Chapter 1
Getting Down to Basics
In This Chapter
Being able to use cardinal and ordinal numbers and recognizing parts of speech are essential French skills. Knowing these basics will help you perfect your oral and written French.
Using Numbers
Numbers are one of the most basic and useful parts of language. In addition to simple counting, you need cardinal numbers for communicating dates, time, prices, phone numbers, addresses, and so much more. You use ordinal numbers to express the number of a floor or the order of a person in a race or competition.
Counting with cardinal numbers
Cardinal numbers are for counting, and the low numbers are easy. You may already know them backwards and forwards, but if not, all you need to do is memorize them. The higher numbers get a bit more complicated. Check out the following list of French numbers from 0 to 1 billion.
0 zéro 71 soixante et onze
1 un(e) 72 soixante-douze
2 deux 73 soixante-treize
3 trois 74 soixante-quatorze
4 quatre 75 soixante-quinze
5 cinq 76 soixante-seize
6 six 77 soixante-dix-sept
7 sept 78 soixante-dix-huit
8 huit 79 soixante-dix-neuf
9 neuf 80 quatre-vingts
10 dix 81 quatre-vingt-un
11 onze 89 quatre-vingt-neuf
12 douze 90 quatre-vingt-dix
13 treize 91 ...