French Numbers 100 to 1000 (and Beyond) Without Tears

You’ve survived soixante-dix and quatre-vingt-dix — good news: French numbers above 100 are actually easier. A few crisp rules and you can say any number up to the millions.

The building blocks

Reading real numbers

• 365 — trois cent soixante-cinq
• 1 789 — mille sept cent quatre-vingt-neuf
• 2 026 — deux mille vingt-six (years read as plain numbers)
• 99 € — quatre-vingt-dix-neuf euros (the under-100 madness never fully leaves!)

Decimals and prices: the comma flip

French swaps the roles of comma and period: 3,5 = three and a half (« trois virgule cinq »), while 3.500 or 3 500 is three thousand five hundred. Prices are spoken with the currency in the middle: « 4,50 € » = « quatre euros cinquante ».

Real life: phone numbers and prices

French phone numbers are read in pairs: 06 12 34 56 78 = « zéro six, douze, trente-quatre, cinquante-six, soixante-dix-huit ». That last pair is why the 70/90 system never stops mattering! Prices put the currency inside: 12,50 € = « douze euros cinquante », and years of experience beat any rule — listen for numbers in our video lessons.

Approximates: the -aine family

French has lovely “about” numbers: une dizaine (~10), une vingtaine (~20), une centaine (~100), un millier (~1000) — « une trentaine de personnes » = around thirty people. They take de before a noun, like million.

Ordinals, fractions and percentages: the number add-ons

Ordinals are painless: number + -ième — deuxième, dixième, centième. Only « first » is special: premier / première. (The full list with audio: ordinal numbers.)

• Fractions: la moitié (half), un tiers (a third), un quart (a quarter) — « les trois quarts du temps » (most of the time).
• Percentages: pour cent — « cinquante pour cent » (50 %). Note the space before % in French typography.
• Doubling up: le double, le triple — « c’est le double du prix ! »

With cent, mille, the -aine family and these add-ons, you can now say virtually any quantity French throws at you.

Counting done? Ranking is its own small system — premier, deuxième, troisième: French ordinal numbers.

FAQ

Does cent take an s in French?

Only when multiplied AND final: deux cents, but deux cent un. Mille never takes -s; million and milliard are nouns and always do after 2+: deux millions.

How do the Swiss and Belgians count?

More sensibly! Septante (70), huitante/octante (80, Switzerland), nonante (90). France alone clings to soixante-dix and quatre-vingt-dix.

How do I say years in French?

As plain numbers: 1995 = mille neuf cent quatre-vingt-quinze (or dix-neuf cent…), 2026 = deux mille vingt-six. « En quelle année ? » asks the year.

Drill 0–100 first on the numbers chart, and hear ordinals on the ordinal numbers page.

Quick practice

Keep going: Prices need bigger numbers — spend them in clothes & shopping French.