Contare in Italiano Vol. 1: Dalle Cifre Alle Saghe

Lucky for us, language learners, most languages use Arabic numerals (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) in writing. The challenging parts are pronunciation and spelling. When you start learning Italian , you will, of course, need to learn numbers. Italian numbers are easy to remember and pronounce because they follow a simple and predictable pattern. Once you know the Italian numbers to 10, counting to 100 and even 1000 is easy.

There’s hardly a day that passes without using numbers . They’re essential to our day-to-day lives. From shopping to giving people your phone number and setting up a meeting at a certain time, numbers are probably one of the first lessons you should take in any language. So, let’s see how easy it is to count from_zero_ to_cento_ in_Italiano_ .

Count to 10 in Italian

To master the Italian numbers quickly, it’s essential to first learn how to count to 10. The numbers from 1 to 10 are important for two reasons: you will probably use them the most and they lay the foundations for any Italian number you can think of.

Here’s how to write and pronounce the Italian numbers 1-10:

1 –_uno_ (oo-noh)

2 –due (doo-eh)

3 –**tre** (treh)

4 –**quattro** (kwah-troh)

5 –**cinque** (chin-kweh)

6 –**sei** (say)

7 –**sette** (seh-teh)

8 –**otto** (oh-toh)

9 –**nove** (noh-veh)

10 –**dieci** (dee-eh-cheh)

Don’t worry, we didn’t forget about 0. Zero is especially useful when exchanging phone numbers in Italian. “Zero” is_zero_ in Italian and the “z” is pronounced “ds” or “ts” –dsee-roh.

Not sure you understood how to pronounce the Italian numbers to 10? Here’s a short video with crystal-clear audios recorded by a fluent Italian speaker so you can learn from the best:

**Good to know:**Italian cardinal numbers don’t change suffixes according to the gender of the noun they determine. The only exception is 1_(uno). Thus, when you talk about a feminine noun, you’ll say_una_instead of_uno:Ho comprato una casa(“I bought a house.”)

Italian numbers 11-20

Imagine this: you are on the famous Amalfi Coast. The weather is perfect. And let’s say you want to buy 12 slices of the yummiest Italian pizza you’ve ever seen: two slices for you and each one of your friends. The problem is you only have 10 fingers to sign to the lady at the counter. Wouldn’t it be easier if you knew some Italian expressions ?

Now back to numbers: once you get to 20, Italian numbers are easy to build with what you already know and remember. However, the numbers from 11 to 19 are a bit irregular, so you’ll have to remember them by heart.

Here’s how to count to 20 in Italian:

11 –**undici** (oon-dee-chee)

12 –**dodici** (doh-dee-chee)

13 –**tredici** (treh-dee-chee)

14 –**quattordici** (kwah-tor-dee-chee)

15 –**quindici** (kween-dee-chee)

16 –**sedici** (seh-dee-chee)

17 –**diciassette** (dee-cha-set-teh)

18 –**diciotto** (dee-chee-otoh)

19 –_diciannove_ (dee-chahn-noh-veh)

20 –**venti** (ven-tee)

As you can see, for 11 to 16, Italian numbers are formed following the pattern number + 10_(dieci)_ . From 17 to 19, the order reverses: 10_(dieci)_ is followed by the number.

Let’s see some examples:

to say “16 days”, you’ll say_sedici giorni_
to say “18 years”, you’ll say_diciotto anni_
to say “20 children”, you’ll say_venti bambini_

Italian numbers to 30 and beyond

Essentially, Italian numbers are very similar to English numbers. Once you get to 20, you just put together the tens with the single numbers (units). The best part is that Italian doesn’t even require spaces or hyphens. For example, if you want to say 22 (“twenty-two”), in Italian you say venti (20) + due (2) = venti due (22).

Let’s recap what you’ve learned so far and see how to count to 30 in Italian:

italian numbers ](https://app.adjust.io/5ixfg4k?campaign=blog-post-id-5166&fallback=https%3A%2F%2Fapp.mondly.com?avangate%5Fsrc=blog-post-id-5166?mother%5Flang=en%5Fus?target%5Flang=it&redirect%5Fandroid=https%3A%2F%2Fplay.google.com%2Fstore%2Fapps%2Fdetails%3Fid%3Dcom.atistudios.mondly.languages&redirect%5Fios=https%3A%2F%2Fitunes.apple.com%2Fapp%2Fid987873536&redirect%5Fmacos=https%3A%2F%2Fapp.mondly.com?avangate%5Fsrc=blog-post-id-5166?mother%5Flang=en%5Fus?target%5Flang=it )

Italian numbers to 30

See how easy Italian numbers are? The only thing you have to remember is that the final vowel of the tens disappears when you add 1_(uno)_ or 8_(otto)_ . Thus, you’ll say vent uno and not “ventiuno”. Additionally, number 3_(tre)_ gains an accent mark on the final vowel. For example, 33 will be_trentatré_ and 83 will be_ottantatré._

Count tens in Italian

Except for 10_(dieci)_ and 20_(venti)_ , all tens digits in Italian are based on their roots. Once you know all of them, you’ll know how to count to 100 – which is_cento_ – in Italian.

10 –dieci (dee-eh-cheh)

20 –venti (ven-tee)

30 –trenta (tren-tah)

40 –quaranta (kwah-rahn-tah)

50 –cinquanta (cheen-kwanh-tha)

60 –sessanta (ses-sahn-tah)

70 –settanta (set-tahn-ta)

80 –ottanta (oht-tahn-ta)

90 –novanta (noh-vahn-tah)

100 –cento (chen-toh)

Let’s see some more examples to make sure you understood how Italian numbers work:

43 – quarantatré
55 – cinquantacinque
62 – sessantadue
79 – settantanove
84 – ottantaquattro
98 – novantotto

Italian numbers 100 to 1000 and beyond

The same rules apply to bigger numbers as well. Add the suffix_cento_ to the multiplier digit and here are your hundreds:

100 –cento

200 –duecento

300 –trecento

400 –quattrocento

500 –cinquecento

600 –seicento

700 –settecento

800 –ottocento

900 –novecento

1000 –mille

And now you also understood where_grazie mille_ comes from. Literally meaning “a thousand thanks” or “a thousand thanks yous”,grazie mille means “thank you very much” in Italian.

Back to counting, from 100 and beyond, the bigger the number is, the longer its written form. Italian doesn’t isolate hundreds, tens and ones. They become one long word with no hyphens or spaces. For example:

204 – duecentoquattro
323 – trecentoventitrè
747– settecentoquarantasette
999 – novecentonovantanove

If you want to go even further, thousands are formed by adding_mille_ to the digit multiplier. The only difference is that while hundreds use_cento_ every time, thousands use the plural_mila_ .

1000 –mille

2000 –duemila

3000 –tremila

4000 –quattromila

5000 –cinquemila

6000 –seimila

7000 –settemila

8000 –ottomila

9000 –novemila

10,000 –diecimila

For example, to say 2345 in Italian, you say duemilatrecentoquarantacinque . At this point the written numbers become really big and could easily compete in the “longest word in the world” race.

Nevertheless, to talk about the bank accounts of some of the richest people in the world in Italian, you’ll need even bigger numbers:

million in Italian is_milione_
billion in Italian is_miliardo_
trillion in Italian is_bilione_

And there you have it! Now you can call yourself an_esperto_ (“expert”) in Italian numbers. _ Ciao !_

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Contare in Italiano Vol. 1: Dalle Cifre Alle Saghe