Notes

Point de départ
Numbers in French follow patterns, as they do in English. First, learn the numbers 0–30. The patterns they follow will help you learn the numbers 31–60.

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Numbers 0–30
Vocab wordTranslation
0–10 11–20 21–30
zéro 0
un 1 onze 11 vingt et un 21
deux 2 douze 12 vingt-deux 22
trois 3 treize 13 vingt-trois 23
quatre 4 quatorze 14 vingt-quatre 24
cinq 5 quinze 15 vingt-cinq 25
six 6 seize 16 vingt-six 26
sept 7 dix-sept 17 vingt-sept 27
huit 8 dix-huit 18 vingt-huit 28
neuf 9 dix-neuf 19 vingt-neuf 29
dix 10 vingt 20 trente 30
When counting a series of numbers, use un for one.

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un, deux, trois, quatre...
one, two, three, four...
When one is followed by a noun, use un with a masculine noun and une with a feminine noun.

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un objet
an/one object
une télévision
a/one television
The number 21 (vingt et un) follows a different pattern than the numbers 22–30. When vingt et un precedes a feminine noun, add -e to the end of it: vingt et une.

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vingt et un objets
twenty-one objects
vingt et une choses
twenty-one things
The numbers 31–39, 41–49, and 51–59 follow the same pattern as the numbers 21–29.

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Numbers 31–60
Vocab wordTranslation
31-34 35–38 39, 40, 50, 60
trente et un 31 trente-cinq 35 trente-neuf 39
trente-deux 32 trente-six 36 quarante 40
trente-trois 33 trente-sept 37 cinquante 50
trente-quatre 34 trente-huit 38 soixante 60
As with the number 21, add an -e to trente et un, quarante et un, and cinquante et un when used before a feminine noun.

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trente et un objets
thirty-one objects

cinquante et un objets
fifty-one objects
trente et une choses
thirty-one things

cinquante et une choses
fifty-one things
Il y a and Combien de...?
Use il y a to say there is or there are in French.

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Il y a un ordinateur dans le bureau.
There is a computer in the office.

Il y a une table dans le café.
There is one table in the café.
Il y a des tables dans le café.
There are tables in the café.

Il y a dix-huit objets sur le bureau.
There are eighteen objects on the desk.
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picture of two women smiling
Il y a deux amies.
three men next to a fast food car
Il y a trois étudiants.
In most cases, the indefinite article (un, une, or des) is used with il y a, rather than the definite article (le, la, l’, or les).

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Il y a un professeur de biologie américain.
There’s an American biology professor.
Il y a des étudiants français et anglais.
There are French and English students.
Use the expression il n’y a pas de/d’ followed by a noun to express there isn’t a... or there aren’t any.... Note that no article (definite or indefinite) is used in this case. Use de before a consonant sound and d’ before a vowel sound.

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The bar from a pub
before a consonant

Il n’y a pas de tables dans le café.
There aren’t any tables in the café.
An office without computers.
before a vowel sound

Il n’y a pas d’ordinateur dans le bureau.
There isn’t a computer in the office.
Use combien de/d’ to ask how many of something there are.

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Il y a combien de tables?
How many tables are there?

Il y a combien de librairies?
How many bookstores are there?
Il y a combien d’ordinateurs?
How many computers are there?

Il y a combien d’étudiants?
How many students are there?