French Level 1
Now I know that you may already remember from Unité 7, Leçon 1, how to count from 100 to 999, however, let us review quickly starting with 100:
Let's move on! Do you remember how you would say 101? 102? 103? 104? and so on...? I have chosen some numbers at random. Try to say the numbers BEFORE you listen to me. Track 56
I am sure that you are seeing a pattern here. To use numbers that are greater than one hundred, we simply add the word "cent" or "hundred" in front of the number. The remaining numbers do not change. Let us move on to the next group of numbers: 200-900: Track 57
These numbers work in exactly the same way as the numbers do with 100+. Here, see what I mean: Track 58
Notice that with all quantities of hundreds above 100, the word "hundred" or "cent" is spelled with an "s" on the end. As we have seen in previous leçons, when writing in French, the letter "s" is placed at the end of words to show that there is more than one of whatever it is of which we are speaking. The same happens "en français" with hundreds whenever you have more than just one hundred. Make sense? If not, well, you know how it goes. Just memorize this rule! One nice thing about all this "hundreds stuff": Since there isn't a vowel after the "s" in "cents", it sounds exactly the same as "cent" when spoken. One more thing. I hope that you noticed that we do not say the letters "q" (in cinq), the letter "t" (in huit), or the letter "x" (in dix) when it is followed by another word that begins with a consonant (like the word, "cents"). The other numbers such as "sept" and "neuf" are exceptions and we DO say the "t" at the end of "sept" and the "f" at the end of "neuf" whether these words, even when they are followed by a word that begins with a consonant. **Special Note: "En français", when words such as "dix" that end with the letter "x" and "neuf" that ends with a letter "f" are followed by a vowel sound, the sounds of these letters change. "X" changes from an "s" sound to a "z" sound and "f" changes from an "f" sound to a "v" sound! Finally, we come to our last group of numbers, the thousands! The French words for one thousand is "mille". Here is our "thousands" tables: Track 59
These numbers work the same way as the "hundreds" do, that is, the word "mille" is spelled with an "s" on the end for numbers above 1,000. Also, you notice that we do not say the letters "q" (in cinq), the letter "t" (in huit), or the letter "x" (in dix) because the word "milles" begins with a consonant. You also should have noticed that the "thousands" numbers are followed by a "." (period) instead of a "," (comma) as they are in English. Why? Because that is how we do it in French! I am not going to bog you down by going through all of the numbers between 1.000 and 1.000.000 (I am sure you are VERY happy about this!) Go now to the next leçon. |