Italian Numbers 1 – 100
The first 19 numbers have to be learned by heart.
0 – zero
1 – uno
2 – due
3 – tre
4 – quattro
5- cinque
6 – sei
7 – sette
8 – otto
9 – nove
10 – dieci
11 – undici
12 – dodici
13 – tredici
14 – quattordici
15 – quindici
16 – sedici
17 – diciassette
18 – diciotto
19 – diciannove
20 – venti
Numbers 20 – 100
To learn the numbers from 20 to 99, 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
- 81 is ottantuno
- etc…
Italian Numbers 100 – 999
Unlike English, we don’t say “One Hundred” in Italian; instead, we say “cento,” which means “hundred” by itself. “Cento” is an invariable word, so it’s always the same.
To express a multiple of “cento”, add numbers 1-9 before “cento”.
100 = cento (NOT un cento)
200 = duecento
300 = trecento
400 = quattrocento
500 = cinquecento
600 = seicento
700 = settecento
800 = ottocento
900 = novecento
How to read the hundred in Italian:
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
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
How to read the thousands in Italian
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
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)
Unlike English, where you have month + number + year, the Italian pattern goes like this: number + month + year .
Another significant difference from English is the use of ordinal numbers rather than cardinal ones (17 and not 17th)
Useful expressions with numbers
- Una decina – a dozen
- Centinaia di – hundreds of
- Migliaia di – thousands of
