Reference · module 3
Numbers and age
Everything this module explains, on one page.
One to twenty
Count to twenty and say phone numbers and prices.
- Un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf, dix. In sept the p is silent, and before a consonant six and dix lose their final sound: six livres sounds like si livres.
- Onze, douze, treize, quatorze, quinze, seize — then the pattern changes: dix-sept, dix-huit, dix-neuf, literally ten-seven, ten-eight, ten-nine. Twenty is vingt, with a silent gt.
- To ask a price: C'est combien ? or Ça coûte combien ? The answer is a number plus euros: ça fait douze euros. The x of deux euros links: deu-z-euros.
The mistake you are about to make
dix-six
seize
Seventeen to nineteen are built as ten-seven, so sixteen seems to follow. Up to sixteen each number has its own word: onze to seize.
Avoir and age
Say what you have and how old you are.
- Avoir means to have: j'ai, tu as, il a, elle a, nous avons, vous avez, ils ont. Je shortens to j' before ai, so it is always j'ai, never je ai.
- French has age rather than being it: j'ai vingt ans, literally I have twenty years. The word ans cannot be left out, and être is never used here.
- Il y a means there is or there are: il y a un café ici — there is a café here. It never changes for the plural: il y a deux cafés.
The mistake you are about to make
Je suis vingt ans.
J'ai vingt ans.
English says I am twenty, so être seems natural. French uses avoir for age: j'ai vingt ans, and ans is required.
Please and thank you
Ask for things politely and reply to thanks.
- S'il vous plaît means please when you speak to vous; with a friend it is s'il te plaît. Put it at the end: un café, s'il vous plaît.
- Merci is thank you, merci beaucoup is thank you very much. Careful: beaucoup goes after merci, and merci bien means the same as merci beaucoup.
- To answer thanks, say de rien — you are welcome, literally of nothing. More formally, je vous en prie. Please when handing something over is voilà.
The mistake you are about to make
beaucoup merci
merci beaucoup
English puts very much at the end too, but many learners front beaucoup like very. It always follows: merci beaucoup.