Numbers (incl. 70/80/90)

Summary

Standard French builds 70-99 by arithmetic — 70 = soixante-dix (60+10), 80 = quatre-vingts (4x20), 90 = quatre-vingt-dix (4x20+10); et appears only in 21/31/41/51/61/71, vingt keeps its -s in quatre-vingts alone, and Belgium/Switzerland use the simpler septante and nonante (plus huitante in parts of Switzerland).

Explanation

French numbers are regular up to 69: vingt, trente, quarante, cinquante, soixante, each combined with the digits 1-9 (trente-quatre, cinquante-sept). The conjunction et appears only when the unit is one, and only in six numbers: vingt et un (21), trente et un (31), quarante et un (41), cinquante et un (51), soixante et un (61) and soixante et onze (71). Everywhere else the parts are joined by a hyphen and no et.

From 70 to 79, standard (France) French has no separate word for "seventy": it counts on from sixty using -dix to -dix-neuf. So 70 is soixante-dix (60+10), 71 is soixante et onze (60+11), 72 is soixante-douze, and so on up to soixante-dix-neuf (79). The number 71 is special because it keeps the et of the "…et un" family, even though the unit word here is onze.

Eighty is quatre-vingts, literally "four twenties" (4x20). When 80 stands completely on its own it carries an -s: quatre-vingts euros. But that -s disappears the moment another number follows it: quatre-vingt-un (81), quatre-vingt-deux (82), quatre-vingt-dix (90). The same vingt is used right through the eighties and nineties, so it is the hinge of the whole 80-99 range.

Ninety continues on top of quatre-vingt, again with no separate word: 90 is quatre-vingt-dix (4x20+10), 91 is quatre-vingt-onze (note: no et here, unlike 71), 92 is quatre-vingt-douze, up to quatre-vingt-dix-neuf (99). The decision rule for 70-99 is simply to read them as sums: 70 = 60+10, 90 = 80+10, and pronounce every part.

Two spelling points worth memorising. Cent takes an -s when it is an exact multiple with nothing after it (trois cents) but loses it before another number (trois cent vingt); mille is invariable and never takes an -s. Hyphenation in the post-1990 reforms links all the parts of a compound number, but the traditional et in 21/31/41/51/61/71 is never replaced by a hyphen.

Regional variation matters for comprehension. In Belgium and most of Switzerland you will hear and read septante for 70 and nonante for 90 — fully standard there — and these are wonderfully regular (septante et un, nonante-deux). Parts of Switzerland also use huitante for 80. France and Québec keep soixante-dix / quatre-vingts / quatre-vingt-dix, so learners should recognise both systems but pick one consistently for output.

Examples

Ma grand-mère a quatre-vingt-quatre ans. — My grandmother is eighty-four years old. (84 = quatre-vingt-quatre: no -s on vingt because another number follows.)

Il y a quatre-vingts personnes dans la salle. — There are eighty people in the room. (80 standing alone keeps the -s: quatre-vingts.)

Le livre coûte soixante et onze euros. — The book costs seventy-one euros. (71 = soixante et onze: this is the only "…dix" number that keeps et.)

Nous attendons quatre-vingt-onze invités. — We are expecting ninety-one guests. (91 = quatre-vingt-onze: no et here, unlike 71.)

En Belgique, on dit septante-cinq et nonante. — In Belgium, people say seventy-five and ninety. (Belgian/Swiss septante (70) and nonante (90) are regular; France uses soixante-quinze and quatre-vingt-dix.)

Common mistakes

Related rules

• Dates and telling time
• an vs année (jour/journée, matin/matinée)