Numerals (Numbers)
Numbers come in two main flavours: Cardinal Numbers (one, two, three..),
which are Determiners, and Ordinal Numbers (first, second, third...),
which are Adjectives. We will also look at some other number-related
words here.
Cardinal Numbers
Here are the most common:
un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf, dix (1-10)
onze, douze, treize, quatorze, quinze, seize, dix-sept, dix-huit,
dix-neuf, vingt (11-20)
vingt et un, vingt-deux, vingt-trois... (21,22, 23...)
trente 30
quarante 40
cinquante 50
soixante 60
soixante-dix 70
quatre-vingts 80
quatre-vingt-dix 90
cent 100
mille dix mille cent mille un
million un milliard
1,000, 10,000, 100,000,
1,000,000, 1,000,000,000
(un billion usually means a million million, as a
billion (usually) does in the UK)
soixante seize trombones
seventy six trombones
un vieillard de quatre-vingt-dix-neuf
ans
a 99 year old man
une manifestation de cinq cent mille
personnes
a demonstration with five hundred thousand people
Note that French figures have a comma (une virgule) to
indicate decimals (though Quebec usage is usually the same as
in English):
France: 5,855 = cinq virgule huit cinq cinq
Quebec: 5.855 = cinq point huit cinq cinq
English: 5.855 = five point eight five five
For thousands, it is common either to leave a space or to use a period.
French: 5 000 000 or 5.000.000 = cinq millions
English: 5,000,000 = five million
Ordinal Numbers
premier (masculine), première (feminine), 1er
first, 1st
deuxième/second 2e
troisième 3e
quatrième 4e
cinquième, 5e etc.
vingt et unième twenty-first
vingt-deuxième, etc. twenty-second
centième, millième hundredth,
thousandth
millionième millionth
C'etait la première fois.
It was the first time.
Pour son vingt et unième anniversaire
elle voulait une Porsche.
For her twenty first birthday she wanted a Porsche.
Fractions:
un demi a half (also la
moitié)
un quart a quarter
un tiers a third
deux-tiers two-thirds
trois-huitièmes three-eighths etc.
Un tiers des usagers
One third of the users
Il l'avait coupé deux-seizièmes
de pouce trop court.
He'd cut it two sixteenths of an inch short.
Note also the following relational adjectives which come after the
noun:
dernier last
suivant next, following
prochain next
précédent previous
antérieur previous
La semaine dernière
Last week
La semaine précédente
The previous week, the week before
And the following very common terms for approximate numbers:
une dizaine about ten
une douzaine a dozen
une quinzaine about 15
une vingtaine a score (about 20)
une centaine about a hundred
un millier about a thousand
Il y avait la une centaine d'oies.
There were about a hundred geese there.
Une foule d'une dizaine de milliers
de personnes.
A crowd of around ten thousand people.
Finally on the subject of numbers:
les années 70
the seventies
le vingtième siècle
the twentieth century
Exercises
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