LinguaTrenta, quaranta, cinquanta: the tens
You already know the numbers up to trenta. From 40 on, the tens end in -anta: quaranta, cinquanta, sessanta, settanta, ottanta, novanta, and then cento (100). A number between two tens is written as ONE word, tens first: trentadue (32), quarantacinque (45), novantanove (99). Two small rules come with it. Before uno and otto, which begin with a vowel, the tens lose their last vowel: ventuno, trentuno, ventotto, quarantotto. And tre at the end of a longer number takes an accent: ventitré, trentatré, quarantatré – but tre alone has none.
| Digits | In words |
|---|---|
| 40 | quaranta |
| 50 | cinquanta |
| 60 | sessanta |
| 70 | settanta |
| 80 | ottanta |
| 90 | novanta |
| 100 | cento |
| Digits | In words | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 31 | trentuno | trenta loses its a before uno |
| 38 | trentotto | trenta loses its a before otto |
| 43 | quarantatré | tre at the end takes an accent |
| 57 | cinquantasette | tens + units, one word |
| 99 | novantanove | tens + units, one word |
– Quanti anni ha la signora Neri? – Novantadue, e sta benissimo!– How old is Mrs Neri? – Ninety-two, and she’s in great shape!
Phone numbers and prices
Italians often read a phone number in pairs of digits, as two-digit numbers: 347 85 21 90 is tre quattro sette, ottantacinque, ventuno, novanta. A zero at the start is said as a digit: 06 is zero sei. Prices use euro, which never changes in the plural: un euro, trenta euro, cento euro. The question is Quanto costa? – “How much is it?” – and the answer Costa cinquanta euro.
Quanto fa? – adding and subtracting
For a sum, ask Quanto fa? – “how much does it make?” The signs are più (+), meno (−), per (×) and diviso (÷), and the result comes with fa: Due più tre fa cinque. Dieci meno quattro fa sei. Sette per otto fa cinquantasei. Cento diviso due fa cinquanta. Fa stays singular even when the numbers are big.
– Quanto fa nove per sei? – Fa cinquantaquattro.– What’s nine times six? – Fifty-four.
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| undici | eleven (11) | Il treno parte dal binario undici. The train leaves from platform eleven. |
| dodici | twelve (12) | Siamo dodici in classe. There are twelve of us in class. |
| tredici | thirteen (13) | Marta ha tredici anni. Marta is thirteen. |
| sedici | sixteen (16) | Abito in via Dante, sedici. I live at 16 Via Dante. |
| diciassette | seventeen (17) | Per molti italiani il diciassette porta sfortuna. For many Italians, seventeen brings bad luck. |
| diciotto | eighteen (18) | Luca compie diciotto anni domani. Luca turns eighteen tomorrow. |
| diciannove | nineteen (19) | Nella classe di Sara ci sono diciannove ragazzi. There are nineteen kids in Sara’s class. |
| venti | twenty (20) | Venti più venti fa quaranta. Twenty plus twenty is forty. |
| ventitré | twenty-three (23) | Ventitré più sette fa trenta. Twenty-three plus seven is thirty. |
| ventotto | twenty-eight (28) | Di solito febbraio ha ventotto giorni. February usually has twenty-eight days. |
| trenta | thirty (30) | Aprile ha trenta giorni. April has thirty days. |
| cinquanta | fifty (50) | Il biglietto costa cinquanta euro. The ticket costs fifty euros. |
| novanta | ninety (90) | La lezione dura novanta minuti. The lesson lasts ninety minutes. |
| cento | a hundred (100) | Cento meno uno fa novantanove. A hundred minus one is ninety-nine. |
Exercises
This lesson has 10 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 3
- match the pairs: 1
- fill the gap: 2
- build the sentence: 1
- translate the sentence: 2
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
Which word is 38?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.