I can count to 69 in French, say and write down a phone number in pairs, and tell 13 from 30 by ear.
Counting to 69 and giving a phone number
Counting to 69 and giving a phone number
A phone number, a house number, a room number: the first things you'll have to write down by ear.
The numbers 1 to 20 are learned whole: see the first table.
After that, numbers are built: the tens plus the ones, joined by a hyphen — vingt-deux, trente-cinq, quarante-huit.
With un, et replaces the hyphen: vingt et un, trente et un, quarante et un, cinquante et un, soixante et un. Up to 69, et appears nowhere else.
Both vingt et un and vingt-et-un are correct (the second is a newer spelling); the key shows the first, and hyphens and spaces don't matter when your answer is checked.
English reads a phone number digit by digit; French reads it in pairs: 06 12 34 56 48 — zéro six, douze, trente-quatre, cinquante-six, quarante-huit. The first zero is said, always as zéro, never “oh”: zéro six, not just six.
To give your own number, use the phrase C'est le …
An email address is read aloud like this: @ is l'arobase (English “at”), the dot is le point, and letters are spelled out by their names.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “vingt-un” → vingt et un.
• NOT “cinquante-et-deux” → cinquante-deux.
• NOT “six” for a number that starts with 06 → zéro six.
• NOT “dix-onze” for 21 → vingt et un.
Numbers from 1 to 20
Learn these twenty words whole — after that, numbers are built from parts.
| Number | Word |
|---|---|
| 1 | un |
| 2 | deux |
| 3 | trois |
| 4 | quatre |
| 5 | cinq |
| 6 | six |
| 7 | sept |
| 8 | huit |
| 9 | neuf |
| 10 | dix |
| 11 | onze |
| 12 | douze |
| 13 | treize |
| 14 | quatorze |
| 15 | quinze |
| 16 | seize |
| 17 | dix-sept |
| 18 | dix-huit |
| 19 | dix-neuf |
| 20 | vingt |
How numbers from 21 to 69 are built
The word et appears only where the last digit is 1.
| Number | How it's built | Word |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | 20 + et + 1 | vingt et un |
| 22 | 20 + 2, with a hyphen | vingt-deux |
| 31 | 30 + et + 1 | trente et un |
| 45 | 40 + 5 | quarante-cinq |
| 61 | 60 + et + 1 | soixante et un |
| 69 | 60 + 9 | soixante-neuf |
Lesson notes
Counting to 69 and giving a phone number
A phone number, a house number, a room number: the first things you'll have to write down by ear.
The numbers 1 to 20 are learned whole: see the first table.
After that, numbers are built: the tens plus the ones, joined by a hyphen — vingt-deux, trente-cinq, quarante-huit.
With un, et replaces the hyphen: vingt et un, trente et un, quarante et un, cinquante et un, soixante et un. Up to 69, et appears nowhere else.
Both vingt et un and vingt-et-un are correct (the second is a newer spelling); the key shows the first, and hyphens and spaces don't matter when your answer is checked.
English reads a phone number digit by digit; French reads it in pairs: 06 12 34 56 48 — zéro six, douze, trente-quatre, cinquante-six, quarante-huit. The first zero is said, always as zéro, never “oh”: zéro six, not just six.
To give your own number, use the phrase C'est le …
An email address is read aloud like this: @ is l'arobase (English “at”), the dot is le point, and letters are spelled out by their names.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “vingt-un” → vingt et un.
• NOT “cinquante-et-deux” → cinquante-deux.
• NOT “six” for a number that starts with 06 → zéro six.
• NOT “dix-onze” for 21 → vingt et un.