculine or in the feminine form. As mentioned in a previous lesson, this is because the French word un can mean one of two different words in English: either the indefinite article “a/an,” or the number “one.”

Here are a few examples of the number un used in the masculine form (un) and the feminine form (une), based on the gender of the noun that follows it:

Audio	French	English
	un biscuit (masculin)	one cookie
	un stylo (masculin)	one pen
	une tomate (féminin)	one tomato
	une voiture (féminin)	one car

term to know

Invariable

A description of a word that does not undergo changes in gender, number, person, etc.

1b. Pronunciation Changes

When you listened to the list of cardinal numbers from 0 to 20, you may have noticed that the number dix (10) is pronounced differently depending on the digit that follows it, if any.

On its own, dix is pronounced “deece” because the final x is pronounced as s.
When dix is followed by the number sept (7) to form dix-sept (17), the final x of dix is silent, and 17 is pronounced as “dee-set.”
When dix is followed by the h muet of huit (8), there is a mandatory liaison between the two numbers, and dix is now pronounced as “deez.”
When dix is followed by neuf (9), it is also pronounced as “deez,” even though neuf starts with a consonant. Note that in some regions of France, the number 19 is sometimes pronounced “deece-neuhff,” with an s sound.

You will learn more about these pronunciation changes in upcoming pronunciation lessons.

Listen again to these different numbers and how the pronunciation of dix changes, depending on the situation. We have indicated any mandatory liaison with this mark ‿ but remember that it is only used to show you where to make the liaison when speaking, and you should not write down this mark when spelling out words.

Numeral	French	Pronunciation	English
10	dix	“deece”	ten
17	dix-sept	“dee-set”	seventeen
18	dix-huit (dix‿huit)	“Deez-wheet”	eighteen
19	dix-neuf	“Deez-neuhff”	nineteen

2. Cardinal Numbers 21–69

The next set of numbers we will cover in this lesson ranges from 21 to 69. Take a look at the table below to see how the numbers are written, notice the repeated structures, and listen to how they are pronounced. Repeat the numbers out loud as you follow along.

Numeral	French Number	French Pronunciation	English Number

21	vingt-et-un	“vant‿eh uhn” For the word “vingt” say the “in” nasal sound you learned in French Pronunciation: Nasal Vowels). Then add a slight “t” sound for the liaison between “vingt” and “et.”	twenty-one
22	vingt-deux	“vant deuh” Add a slight “t” sound at the end of vingt.	twenty-two
23	vingt-trois	“vant trwah”	twenty-three
24	vingt-quatre	“vant katr” (gentle “r” sound at the end)	twenty-four
25	vingt-cinq	“vant sank”	twenty-five
26	vingt-six	“vant seece”	twenty-six
27	vingt-sept	“vant set”	twenty-seven
28	vingt-huit	“vant wheet”	twenty-eight
29	vingt-neuf	“vant neuhf”	twenty-nine
30	trente	“trawnt” Note the silent “e” at the end of the word.	thirty
31	trente-et-un	“trawnt‿eh uhn” Be sure to add a slight “t” sound for the liaison between “trente” and “et.”	thirty-one
32	trente-deux	“trawnt deuh”	thirty-two
33	trente-trois	“trawnt trwah”	thirty-three
34	trente-quatre	“trawnt katr”	thirty-four
35	trente-cinq	“trawnt sank”	thirty-five
36	trente-six	“trawnt seece”	thirty-six
37	trente-sept	“trawnt set”	thirty-seven
38	trente-huit	“trawnt wheet”	thirty-eight
39	trente-neuf	“trawnt neuhff”	thirty-nine
40	quarante	“kah-rawnt”	forty
41	quarante-et-un	“kah-rawnt‿eh uhn”	forty-one
42	quarante-deux	“kah-rawnt deuh”	forty-two
49	quarante-neuf	“kah-rawnt neuhff”	forty-nine
50	cinquante	“sank-awnt”	fifty
51	cinquante-et-un	“sank-awnt‿eh uhn”	fifty-one
52	cinquante-deux	“sank-awnt deuh”	fifty-two
59	cinquante-neuf	“sank-awnt neuhff”	fifty-nine
60	soixante	“swah-sawnt”	sixty
61	soixante-et-un	“swah-sawnt‿eh uhn”	sixty-one
62	soixante-deux	“swah-sawnt deuh”	sixty-two
69	soixante-neuf	“swah-sawnt neuhff”	sixty-nine

Recall that the hyphens used in the compound numbers to link the digits are mandatory and used to show that the two digits go together to form a new number.

did you know

The numbers vingt-et-un, trente-et-un, quarante-et-un, etc., used to be spelled without hyphens. Compound numbers above 100 also used to be spelled without hyphens. The Spelling Reform of 1990 made number spelling more uniform by mandating the use of hyphens between all digits used to create compound numbers. For more information about this reform, refer to the lesson La culture: The Evolution of the French Language.

2a. Numbers Using un

You may have noticed that every number that ends in un, such as 21, 31, 41, etc., is formed using this structure: “ten number”-et-un. The use of et (and) for these numbers is mandatory.

In addition, as you first learned earlier in this lesson, the cardinal number un (one) does vary depending on whether the noun that follows it is in the masculine or in the feminine form, and this rule applies to these numbers too. However, the word un, when used as part of a number, is always used in the singular form (un or une), and never ends with an s.

Here are a few examples of the number un used in the masculine form (un) and the feminine form (une), based on the gender of the noun that follows it.

Audio	French	English
	vingt-et-un documents (masculin)	twenty-one documents
	trente-et-un téléphones (masculin)	thirty-one telephones
	quarante-et-une filles (féminin)	forty-one girls
	cinquante-et-une fourchettes (féminin)	fifty-one forks

3. Cardinal Numbers for Specific Uses

Cardinal numbers are used in a wide variety of situations. Some other uses will be introduced later in the unit, but for now, let’s take a look at how to use cardinal numbers to express basic mathematical operations and to say French phone numbers out loud.

3a. Expressing Basic Mathematical Operations

Cardinal numbers can be used to perform basic math operations, such as l’addition (addition), la soustraction (subtraction), la multiplication (multiplication), and la division (division). Here is some common vocabulary you will need to learn to perform these operations.

Operation Sign	French	English
+	plus	plus
-	moins	minus
x	fois	times
x	multiplié par	multiplied by
÷	divisé par	divided by
=	égale	equals
=	est égal à	is equal to
=	font	make

Now here are some examples of these terms being used to say mathematical operations out loud.

Operation	French	English
2 + 4 = 6	deux plus quatre égale six	two plus four equals six
17 - 9 = 8	dix-sept moins neuf est égal à huit	seventeen minus nine is equal to eight
6 x 8 = 48	six fois huit font quarante-huit	six times eight makes forty-eight
7 x 9 = 63	sept multiplié par neuf égale soixante-trois	seven multiplied by nine equals sixty-three
64 ÷ 4 = 16	soixante-quatre divisé par quatre est égal à seize	sixty-four divided by four is equal to sixteen

3b. Stating Phone Numbers

In France, phone numbers have 10 digits written as five pairs, with a space separating each pair. To say a phone number out loud, you say each pair separately, as shown in the table below.

Audio	Phone Number	French	English
	06 59 11 23 45	zéro six, cinquante-neuf, onze, vingt-trois, quarante-cinq	zero six, fifty-nine, eleven, twenty-three, forty-five
	01 23 45 67 15	zéro un, vingt-trois, quarante-cinq, soixante-sept, quinze	zero one, twenty-three, forty-five, sixty-seven, fifteen

did you know

The first two digits of a French phone number represent l’indicatif téléphonique (area code), from 01 to 05, depending on the region the landline is located in, as shown in the map on the right. 06 and 07 are dedicated area codes for cell phone numbers, no matter which region they are issued in.

To make a phone call within France, you dial the 10-digit phone number in full. However, to make an international call to a French number, you first dial France’s country code (33) and then the phone number, first removing the “0” at the beginning of the number.

EXAMPLE

To call a fixed phone in Northeast France whose number is 03 45 67 34 10, you would dial 33 3 45 67 34 10.

Practice numbers 0-69 all together in French:

watch

summary

In this lesson, you were introduced to cardinal numbers from 0 to 69 in French. First, you learned how to recognize, write, and pronounce cardinal numbers from 0 to 20. It’s important to pay special attention to the invariability of numbers, with the exception of un, as well as the pronunciation changes that occur in certain contexts. Next, you learned how to recognize, write, and pronounce cardinal numbers from 21 to 69. All of these cardinal numbers have specific uses, such as expressing basic mathematical operations and stating a French phone number out loud.

Bon courage !

Source: THIS TUTORIAL HAS BEEN ADAPTED FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN’S LAITS’ "les nombres cardinaux 1-69” TUTORIAL. ACCESS FOR FREE AT www.laits.utexas.edu/fi/. LICENSE: CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION 3.0 UNPORTED.

Terms to Know

Cardinal Number: A number denoting quantity (one, two, three, etc.), as opposed to an ordinal number (first, second, third, etc.).
Invariable: A description of a word that does not undergo changes in gender, number, person, etc.