A handful of rules covers every number you will ever write out.
Writing a number out in French, on a cheque, in a dictation or in an exam, raises the same questions every time. Is it vingt-et-un or vingt et un? Quatre-vingt or quatre-vingts? Does mille take an s?
Here is how to write numbers in French, from the building blocks to the hyphens, the agreement rules and the way digits are punctuated.
From zéro to seize, every number is a single word. Dix-sept, dix-huit and dix-neuf combine ten and the units. The tens are vingt, trente, quarante, cinquante and soixante.
After that, French counts in twenties: 70 is soixante-dix (sixty-ten), 80 is quatre-vingts (four twenties), 90 is quatre-vingt-dix. Above 100, you simply stack the parts: cent, deux cents, mille, deux mille.
The traditional rule puts a hyphen between the tens and the units below 100, except where et joins them, and none around cent or mille. The 1990 spelling reform simplified this: a hyphen between every part of the number. Both are accepted.
| Number | Traditional | 1990 spelling |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | vingt et un | vingt-et-un |
| 22 | vingt-deux | vingt-deux |
| 101 | cent un | cent-un |
| 222 | deux cent vingt-deux | deux-cent-vingt-deux |
| 1 300 | mille trois cents | mille-trois-cents |
Pick one system and keep to it within a text.
Et appears in 21, 31, 41, 51, 61 and 71: vingt et un, trente et un, soixante et un, soixante et onze. It disappears in 81 and 91: quatre-vingt-un, quatre-vingt-onze. And it never appears elsewhere: vingt-deux, cent un.
Vingt and cent take an s when they are multiplied and nothing follows them. Mille never does. The same rule is set out on the page about the agreement of numbers.
| Number | Written | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 80 | quatre-vingts | multiplied, nothing after it |
| 82 | quatre-vingt-deux | a number follows |
| 200 | deux cents | multiplied, nothing after it |
| 201 | deux cent un | a number follows |
| 200 000 | deux cent mille | mille follows |
| 2 000 | deux mille | mille never takes an s |
Million and milliard are nouns, not numbers, so they take the plural s like any noun covered in the plural of French nouns, and need de before what they count: deux millions d'habitants, trois milliards d'euros. Since they are nouns, cent keeps its s in front of them: deux cents millions.
Premier agrees like an adjective, as in French adjective agreement: le premier jour, la première fois.
Belgian and Swiss French say septante for 70 and nonante for 90, which removes the counting in twenties. Some Swiss cantons also say huitante for 80, while Belgium keeps quatre-vingts. The same spelling rules apply to all of them.
Write the number, then read it from the end: if vingt or cent closes it and is multiplied, add an s; if mille is there, leave it alone. Apostrophe· dictates sentences with numbers written out, and explains the rule whenever one slips.
Is it quatre-vingts or quatre-vingt?
Quatre-vingts when it ends the number: j'ai quatre-vingts ans. Quatre-vingt when another number follows: quatre-vingt-deux. Used as an ordinal, it drops the s too: page quatre-vingt.
Do you need hyphens in French numbers?
Traditionally only between the tens and the units below 100, except with et. Since the 1990 spelling reform, you may hyphenate every part: deux-cent-vingt-et-un. Both are accepted.
Does mille take an s?
Never: deux mille, dix mille. Million and milliard do, because they are nouns: deux millions.
How do you write 1st and 2nd in French?
1er for premier, 1re for première, then 2e, 3e and so on. Forms like 2ème are common but not the recommended spelling.
Do Belgians say septante and nonante?
Yes. Belgian and Swiss French use septante for 70 and nonante for 90. Some Swiss cantons also say huitante for 80; Belgium keeps quatre-vingts.
Apostrophe· reads you a sentence, corrects it word by word, and explains the exact rule behind each mistake.
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