Day 8: Numbers
French numbers turn into arithmetic at 70. Knowing that in advance is what stops you panicking at the till. Numbers sit inside prices, times, addresses and phone numbers — skip them and the whole of Week 3 stops working.
1. 0–20 — straight memorisation
| # | French | Respelling | # | French | Respelling |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | zéro | zay-ROH | 11 | onze | ohnz |
| 1 | un / une | uhn / ewn | 12 | douze | dooz |
| 2 | deux | duh | 13 | treize | trez |
| 3 | trois | trwa | 14 | quatorze | ka-TORZ |
| 4 | quatre | KA-truh | 15 | quinze | kanz |
| 5 | cinq | sank | 16 | seize | sez |
| 6 | six | seess | 17 | dix-sept | dee-SET |
| 7 | sept | set | 18 | dix-huit | dee-ZWEET |
| 8 | huit | weet | 19 | dix-neuf | deez-NUF |
| 9 | neuf | nuf | 20 | vingt | van |
| 10 | dix | deess |
★ 17, 18 and 19 are built as "10+7, 10+8, 10+9". You only have to memorise up to 16 — exactly like English switching to "seven-teen" at 17.
2. 20–69 — regular
| Tens | French | Respelling |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | vingt | van |
| 30 | trente | trahnt |
| 40 | quarante | ka-RAHNT |
| 50 | cinquante | san-KAHNT |
| 60 | soixante | swa-SAHNT |
Combining: 21 = vingt et un (van tay UHN) · 22 = vingt-deux (van-DUH) · 35 = trente-cinq (trahnt-SANK)
⚠️ Only the ones ending in 1 take "et": 21 vingt et un, 31 trente et un, 41 quarante et un. Everything else is joined with a hyphen. English has no equivalent of this "and" — it is pure memorisation.
3. ★ 70–100 — the notorious part
| # | French | The maths | Respelling |
|---|---|---|---|
| 70 | soixante-dix | 60+10 | swa-sahnt-DEESS |
| 71 | soixante et onze | 60+11 | swa-sahnt ay OHNZ |
| 75 | soixante-quinze | 60+15 | swa-sahnt-KANZ |
| 79 | soixante-dix-neuf | 60+19 | swa-sahnt-deez-NUF |
| 80 | quatre-vingts | 4×20 | ka-truh-VAN |
| 81 | quatre-vingt-un | 4×20+1 | ka-truh-van-UHN |
| 90 | quatre-vingt-dix | 4×20+10 | ka-truh-van-DEESS |
| 95 | quatre-vingt-quinze | 4×20+15 | ka-truh-van-KANZ |
| 99 | quatre-vingt-dix-neuf | 4×20+19 | ka-truh-van-deez-NUF |
| 100 | cent | — | sahn |
Why: a leftover Celtic base-20 system. English used to do this too — "fourscore and seven years ago" is quatre-vingt-sept, exactly. French simply never dropped it.Switzerland and Belgium did, and use septante (70) and nonante (90).The trick: for the 70s read "60 + a teen", for the 90s read "80 + a teen".Only 80 takes an -s (quatre-vingts), and it loses it again when a number follows (quatre-vingt-un).
4. Pronunciation trap — numbers change with what follows
| Number | Alone | + consonant | + vowel (liaison) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 cinq | sank | san (cinq personnes) | sank (cinq ans san-KAHN) |
| 6 six | seess | see (six jours) | seez (six ans see-ZAHN) |
| 8 huit | weet | wee (huit jours) | weet (huit ans wee-TAHN) |
| 10 dix | deess | dee (dix jours) | deez (dix ans dee-ZAHN) |
| 20 vingt | van | van | vant (vingt ans van-TAHN) |
Don't memorise the table. One rule: the final sound wakes up in front of a vowel.
⚠️ Two written conventions that will catch you out:
- The decimal point is a comma. 3,5 = three point five. And the thousands separator is a space: 1 000 €.
- The euro sign goes after: 10 € (dix euros), never €10.
5. Age (Day 6 review, extended)
| French | Respelling | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Tu as quel âge ? / Quel âge avez-vous ? | tew a kell AHZH / kell ahzh a-vay VOO | How old are you? |
| J'ai vingt-cinq ans. | zhay van-sank AHN | I'm 25 |
| J'ai trente-cinq ans. | zhay trahnt-sank AHN | I'm 35 |
| Il a quarante-deux ans. | eel a ka-rahnt-duh ZAHN | He's 42 |
⚠️ ans is never optional. English drops it ("I'm 35"); French cannot — J'ai 35 is incomplete. Say the ans every time.
6. Phone numbers — read in pairs
A French number has 10 digits and is read as five two-digit chunks.
06 12 34 56 78 → zéro six / douze / trente-quatre / cinquante-six / soixante-dix-huit → zay-roh-SEESS / DOOZ / trahnt-KA-truh / san-kahnt-SEESS / swa-sahnt-deez-WEET
⚠️ This is the opposite of the English habit. English reads a number digit by digit ("oh-six-one-two-three-four"). French bundles them into pairs, which is why a French phone number sounds like a maths problem the first time you hear one.
| French | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Quel est votre numéro de téléphone ? | What's your phone number? |
| Mon numéro, c'est le 06 12 34 56 78. | My number is… |
| Vous pouvez répéter plus lentement ? | Could you say that again more slowly? |
★ Reading a non-French number digit by digit is fine — say it's a foreign number and people will follow.
7. Dialogue
A: Quel âge as-tu ? tew a kell AHZH?B: J'ai trente-cinq ans. Et toi ? zhay trahnt-sank AHN. ay TWA?A: Moi, j'ai vingt-huit ans. mwa, zhay van-twee TAHN.B: Quel est ton numéro ? kell ay tohn new-may-ROH?A: C'est le 06 78 90 12 34. zay-roh-seess, swa-sahnt-deez-weet, ka-truh-van-deess, dooz, trahnt-KA-truh.B: Plus lentement, s'il te plaît ! plew lahnt-MAHN, seel tuh PLEH!
★ s'il vous plaît → s'il te plaît: with a friend (tu) it becomes te.
8. Exercises
A. Write in French. 1. 7 2. 15 3. 21 4. 42 5. 70 6. 80 7. 95 8. 100
B. Read and write as digits.
- soixante-quinze 2. quatre-vingt-treize 3. trente et un 4. dix-huit 5. soixante et onze
C. Say it in French. 1. I'm 35. 2. How old are you? 3. What's your phone number?
D. ⚠️ What's wrong?
- J'ai trente-cinq. 2. Le prix est €20. 3. 3.5 euros
Answers
A. 1. sept 2. quinze 3. vingt et un 4. quarante-deux 5. soixante-dix 6. quatre-vingts 7. quatre-vingt-quinze 8. cent B. 1. 75 2. 93 3. 31 4. 18 5. 71 C. 1. J'ai trente-cinq ans. 2. Quel âge avez-vous ? 3. Quel est votre numéro de téléphone ? D. 1. missing ans 2. the sign goes after → 20 € 3. the decimal is a comma → 3,5 euros
9. Today's 10 sentences
- Quel âge avez-vous ? — How old are you? (kell ahzh a-vay VOO)
- J'ai trente-cinq ans. — I'm 35 (zhay trahnt-sank AHN)
- C'est combien ? — How much is it? (seh kohn-BYAN)
- Ça fait dix euros. — That's 10 euros (sa feh dee ZUH-roh)
- Quel est votre numéro ? — What's your number? (kell ay vo-truh new-may-ROH)
- Deux, s'il vous plaît. — Two, please (duh, seel voo PLEH)
- J'ai deux enfants. — I have two children (zhay duh zahn-FAHN)
- Il est huit heures. — It's 8 o'clock (eel eh wee TUR)
- Cent euros. — 100 euros (sahn TUH-roh)
- Plus lentement, s'il vous plaît. — More slowly, please (plew lahnt-MAHN seel voo PLEH)
10. 📲 Upload to LangNote
Upload the number tables from sections 1–3. Numbers are the one topic where dictation is the only method that works — you recognise them all on the page and none of them by ear.
| Mission | What to do with it today |
|---|---|
| ✍️ Dictation | Today's main mission — hear a number, write it down |
| 🎧 Podcast | Numbers on repeat while you're moving |
| ❓ Quiz | The 70–99 arithmetic |
| 🎭 Role-play | "Swapping phone numbers" |
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