Italian Numbers: one, two, three…

Could you imagine what life would be like without knowing any numbers? How would you tell your age, your telephone number, or your birthday?! If you’ve ever wanted to learn numbers in Italian then you’re in luck — because we’ve made this lesson just for you and are going to teach you all of them!

 

Numbers in Italian

Let’s break it down into categories:

One digit numbers

0	zero
1	uno
2	due
3	tre
4	quattro
5	cinque
6	sei
7	sette
8	otto
9	nove

 

“Irregular” two digit numbers

11	undici
12	dodici
13	tredici
14	quattordici
15	quindici
16	sedici
17	diciassette
18	diciotto
19	diciannove

 

Two digit numbers with zero 

10	dieci
20	venti
30	trenta
40	quaranta
50	cinquanta
60	sessanta
70	settanta
80	ottanta
90	novanta

 

In order to form all other numbers, that is “regular” two digit numbers, there’s sort of a rule: you have to join one of the “two digit numbers with zero” with one of the one digit numbers, by making somewhat of an “addition“.

20 + 5 = venticinque (25)

40 + 7 = quarantasette (47)

60 + 9 = sessantanove (69)

70 + 4 = settantaquattro (74)

… and so on.

BE CAREFUL: the numbers ONE (1) and EIGHT (8) start with a vowel. So in order to join them with any of the “two digit numbers with zero” (which all END with a vowel), you must remember NOT to pronounce (nor write) the final vowel of the “two digit number with zero”. Here are some examples:

20 + 1 = ventuno (21)

30 + 8 = trentotto (38)

60 + 1 = sessantuno (61)

See how the vowel gets chopped off where the two numbers join together?

Now let’s move to…

Three digit numbers with two zeros

100	cento
200	duecento
300	trecento
400	quattrocento
500	cinquecento
600	seicento
700	settecento
800	ottocento
900	novecento

 

As you can see all three digit numbers with two zeros are formed by joining the one digit number + cento. The only exception is the number one-hundred itself, which is simply cento.

In order to form all other three digit numbers you just do another “addition” like we did before. Here are some examples:

100 + 50 + 4 = centocinquantaquattro (154)

300 + 20 + 5 = trecentoventicinque (325)

700 + 90 + 8 = settecentonovantotto (798)

 

Finally, here we have the four digit numbers with three zeros. In order to form them, you simply join the one digit number to the word “mila“. The only exception is the number 1000 itself (which is just “mille“). Here’s the list:

2000	duemila
3000	tremila
4000	quattromila
5000	cinquemila
6000	seimila
7000	settemila
8000	ottomila
9000	novemila

 

For all other four digit numbers, the “addition” rule from earlier is still valid:

1000 + 900 + 40 + 5 = millenovecentoquarantacinque (1945)

2000 + 18 = duemiladiciotto (2018)

5000 + 30 + 5 = cinquemilatrentacinque (5035)

 

1.000.000 = un milione (one million)

2.000.000 = due milioni (two million)

Note that 2 million technically becomes 2 millions (millioni) in Italian! This also holds true for 3 million, 4 million, 5 million, and so on.

…

 

1.000.000.000 = un miliardo (one billion)

2.000.000.000 = due miliardi (two billion)

…

 

EXPRESSION OF THE DAY:

DARE I NUMERI = to do or to say silly things

 

Now you know all the numbers in Italian! Ready for your next lesson? Here’s how to tell time in Italian!

 

Let’s see if you’ve mastered the contents of this class. Have a go at completing the exercises!

 

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 8:27 — 7.7MB)

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