Let's start with the basics. Counting in French is straightforward once you learn the first twenty numbers. Many of the larger numbers are built from these, so mastering them is key.

Now for the numbers one through ten. Pay close attention to the pronunciation, especially the endings. Many final consonants in French are silent unless they're followed by a vowel.

Notice how the 'p' in sept is silent. This is a common pattern. The numbers 11 through 16 have their own unique names, similar to English 'eleven' and 'twelve'.

From 17 to 19, you just combine 'ten' with the smaller numbers. It's like saying 'ten-seven', 'ten-eight', and 'ten-nine'.

And finally, twenty rounds out our first set.

Once you know the numbers up to 20 and the tens, you can construct almost any number up to 100. Let's look at the tens first.

To make numbers like 22 or 45, you combine the ten with the single digit, just like in English. For example, 22 is vingt-deux and 45 is quarante-cinq.

The only slight exception is for numbers ending in 1. For these, you add et un ('and one').

Things get interesting from 70 onwards. French uses a mix of base-20 and base-10 counting. To say 70, you actually say 'sixty-ten'.

Then you continue counting up from there. For example, 71 is 'sixty-eleven' (soixante et onze), 72 is 'sixty-twelve' (soixante-douze), and so on, up to 79 (soixante-dix-neuf).

The number 80 is 'four-twenties'.

Notice the 's' at the end of vingts. It's there when 80 stands alone, but it disappears when another number follows, like in 81 (quatre-vingt-un) or 85 (quatre-vingt-cinq).

And for 90? You guessed it: 'four-twenty-ten'.

From there, it's just like the seventies. 91 is 'four-twenty-eleven' (quatre-vingt-onze), and 99 is 'four-twenty-nineteen' (quatre-vingt-dix-neuf). Finally, 100 is simple.

Ordinal numbers tell you the order of things. In English, we say first, second, third, and so on. In French, most are formed by adding the suffix -ième to the cardinal number. But there's a special word for 'first'.

Premier is used for 'first'. For 'second', you can use either deuxième or second. Second is often used when there are only two items in a list. For all other numbers, you just add the suffix.

Note that cinq becomes cinquième and neuf becomes neuvième to make pronunciation easier. If the number ends in an 'e', you drop it before adding -ième, like with quatre becoming quatrième.

Ready to test your knowledge?

With these building blocks, you can now count, order things, and understand prices and dates in French. Practice them aloud to get the pronunciation just right.