Numbers in Italian



Learn numbers in Italian

Knowing numbers in Italian is probably one of the most useful things you can learn to say, write and understand in Italian. Learning to count in Italian may appeal to you just as a simple curiosity or be something you really need. Perhaps you have planned a trip to a country where Italian is the most widely spoken language, and you want to be able to shop and even bargain with a good knowledge of numbers in Italian.

It's also useful for guiding you through street numbers. You'll be able to better understand the directions to places and everything expressed in numbers, such as the times when public transportation leaves. Can you think of more reasons to learn numbers in Italian?

Italian (italiano) is a romance language from the Indo-European family. Official language in Italy, San Marino, and Vatican City, co-official in Switzerland (alongside with French, German and Romansh), it counts about 62 million speakers.

List of numbers in Italian

Here is a list of numbers in Italian. We have made for you a list with all the numbers in Italian from 1 to 20. We have also included the tens up to the number 100, so that you know how to count up to 100 in Italian. We also close the list by showing you what the number 1000 looks like in Italian.

  • 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
  • 30) trenta
  • 40) quaranta
  • 50) cinquanta
  • 60) sessanta
  • 70) settanta
  • 80) ottanta
  • 90) novanta
  • 100) cento
  • 1,000) mille
  • one million) un milione
  • one billion) un miliardo
  • one trillion) un bilione

Numbers in Italian: Italian numbering rules

Each culture has specific peculiarities that are expressed in its language and its way of counting. The Italian is no exception. If you want to learn numbers in Italian you will have to learn a series of rules that we will explain below. If you apply these rules you will soon find that you will be able to count in Italian with ease.

The way numbers are formed in Italian is easy to understand if you follow the rules explained here. Surprise everyone by counting in Italian. Also, learning how to number in Italian yourself from these simple rules is very beneficial for your brain, as it forces it to work and stay in shape. Working with numbers and a foreign language like Italian at the same time is one of the best ways to train our little gray cells, so let's see what rules you need to apply to number in Italian

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  • Numbers from zero to ten are specific words, namely zero [0], uno [1], due [2], tre [3], quattro [4], cinque [5], sei [6], sette [7], otto [8], nove [9], and dieci [10].
  • From eleven to sixteen, numbers are formed from the root of the digit followed by ten: undici [11], dodici [12], tredici [13], quattordici [14], quindici [15], and sedici [16]. From seventeen to nineteen, the order is reversed, as the unit is put directly after the ten: diciassette [17], diciotto [18], and diciannove [19].
  • The tens have specific names based on the matching digit root except for ten and twenty: dieci [10], venti [20], trenta [30], quaranta [40], cinquanta [50], sessanta [60], settanta [70], ottanta [80], and novanta [90].
  • Compound numbers are formed by juxtaposing the ten and the unit, causing an apocope of the last vowel of the ten name before a digit starting with a vowel, i.e. one and eight (e.g.: ventuno [21], trentadue [32], quarantotto [48]). When a compound number ends with three, tre becomes tré and the stress is put on the last syllable (e.g.: cinquantatré [53]).
  • The hundreds are formed by prefixing the word hundred by the multiplier digit, except for one hundred: cento [100], duecento [200], trecento [300], quattrocento [400]…
  • Hundreds, tens and units are linked together with no space (e.g.: centonove [109], duecentotrenta [230], novecentonovantanove [999]).
  • Thousands are formed by prefixing the word thousand by the multiplier digit, except for one thousand: mille [1,000] (plural mila), duemila [2,000], tremila [3,000], quattromila [4,000], cinquemila [5,000]…
  • Numbers are grouped in words of three digits, with the specific rule that a space is added after the word for thousand if its multiplier is greater than one hundred and does not end with a double zero (e.g.: duemilatrecentoquarantacinque [2,345], seicentomiladue [600,002], settecentosessantacinquemila duecento [765,200]).
  • The Italian language uses the long scale for big numbers where the naming pattern of the scale words alternates between the suffixes -ione and -iardo: milione (106, million), miliardo (109, billion), bilione (1012, trillion), biliardo (1015, quadrillion), trilione (1018, quintillion), triliardo (1021, sextillion)…
  • The digit one (uno) becomes un before a masculine noun, which is the case of all scale names. Besides, their plural construction is regular, the ending -e or -o becoming -i (e.g.: un milione [one million], due milioni [two million], un miliardo [one billion], due miliardi [two billion]).
  • Learn the most useful words and phrases first so you can start speaking Italian fast with MOSALingua
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