Why are French numbers weird?

The number system in French is derived from that used in Gaulish, the Celtic language spoken in France before the modern Romance language drove it out. If you look at the counting systems of modern Celtic languages like Welsh or Scottish Gaelic, you'll see a similar pattern to that in French.

Why is 70 in French weird?

The reason for these strange words is historical. Whereas the Romans were using a decimal system, the Celts were using a vigesimal numeral system, based on multiples of 20 and not 10.

Do French count differently?

Canadian French, Belgian French or Swiss French to name a few have different pronunciation, some vernacular vocabulary, and they may also differ in some gramatical rules. Their numbering rules are the same nonetheless, even if some numbers are different.

Why is there no number 80 in French?

French Numbers: 80-89

Likewise, there's no word for “eighty” in standard French. * The French say quatre-vingts, literally four-twenties. ** So 81 is quatre-vingt-un (four-twenty-one), 82 is quatre-vingt-deux (four-twenty-two), etc.

How do you say 70 in Belgium?

In Belgian French they are called the following: 70 = septante; 71 = septante et un; 72 septante deux, etc.

Understanding French Numbers: Why are 70, 80, 90 so strange?

How do you say 99 in French?

The French translation for “99 (ninety-nine)” is quatre-vingt-dix-neuf. The French, quatre-vingt-dix-neuf, can be broken down into 2 parts:"80 (eighty)" (quatre-vingts) and "19 (nineteen)" (dix-neuf).

Why is French counting so complicated?

To make things more difficult, large numbers in French are generally spoken as a whole rather than broken down into digits. So a Peugeot 206 is 'two oh six' in English but deux cent six in French.

Why is it Soixante Dix?

The French do not have a word for 70, instead using "soixante-dix" (60 + 10). Other French-speaking countries such as Belgium, Switzerland, Aosta Valley and Jersey do have a word for it, using "septante.

Why does French only count to 60?

In French, soixante (60) is the last iteration of ten to have its own word. Going higher, such as seventy is soixant dix (60-10), eighty is quatre vingt (4-20), 90 is quatre vingt dix (4-20-10).

What's the French word for 1?

The French numbers 1-10 are: un (1), deux (2), trois (3), quatre (4), cinq (5), six (6), sept (7) huit (8) neuf (9), dix (10).

How do you count to 100 in French?

Vingt et un, vingt-deux, vingt-trois, vingt-quatre, vingt-cinq, vingt-six, vingt-sept, vingt-huit, vingt-neuf, Trente ... TRENTE! Trente et un, trente-deux, trente-trois, trente-quatre, trente-cinq, trente-six, trente-sept, trente-huit, trente-neuf ...

How is 73 in French?

The Number 73 in French

73 est le soixante-treizième nombre.

Does Canada speak French?

Canada has a population of nearly 35 million people. French is the first official language spoken for 22.8% of the population. The majority of Francophones (85.4%) live in Quebec and over 1 million live in other regions of the country. Almost 10.4 million Canadians can carry on a conversation in French.

What is Canada called in French?

Canada is translated in French by...

Tu habites au Canada, donc tu es Canadien.