How to Count in Italian
When you start learning a foreign language, you will, of course, need to learn their numbers.
The Italian numbers are not hard to remember, and everything follows a very logical pattern. If you manage to learn how to count from one to ten, you will have an easy time learning further.
Whether you’re buying groceries, saying your age, or giving your phone number to someone, you will need to learn how to express yourself.
The numbers are everywhere, and if you know the cardinal numbers in the Italian language, your journey will be a lot easier.
Just imagine you’re in beautiful Rome and you have to exchange phone numbers with someone. It can be incredibly tough if you don’t at least know the basics.
You can start here, and move to the more complicated things. Who knows, maybe in time, the Italian numbers will become a big part of your life.
Indeed, numbers in Italian are among the most useful basic Italian phrases.
They’re also among the 1000 most common Italian words.
The numbers in Italian
How do you count from 0 to 10 in Italian?
First let’s review the Italian numbers from 0 to 10.
Find more about them here.
0 – Zero
1 – Uno
2 – Due
3 – Tre
4 – Quattro
5 – Cinque
6- Sei
7 – Sette
8 – Otto
9 – Nove
10 – Dieci
Counting From Eleven To Twenty In Italian
After ten, things start to get interesting, as you will need to start composing the digits.
There are two different patterns to follow, but it shouldn’t be hard to get a hold of them.
From eleven to sixteen, you will have to put the number first, and then the word ‘dici.’
Starting with seventeen, just put ‘dici’ in front of the number.
11 – Undici
12 – Dodici
13 – Tredici
14 – Quattordici
15 – Quindici
16 – Sedici
17 – Diciasette
18 – Diciotto
19 – Diciannove
20 – Venti
Counting From Twenty-One to Thirty In Italian
After twenty, it starts getting easier. You will only need to how to say the tens number, and pair them together.
21 – Ventuno
22 – Ventidue
23 – Ventitre
24 – Ventiquattro
25 – Venticinque
26 – Ventisei
27 – Ventisette
28 – Ventotto
29 – Ventinove
30 – Trenta
Counting From Thirty-One To Forty In Italian
And the same rule stands for thirty.
31 – Trentuno
32 – Trentadue
33 – Trentatre
34 – Trentaquattro
35 – Trentacinque
36 – Trentasei
37 – Trentasette
38 – Trentotto
39 – Trentanove
40 – Quaranta
Counting From Forty-One to Fifty
If you pay attention to the pattern, starting with forty in the Italian language, all the tens will end in ‘-anta,’ so it’s going to be very easy to remember.
Besides that, when someone says ‘Oggi entro negli -anta’ it means that ‘Today, I am forty.’ The Italian numbers are very logical, so you won’t have a hard time learning them.
41 – Quarantuno
42 – Quarantadue
43 – Quarantatre
44 – Quarantaquattro
45 – Quarantacinque
46 – Quarantasei
47 – Quarantasette
48 – Quarantotto
49 – Quarantanove
50 – Cinquanta
Counting From Fifty-One to Sixty In Italian
51 – Cinquantuno
52 – Cinquantadue
53 – Cinquantatre
54 – Cinquantaquattro
55 – Cinquantacinque
56 – Cinquantasei
57 – Cinquantasette
58 – Cinquantotto
59 – Cinquantanove
60 – Sessanta
Counting From Sixty-One To Seventy In Italian
61 – Sessantuno
62 – Sessantadue
63 – Sessantatre
64 – Sessantaquattro
65 – Sessantacinque
66 – Sessantasei
67 – Sessantasette
68 – Sessantotto
69 – Sessantanove
70 – Settanta
Counting From Seventy-One to Eighty In Italian
71 – Settantuno
72 – Settantadue
73 – Settantatre
74 – Settantaquattro
75 – Settantacinque
76 – Settantasei
77 – Settantasette
78 – Settantotto
79 – Settantanove
80 – Ottanta
Counting From Eighty-One to Ninety In Italian
81 – Ottantuno
82 – Ottantadue
83 – Ottantatre
84 – Ottantaquattro
85 – Ottantacinque
86 – Ottantasei
87 – Ottantasette
88 – Ottantotto
89 – Ottantanove
90 – Novanta
Counting From Ninety-One To One Hundred In Italian
91 – Novantuno
92 – Novantadue
93 – Novantatre
94 – Novantaquattro
95 – Novantacinque
96 – Novantasei
97 – Novantasette
98 – Novantotto
99 – Novantanove
100 – Cento
The pronunciation of the Italian numbers is pretty easy, just remember these two rules.
- You need to drop the final vowel in tens when you’re pairing them with numbers starting with vowels, such as ‘uno’ and ‘otto.’ This is a general rule you need to use in Italian.
- Whenever you are pairing a ten with three, make sure to add an acute accent on the last vowel in ‘tre.’ An acute accent can be a sign telling the reader that he’s supposed to read the vowel in that word, so without it, you may give a whole new meaning to your Italian numbers.
Italian Numbers Over One Hundred
After 100, things are much easier. All you need to do is add the multiplier digit before ‘cento,’ and there you have it.
200 – Duecento
300 – Trecento
400 – Quattrocento
500 – Cinquecento
600 – Seicento
700 – Settecento
800 – Ottocento
900 – Novecento
Keep in mind that there are no hyphens or spaces between the numbers in Italian. For example, if you’re saying 356 you will write ‘trecentocinquantasei.’
When it comes to thousands, there is only one rule you need to keep in mind.
One thousand is simply ‘mille‘. Starting with two thousand, ‘mille‘ will become ‘mila,’ and it will look like this.
2000 – Duemila
3000 – Tremila
4000 – Quattromila
5000 – Cinquemila
6000 – Seimila
7000 – Settemila
8000 – Ottomila
9000 – Novemila
Starting with ten thousand, you will also add a space between the words.
Such as:
10,000 – Dieci mila
20,000 – Venti mila
30,000 – Trenta mila
40,000 – Quaranta mila
50,000 – Cinquanta mila
60,000 – Sessanta mila
70,000 – Settanta mila
80,000 – Ottanta mila
90,000 – Novanta mila
100,000 – Cento mila
And it goes like this, up until one million.
For example, if you want to say the Italian number 45,300 you will say ‘quarantacinque mila e trecento.’
I know, it may seem a little hard, but with enough practice, you will definitely master it in no time!
So far, these are the easy numbers in Italian, but from now, you can create even more complex numbers.
Moving on, we have one million and over. The rule is simple.
1.000.000 – Un milione
2.000.000 – Due milioni
1.000.000.000 – Un miliardo
3.000.000.000 – Tre miliardi
All you need to be careful about is changing the last vowel. When we say one million, in Italian it will be ‘un milione‘ and it will change to ‘due milioni‘ for two millions.
Even though this is simple, you need to keep in mind that there are a couple of differences from English.
For example, in English, we can say 1100 as ‘eleven hundred.’ Italians don’t have the equivalent for it so 1100 will be ‘millecento.’
The second difference is the way Italians say hundreds, tens, and thousands. They are ‘decine‘ for tens, ‘centinaia‘ for hundreds, and ‘migliaia‘ for thousands.
Can you count in Italian?
On your language journey, you will learn more and more about how Italians do it. They do have a specific way, but it’s also a very beautiful and interesting one.
It’s not hard to understand how digits in Italian work, so you will have a very easy time composing bigger and bigger numbers.
If you want to know how to exchange your telephone number or how to say your age check out this article with examples and phrases on how to use the Italian numbers.
For more, remember you can always join the course, Ripeti Con Me, where you can learn in no time how to speak Italian, and use it whenever you have the chance.
It’s amazing to commit to learning a new Foreign Language, and it will definitely be a whole new experience the next time you visit Italy!
So what do you think? Are you ready to start learning Italian numbers?
Still translating in your head? Wanna speak Italian for real? Check out Stefano's courses to think directly in Italian and become fluent fast!
