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The Italian Numbers Guide for Beginners

The Italian Numbers Guide for Beginners

My English teacher at university was an Irish woman who had lived in Italy for over a decade. Still, one day she admitted to us one day that numbers were still a pain for her.
Having learned several languages myself, I know firsthand how difficult it is to master numbers in a foreign language.
But, whether you visit Italy on vacation or live here, you’ll notice that numbers are everywhere: departure dates, prices, bills, ticket numbers, and so on, which is why you should try to master them from the beginning of your learning journey.

 

Numbers 0 – 19

the first 19 numbers have to be learn by heart  

 

Numbers 20 – 99

to learn these numbers it’s preferable to learn the tens first

20 – venti

30 – trenta

40 – quaranta

50 – cinquanta

60 – sessanta

70 – settanta

80 – ottanta

90 – novanta 

Once you’ve memorized these numbers, all you have to do now is match them to the numbers 1 through 9.

Examples

21- ventuno

22 – ventidue

23 – ventitré 

24 – ventiquattro

25 – venticinque

26 – ventisei

27 – ventisette

28 – ventotto

29 – ventinove

Now repeat the pattern through number 99.
 
With a couple of exceptions, this is a fairly consistent pattern.
 
When using the numbers 1 (uno) and 8 (otto), the decimal numbers will drop the last vowel.  
The reason for this is to avoid using two vowel sounds at the same time.

So you’ll say 

VENT-uno, instead of VENTI-uno (21)

VENT-otto, instead of VENTI-otto  (28)

The same pattern applies for all numbers with 1 and 8 through 99.

For example:

  • 58 is cinquantotto 
  • 71 is settantuno

etc…

Italian Numbers 100 – 999 

Unlike English, we don’t say ONE HUNDRED in Italian; instead, we say “cento,” which means  just“hundred.”
Cento is a word that can’t be changed, so it’s always the same.
 
Add numbers 1-9 before “cento” for a multiple of “cento”

100 = cento (NOT un cento)

200 = duecento 

300 = trecento

400 = quattrocento

500 = cinquecento 

600 = seicento 

700 = settecento 

800 = ottocento 

900 = novecento 

To read the hundreds in Italian, follow this pattern

hundreds + decimals  

for example

112 

cento + dodici = centododici

345 

trecento + quarantacinque = trecentoquarantacinque  

450

quattrocento + cinquanta = quattrocentocinquanta 

The pattern is the same through 999! 

Italian Numbers 1000 – 1 million 

The Italian word for a thousand is MILLE.
When it comes to multiples of a thousand, mille becomes MILA.

1000 = mille (NOT un mila)

2000 = duemila

3000 = tremila

4000 = quattromila

5000 = cinquemila

6000 = seimila

7000 = settemila

8000 = ottomila

9000 = novemila

10000 = diecimila

20000 = ventimila

70000 = settantamila

100.000 = centomila

To read the thousands in Italian you will follow this order 

thousand + hundred + decimals 

for example

1654 

mille + seicento + cinquantaquattro  

5647

cinque + mila + seicento + quarantasette

10.220

dieci + mila + duecento + venti 

600.410

seicento + mila + quattrocento + dieci 

The pattern is the same through 999999! 

The word for  million is  milione

the word for billion is miliardo 

 

How to say the years in Italian

English speakers divide the year into two parts, so 2022 is read as twenty-two.  This is not possible in Italian.
To read a year, you should read it as a regular number.
 
So, 2022 is read duemilaventidue 

 

How to say a date in Italian

Let’s use the day of the Unification of Italy, as an example 

  • 17 marzo 1861 (diciassette marzo milleottocentosessantuno )

The pattern used is number + month + year 

unlike in English, where you have  month + number + year 

Another significant difference from English is the use of ordinal numbers rather than cardinal ones (17 and not 17th)

Some useful expressions with numbers
  • una decina – a dozen
  • centinaia di – hundreds of 
  • migliaia di – thousands of 

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