French numbers 1 to 100

French numbers are mostly straightforward — with one famous twist at the top end, where 70, 80 and 90 are built by doing a little arithmetic. Don't worry: it looks stranger than it is, and once you've seen the pattern it's easy. Learn 1 to 20 and the tens, and you'll have it.

1 to 20

From 17 to 19 the logic is "ten-seven, ten-eight, ten-nine" — dix-sept, dix-huit, dix-neuf.

The tens (and the famous quirk)

How 70, 80 and 90 work

Here's the twist. French stops having a unique word at 60 and starts counting by twenties:

• 70 = soixante-dix (sixty-ten). 71 is soixante et onze (sixty-and-eleven), 72 is soixante-douze (sixty-twelve), up to 79 soixante-dix-neuf.
• 80 = quatre-vingts (four-twenties). 81 is quatre-vingt-un, 85 is quatre-vingt-cinq.
• 90 = quatre-vingt-dix (four-twenties-ten). 91 is quatre-vingt-onze, 99 is quatre-vingt-dix-neuf.

For 21 to 69, just join the ten and unit, using et for the "ones": vingt et un (21), vingt-deux (22), trente et un (31), quarante-cinq (45).

Where beginners slip up

• The 70/80/90 system takes the most practice — say them aloud until the maths disappears.
• Silent and shifting consonants: the final letters of cinq, six, huit, dix change depending on what follows.
• quatre-vingts drops its "s" when another number follows (quatre-vingt-un).

Make them stick by saying them

The 70–99 range only becomes automatic through repetition out loud. Navoq drills numbers inside real sentences — prices, times, dates — with pronunciation feedback, so "quatre-vingt-douze" rolls off without the mental arithmetic. A few rounds and French numbers stop being the scary part.