Leçon français : les chiffres

A short (ha!) French lesson – les chiffres [numbers].

This morning I went to the boulangerie and it was the second time I’d seen that they’ve added a new cute little cookie – bite size. I decided I’d try them; there were 9 in the basket and not wanting to only buy one or take them all, I asked for five (cinq = pronounced ‘sank’ as in ‘the boat sank’) and got 15. I guess my pronunciation wasn’t spot on! Tell me, how could I screw up ‘sank’???????

Donc, let’s talk les chiffres, d’accord [okay]? Since French is a Latin based language often words are familiar to things I already know, whether from Spanish or English.

One through fifteen, sort of, is quite like Spanish (English sure looks like the odd man out here):

French	Spanish	English	French	Spanish	English
Un	Uno	One	Onze	Once	Eleven
Deux	Dos	Two	Douze	Doce	Twelve
Trois	Tres	Three	Treize	Trece	Thirteen
Quatre	Quarto	Four	Quatorze	Catorce	Fourteen
Cinq	Cinco	Five	Quinze	Quince	Fifteen
Six	Seis	Six	Seize		Sixteen
Sept	Siete	Seven
Huit	Ocho	Eight
Neuf	Nueve	Nine
Dix	Diez	Ten

The above gives the false sense of security that les chiffres will be a breeze … well, let me tell you NOTHING in the French language is easy.

When we get to 17, 18 and 19 we begin having to apply math to create les chiffres as you use the two numbers from 1 – 10 to create them (the addition of the two numbers is implied): dix-six (16), dix-sept (17), dix-huit (18), dix-neuf (19). Spanish too follows this same format, but they don’t have the [-] between the two numbers and instead just write it as one word with the “10” part spelled differently, ie: dieciseis (16), diecisiete (17), etc.

Donc, the numbers in the ranges of vingt (20), trente (30), quarante (40), cinquante (50) and soixante (60) all follow the normal format, such as ‘vingt-cinq’ (25) with the exception of the numbers 21, 31, 41, 51, and 61 (yes I skipped 71, 81 and 91 – you’ll see why later) are written with the word ‘and’ in them … such as vingt-et-un (21), trente-et-un (31), quarante-et-un (41), cinquante-et-un (51), soixante-et-un (61) ….

So far, so good? It kind of makes sense (other than the “et-un” part) the more you work with it ….. now comes the absolute bizarre – even the French think the numbering format for the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s are “très bizarre”.

The rest of les chiffres up to 100 include addition or multiplication of various numbers within the number – it’s really weird!

There is no “70” … instead it is “soxiante-dix” [60+10] … then to continue through the 70’s, instead of using the prior format, you instead use the numbers 11 – 19. Donc, 71 = soxiante-onze [60+11], 72 = soxiante-douze [60+12], 73 = soxiante-treize [60+13] …. 77 = soxiante-dix-sept [60+10+7], 78 = soxiante-dix-huit [60+10+8]

In the 80’s range is when you get to multiply ... and add …. Woohoo! Donc, 80 = quatre-vingts [literally four twenties .. 4x20], 81 = quatre-vingt-un [4x20+1 … notice no “et-un”], 82 = quatre-vingt-duex, up to 89 = quatre-vingt-neuf [4x20+9]…

The 90’s are the same format as the 70’s where there is no “90” … instead it uses the base of “quatre-vingt” with the numbers from 11 – 19. Donc, 90 = quatre-vingt-dix [4x20+10], 91 = quatre-vingt-onze [4x20+11] up to 99 = quatre-vingt-dix-neuf [4x20+10+9]…

I now understand why on checks there are two lines to write out the amount of the check because can you imagine trying to squeeze $97.85 onto an American check:

 “quatre-vingt-dix-sept euro quatre-vingt-cinq cintimes”

Weird. Bizzare. Archaic. The number system seems utterly strange and laborious – even the French make fun of it – yet at the same time this is what makes me love the French culture … because they keep their heritage alive.

In France, there is what is known as the “Académie française” [I bet by now you’ve seen enough French to figure out what that means] that is comprised of 40 members which, once selected, are members for life. [As a side note, one of the members – the author Frédéric Vitoux – is the uncle of one of my San Diego French teachers.]  They are “the pre-eminent French council for matters pertaining to the French language” and “the body has the task of acting as an official authority on the language; it is charged with publishing an official dictionary of the language”. The first complete dictionary was published in 1694, and the latest (8^th edition) in 1935.

Here is a Wikipedia web link about the “Académie française” if you wish to learn more (pretty interesting): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acad%C3%A9mie_fran%C3%A7aise

Donc, the French protect their language with a passion, hence the lesson today in les chiffres!

PS: At French class today (I’m back in school) I had to say “1987” in French and I did it (without having to look at a number cheat-sheet)!!! WooHoo!! So I’ll close with that ….

mille neuf cent quatre-vingt-sept