Numbers 0-20
French numbers are regular up to sixteen, then switch to a compound pattern. Get zéro to vingt solid and the rest of the system falls into place.
Vocabulary
- zéro
- 0
- un
- 1
- deux
- 2
- trois
- 3
- quatre
- 4
- cinq
- 5
- six
- 6
- sept
- 7
- huit
- 8
- neuf
- 9
- dix
- 10
- quinze
- 15
- vingt
- 20
Example Phrases
Quel âge avez-vous ?
How old are you?
J'ai vingt ans.
I am twenty years old.
Combien ça coûte ?
How much does it cost?
Ça fait dix euros.
That comes to ten euros.
Grammar note
Avoir for age, not être
French says you *have* years, not that you *are* a number: j'ai vingt ans, il a trente ans. Saying je suis vingt is a classic English-speaker error.
The word ans is never dropped — j'ai vingt on its own is incomplete.
Cultural note
Seventeen is ten-seven
From seventeen French switches to compounds: dix-sept, dix-huit, dix-neuf. Later it gets more inventive still — soixante-dix (sixty-ten) for seventy, quatre-vingts (four-twenties) for eighty.
Belgian and Swiss French use the simpler septante and nonante, which many learners quietly envy.