A1
Vocabulary
5 minutes
Écrit par / Written by: Anthony Lucas
Dernière révision / Last update: 10 April 2024
You will learn in this lesson the numbers in French from 0 to 20. Get the right pronunciation and the correct spelling! You will learn as well how to pronounce these numbers when followed but a noun (yes, the pronunciation can be different…).
Lessons about numbers in French are divided into various steps. If you feel like you know enough about the first 20 numbers, have a look at the next lessons about numbers:
Numbers in French from 20 to 69: Les nombres de 20 à 69
Numbers in French from 60 to 100: Les nombres de 60 à 100
Ecoutons la prononciation des dix chiffres. Let’s listen to the pronunciation of the ten numerical digits.
🎧 | Chiffre | 🇫🇷 French |
---|---|---|
Requested file could not be found (error code 404). Verify the file URL specified in the shortcode. | un chiffre = a numerical digit | |
0 | zéro | |
1 | un | |
2 | deux | |
3 | trois | |
4 | quatre | |
5 | cinq | |
6 | six | |
7 | sept | |
8 | huit | |
9 | neuf |
The book Les 3 mousquetaires
🇫🇷 Les 3 mousquetaires est le plus célèbre des romans d’Alexandre Dumas, écrit au 19è siècle. Il a inspiré de nombreuses adaptations au cinéma, à la télévision et aussi en bande-dessinée.
🇬🇧 The 3 Musketeers is the most famous of Alexandre Dumas’ novels, written in the 19th century. It has inspired numerous adaptations for film, television and also comic strips.
Continuons avec la prononciation des nombres de dix à vingt. Let’s continue with the pronunciation of the numbers from ten to twenty.
🎧 | Nombre | 🇫🇷 French |
---|---|---|
un nombre = a number | ||
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 |
In some cases, “liaisons” (links between two words) have to be pronounced when the word following the number starts with a vowel. These “liaisons” are not specific to numbers. These links between words happen between many words.
So here, as an example, we will compare the pronunciation of French numbers followed by the word “professeur“ (starting with the consonant “p“) and numbers followed by the word “étudiant“ (starting with the vowel “é“). Professeur means teacher and étudiant means student.
nombre | 🎧 | followed by the word “professeur” | 🎧 | followed by the word “étudiant” |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | un professeur | un‿étudiant ➜ [n] sound | ||
2 | deux professeurs | deux‿étudiants ➜ [z] sound | ||
3 | trois professeurs | trois‿étudiants ➜ [z] sound | ||
4 | quatre professeurs | quatre étudiants | ||
5 | cinq professeurs | cinq étudiants | ||
6 | six [si] professeurs | six‿étudiants ➜ [z] sound | ||
7 | sept professeurs | sept étudiants | ||
8 | huit [wi] professeurs | huit étudiants | ||
9 | neuf professeurs | neuf étudiants | ||
10 | dix [di] professeurs | dix‿étudiants ➜ [z] sound | ||
11 | onze professeurs | onze étudiants | ||
12 | douze professeurs | douze étudiants | ||
13 | treize professeurs | treize étudiants | ||
14 | quatorze professeurs | quatorze étudiants | ||
15 | quinze professeurs | quinze étudiants | ||
16 | seize professeurs | seize étudiants | ||
17 | dix-sept professeurs | dix-sept étudiants | ||
18 | dix-huit [wi] professeurs | dix-huit étudiants | ||
19 | dix-neuf professeurs | dix-neuf étudiants | ||
20 | vingt professeurs | vingt‿étudiants ➜ [t] sound |
You will have more explanations about the liaisons in the lesson Les liaisons obligatoires.
You will hear that when the French numbers six (6), huit (8), dix (10) and dix-huit (18) are followed by a word starting with a consonant (the word professeur in this previous example):
➡️ six won’t be pronounced [sis] but [si]
➡️ huit won’t be pronounced [wit] but [wi]
➡️ dix won’t be pronounced [dis] but [di]
Poster of the film 8 Femmes
🇫🇷 Huit Femmes est une pièce de théâtre policière de Robert Thomas créée en 1958. Elle est adaptée au cinéma plusieurs fois dont la version de François Ozon en 2002 (affiche du film ci-contre), rassemblant de très célèbres actrices françaises : Catherine Deneuve; Isabelle Huppert, Emmanuelle Béart, Fanny Ardant, Virginie Ledoyen et Ludivine Sagnier.
➜ Bande-annonce avec sous-titres en anglais
🇬🇧 Huit Femmes is a detective play by Robert Thomas created in 1958. It has been adapted for the cinema several times, including François Ozon’s version in 2002 (film poster opposite), featuring some very famous French actresses: Catherine Deneuve; Isabelle Huppert, Emmanuelle Béart, Fanny Ardant, Virginie Ledoyen and Ludivine Sagnier.
➜ Trailer with English subtitles
As a start, don’t worry too much about the liaison between the number and the following word.
Just memorise these numbers until 20 in your everyday life, wherever you live. Every time you see a number, try to remember how to say it in French ✌🏼
Scroll down and…
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