CHAPTER 19 NUMBERS: TIME: DATES D cardinal numbers to 99 * The cardinal numbers from 0 to 20 are as follows: 0 zér0 5 cing 9 neuf 13 treize 17 dix-sept Lunune 6 six 10 dix 14 quatorze 18. dix-huit 2 deux 7 sept 11 onze 15 quinze 19 dix-neuf 3 trois 8 huit 12. douze 16 seize 20 vingt 4 quatre Un and une are the only numbers that agree in gender with a following noun. The forms for one are the same as the indefinite article. ‘+ From 20 to 59 French counts by tens, as does English. Note that un(e) is joined to the multiples of ten by et. The other units (2 through 9) are joined by a hyphen. 21 vingt et un(e) 28 vingt-huit 41 quarante et un(e) 22 vingt-deux 29 vingt-neuf 42. quarante-deux 23. vingt-trois 30 trente 43. quarante-trois, 24 vingt-quatre 31 trente et un(e) 50 cinquante 25. vingt-cing 32. trente-deux 51 cinquante et un(e) 26 vingt-six 33. trente-trois 52. cinquante-deux 27 vingt-sept 40 quarante 53 cinquante-trois Une is used instead of un before a feminine noun: vingt et une pages, cinquante et une femmes. + From 60 to 99 French counts by twenties. The units 1 through 19 are added to the multiple of twenty. Un(e) is joined by a hyphen, not by et, to quatre-vingts. Note also that quatre-vingts loses its final -s before another number, 60 soixante 74 soixante-quatorze 87. quatre-vingt-sept 61 soixante et un(e) 75. soixante-quinze 88 quatre-vingt-huit 62. soixante-deux 76 soixante-seize 89 quatre-vingt-neuf 63 soixante-trois, 77 soixante-dix-sept 90. quatre-vingt-dix 64 soixante-quatre 78. soixante-dix-huit 91 quatre-vingt-onze 65 soixante-cing 79 soixante-dix-neuf 92. quatre-vingt-douze 66. soixante-six 80. quatre-vingts 93. quatre-vingt-treize 67 soixante-sept 81 quatre-vingt-un(e) 94. quatre-vingt-quatorze 68 soixante-huit 82 quatre-vingtdeux 95. quatre-vingt-quinze 69 soixante-neuf 83. quatre-vingt-trois 96 quatre-vingt-seize 70. soixante-dix 84 quatre-vingt-quatre 97. quatre-vingt-dix-sept 71 soixanteet onze ‘85. quatre-vingt-cing 98. quatre-vingt-dix-huit 72 soixante-douze 86. quatre-vingt-six 99 quatre-vingt-dix-neuf 73. soixante-treize 20718 Numbers The words for the first sixteen numbers are un/une one neuf nine deux two dix ten trois three onze eleven quatre four douze twelve cing five treize thirteen six six quatorze fourteen, sept seven quinze fifteen buit eight seize sixteen The next three are compounds: dix-sept seventeen dix-huit cighteen dix-neuf nineteen The words for twenty, thirty, etc, up to sixty are: vinge twenty cinquante fifty trente thirty soixante sixty quarante forty The numbers in between are expressed in the same way as the English ones: vingt-deux twenty-two. trente-six thirty-six quarante-cing forty-five except for twenty-one, thirty-one, forty-one, which are vingt et un, trente et un, etc. After soixante-neuf the numbers are compounds of previous ones: soixante-dix. seventy soixante et onze, soixante-douze, ete quatre-vingts cighty —_quatre-vingt-un, quatre-vingt-deux, etc quatre-vingt-dix ninety _quatre-vingt-onze, quatre-vingt-douze, ete NB In Belgium and Switzerland you may hear septante (seventy), octante (eighty), nonante (ninety). After ninety-nine there are only four extra words: cent 100 deux cents, trois cents, etc mille 1,000 deux mille, trois mille, ete un million 1,000,000 deux millions, ete un milliard — 1,000,000,000 deux milliards, ete In between, the numbers are made up of existing ones in exactly the same way as in English except that there is no ‘and': 245 deux cent quarante-cing 2,450 deux mille quatre cent cinquante Dates can be expressed in two ways: 1984 mille neuf cent quatre-vingt-quatre or 4 ‘vingt-q dix-neuf cent quatre-vingt-quatre19 Notes r Any number ending wn becomes une if the noun is feminine: vingt et une maisons, mille et une nuits tor is an exception — it’s cent-un or cent-une (without the ef). 3 Quatre-vingts, deux cents, cing cents, etc only end -s when they are round numbers. Otherwise it’s: quatre-vingt-dix deux cent cing cing cent quatre-vingt-deux 4 Millions and billions as round figures require de: un million de dollars cing milliards de franes but un million cing cent mille livres sterling Ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc) With one exception, -iéme is added to the above numbers to give the ordinal ones: deuxieme, vingtitme, soixante et onziéme, ete The exception is: un/une — premier/ premiere Where a number ends in ‘e’, this “e’ is omitted: quatre~quatrieme With neuf, ‘f’ becomes ‘v’: newieme, quatre-vingt-newviome Approximate numbers -aine added to certain numbers makes them approximate: une vingtaine de personnes about twenty people des centaines et des centaines hundreds and hundreds Une douzaine is exact when applied to ‘eggs’ and similar items. Une quinzaine is frequently used in the expression une quinzaine de jours and means ‘a fortnight’. 8, 10, 12, 15,20, 30, 40, 50, 60 and 100 are the only numbers that can take -aine. Un millier means ‘about a thousand’. ‘These approximate numbers are all expressions of quantity just like unkilo de ...: une dizaine de péches des milliers de touristes