SUMMARY

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The French alphabet

Here is the pronunciation of the French letters. One in song and one pronounced by yours truly.

0 to 10 and 0-20

Here is re two videos. Hopefully, you already know them by heart, but I know you all hate the weird 10 ones with a passion!

The tens and up to 100

Once you know up to 20, all you have to do is learn the tens, and it all works the same: first the ten number, and then the single number.

Remember:

• for the _1, you have to say "X et un" except for 81 and 91 (which are 80-1 and 80-11)

• with 70 and 90, you don't add the unit (1,2,3...) but the ten number (11, 12, 13...)

Spelling oddity:

"quatre-vingt" takes a final S when there is nothing after it, but loses it when there is another number following: 

• 80 (quatre-vingts) vs. 90 (quatre-vingt-dix)

• 80 (quatre-vingts) vs. 86 (quatre-vingt-six)

100 - 1 000

You may not have learned higher numbers - and that's fine! They work the exact same way. Observe the numbers below!

Spelling oddity:

Much like "quatre-vingt", "cent" takes a final S when it's plural (so starting 200) and there is nothing after it, but loses it when there is another number following: 

• 200 (deux cents) vs. 206 (deux cent six)

• 400 (quatre cents) vs. 480 (quatre cent quatre-vingts) vs. 486 (quatre cent quatre-vingt-six)

A reform of spelling says that you can now put dashes (-) between evey single word, whereas the old rule says you put dashes only between the numbers under 100. Pick the rule you like best!

• 598 : cinq cent quatre-vingt-dix-huit vs. cinq-cent-quatre-vingt-dix-huit

What about the really BIG numbers?

If you are curious, here they are! The system is still the same, so you technically "only" have to learn the big levels (1000, 1 000 000, etc.)

To hear the words being pronounced, look at the quizlet flashcards below and click on the sound icon in the upper right corner.

NOTE: neither days nor months take a capital letter in French!

• aujourd'hui = today

• un jour = a day

• une journée = a day (length)

• lundi = Monday

• mardi = Tuesday

• mercredi = Wednesday

• jeudi = Thursday

• vendredi = Friday

• samedi = Saturday

• dimanche = Sunday

• un mois = a month

• janvier = January

• février = February

• mars = March

• avril = April

• mai = May

• juin = June

• juillet = July

• août = August

• septembre = Septembre

• octobre = October

• novembe = November

• décembre = December

• une année = a year (length)

• un an = a year

• un anniversaire = a birthday / an anniversary 

AVOIR and ÊTRE are used a bit differently than HAVE and BE in English. Often, expressions in French use AVOIR when the English expressions use BE.

• J’ai 18 ans.                                
  I am 18 years old.

• J’ai beaucoup de chance.
  I am very lucky (lit: I have a lot of luck)

Classic expressions using “avoir” instead of "être"

• Avoir X ans (to be X years old)

• Avoir l’air (to look like)

• Avoir besoin DE … (to need …)

• Avoir envie DE… (to want…)

• Avoir l’intention DE… (to intend to…)

• Avoir peur DE .. (to be afraid of…)

• Avoir faim (to be hungry)

• Avoir soif (to be thirsty)

• Avoir de la chance (to be lucky)

• Avoir chaud (to be hot)

• Avoir froid (to be cold)

• Avoir raison (to be right)

• Avoir tort (to be wrong)