les nombres cardinaux

French numbers are the bane of my existence. Do you want to know why? Oh, boy...I'll tell you why.

1 : un

2: deux

3: trois

4: quatre

5: cinq

6: six

7: sept

8: huit

9: neuf

10: dix

11: onze

12: douze

13: treize

14: quatorze

15: quinze

16: seize

17: dix-sept

18: dix-huit

19: dix-neuf

20: vingt

Alright, so 1-20 are normal. Not bad at all.

Everything gets little complicated after twenty....

21: vingt et un (one must write out 'et' which means 'and' = twenty and one.)

22...29: vingt-deux...vingt-neuf (one must use a hyphen, not 'et')

30: trente

31: trente et un (one must write out 'et')

32...39: trente-deux...trente-neuf (one must use a hyphen, not 'et')

40: quarante

41: quarante et un (one must write out 'et')

42...49: quarante-deux...quarante-neuf (one must use a hyphen, not 'et')

50: cinquante

51: cinquante et un (one must write out 'et')

52...59: cinquante-deux...cinquante-neuf (one must use a hyphen, not 'et')

60: soixante

61: soixante et un (one must write out 'et')

62...69: soixante-deux...soixante-neuf (one must use a hyphen, not 'et')

Once you hit 70, you must do mental math.

70: soixante-dix (this translates to 60,10. So you must do the math in your head)

71: soixante et onze (oh, great, so 60+11= 71, again use 'et')

72....79: soixante-douze...soixante-dix-neuf (one must use a hyphen, not 'et')

Once you hit 80, you start to think that this is really some cruel joke.

80: quatre-vingts (this translates to 'four-twenties..and don't forget the 's' on the 'vingt')

81: quatre-vingt-un (no 'et', unlike other previous double digits that end in 1)

82...89: quatre-vingt-deux...quatre-vingt-neuf

Once you hit 90, you want to kill yourself:

90: quatre-vingt-dix (okay, so 4x20 + 10 = 90) (kill me)

91...99: quatre-vingt-onze....quatre-vingt-dix-neuf (99 is my personal hell, 4x20 + 19 = 99)

To matters more confusing, in Switerland and Belgium they say:

70 = septante

80 = octante or huitante

90 = nontante

BY WHY NOT FRANCE??!?!?

100: cent

101: cent un (no 'et')

200: deux cents (there is an 's')

201: deux cent un (there is no 's')

250: deux cent cinquante (there is no 'et')

300: trois cents (there is an 's')

320: trois cent vingt (there is no 'et')

etc.

4 digit numbers do not require a comma but instead a space.

1 000: mille

10 000: dix mille

100 000: cent mille

200 000: deux cent mille

1 000 000: un million

10 000 000: dix millions (there is an 's')

1 000 000 000: un milliard

10 000 000 000: dix milliards (there is an 's')

Their prices are written differently as well

$45.75 (our way) would be written one of two ways:

1) 45€75

2) 45,75 €