The word numbers in italian

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I numeri… che ha trovato Gibbs sulla scena del crimine.

These numbers, they’re objects in space, right?

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Questi numeri… sono oggetti nello spazio, giusto?

For these reasons, the sequence of numbers only approximately matches the timeline of discovery.

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Per tali ragioni la sequenza delle numerazioni segue solo approssimativamente la cronologia delle scoperte.

Play with numbers somewhere else. You know what, I’m gonna go,

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Giocare con i numeri… da qualche altra parte. Vado a.

We reserve the right to restrict access to these telephone numbers and services.

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Lycamobile si riserva il diritto di limitare l’accesso a tali numerazioni e servizi.

At today as the»Tab» attractscopious numbers of customers… Details.

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All’ora come oggi il»Tab» attira un copioso numero… Dettagli.

But when they did, the numbers— they started to spike.

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Ma quando è successo, i numeri… hanno avuto un’impennata.

Hell. It’s»hell» in numbers, and upside down.

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È»Inferno» in cifre…- All’Inferno.

It’s»hell» in numbers, and upside down.-«Hell.

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Al contrario. È»Inferno» in cifre…- All’Inferno.

The cards, the elaborate devices with the numbers, but they didn’t.

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Le carte, i complicati apparecchi con i numeri… Invece no.

Brad gave me his numbers, 87, 12 and ten.

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Brad mi ha detto i suoi numeri… Ottantasette, dodici e dieci.

Play with numbers somewhere else. You know what, I’m gonna go,

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Da qualche altra parte. giocare con i numeri… Vado a.

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So we’re checking all numbers like it and yours is one of them.

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Stiamo cercando le targhe simili, la sua è una di queste.

Ahd you didn’t carve the numbers of that passage into his chest?

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E non ha inciso il codice di quella frase sul suo petto?

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The numbers are very good, Mr. Cobblepot.

They are out there gathering in numbers for their next attack.

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Look at you, just drowning in other people’s phone numbers.

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Ma guardati, stai annegando nei numeri di telefono degli altri.

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When you run the numbers it starts looking very attractive.

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Quando fai i calcoli inizia a sembrare molto attraente.

At least run the numbers on my idea before you shut it down.

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Almeno fai qualche calcolo sulla mia idea, prima di scartarla.

In numbers we have never seen before. He is selling everything through the roof.

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Vende qualsiasi cosa in quantita‘ mai viste prima.

I left you a card with, like, my numbers and stuff… if you want.

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Ti ho lasciato un biglietto col mio numero e cose cosi.

Y’all gonna get two numbers in New Orleans.

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Avrete due brani a New Orleans.

Castiel, the angels… Our numbers were greatly diminished after the fall.

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Castiel, gli angeli… Le nostre fila si sono notevolmente ridotte in seguito alla caduta.

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I nostri sondaggi sono uguali ai vostri.

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Want to learn how to count in Italian? Learning cardinal numbers in Italian is pretty easy with the help of this guide which will give help you pronounce Italian numbers correctly with audio snippets plus you can download a FREE cheat sheet to practice with!

Counting in Italian is as easy as uno, due, tre! In fact, Italian numbers share a lot of similarities with English numbers. They also follow a very simple and predictable pattern that you can learn in very little time. To make things even easier, I’ve included the audio for each number so you know exactly how to pronounce it. Plus, you can download a free PDF guide so you can practice how to count in Italian anytime you like!

Why you NEED to learn numbers in Italian

Knowing how to use and understand both Italian cardinal numbers and Italian cardinal numbers is a major stepping stone when learning to speak Italian. We use numbers more than you think – from telling the time, asking how much something costs, sharing your age, making a dinner reservation, jotting down phone numbers, to even understanding a Wi-Fi password. Master Italian numbers and you’ve mastered a key element of Italian conversation.

This guide includes tables and examples of Italian numbers that will teach you how to read and pronounce the numbers in Italian from one to 1 billion.

Pronti!? (Ready!?) 

Here’s how to count in Italian from zero to 1 billion. Click on the play button to hear how they’re pronounced!

Italian Cardinal Numbers

Italian Numbers 0-12

The first number is ‘zero‘, which is followed by the pronunciation shown in brackets and a play button to hear the pronunciation.

Cardinal Number Pronunciation of Italian Number Transliteration
0 zero zdeh-roh
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 dyeh-chee
11 undici oon-dee-chee
12 dodici doh-dee-chee

Italian Numbers - How to Count in Italian from 0 to 1 billion - Ponte Pietra in Verona at sunsetNeed help remembering Italian numbers?

When you first learn something, it can be tricky to get the ball rolling. Luckily there is a catch Italian proverb to help you the first few numbers.

Non c’è due senza tre, il quattro vien da sè.

This fun expression literally means “There’s no two without three, the four comes by itself”. This is the equivalent of English saying that things (good or bad) “always come in threes”. Stubbed your toe? Got a parking fine? Broke your phone? “Non c’è due senza tre!.

Practice counting 0-12 

Using the numbers you’ve learned above, insert them into these simple sentences to tell the time. 

  • Sono le _____ – It is 3 o’clock
  • Sono le _____ – It’s 5 o’clock
  • Sono le _____ – It’s 6 o’clock
  • Sono le _____ – It’s 12 o’clock

Italian Numbers 13-20

Now, let’s look at numbers 13 to 20 in Italian.

Cardinal Number Pronunciation of Italian Number Transliteration
13 tredici treh-dee-chee
14 quattordici   kwaht-tor-dee-chee
15 quindici   kween-dee-chee
16 sedici   seh-dee-chee

Notice how the first part of the number resembles the English pattern. That is, the single-digit number comes before the ‘-teen’ part, like thirteen, fourteen and so on. The Italian equivalent of ‘teen’ is dici.  Earlier, when you learned undici (11) and dodici (12), think of these as if you were saying, one-teen and two-teen.

From 17, this pattern is reversed and dici is placed at the front.

Cardinal Number Pronunciation of Italian Number Transliteration
17 diciassette   dee-chahs-set-teh
18 diciotto   dee-choht-toh
19 diciannove   dee-chahn-noh-veh
20 venti   ven-tee

Just like in English, once you count numbers 20, 30, 40, 50… they follow their own pattern. As you will see, numbers 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90 resemble their single-digit versions. For example, 30 is trenta which looks like tre (3), and settanta looks like sette (7). The only exception is 20, which is venti.

Italian Numbers - How to Count in Italian from 0 to 1 billion - Piazza dei Signori and Italian flags in VeronaItalian numbers 21–99

The good news? You’ve already learned the trickiest numbers! Now you can apply these same rules to most of the numbers up to 99! 

Now that we are in the tens, it’s all about remembering the stem and using it to count up to the next lot of tens. For example, you learned that 20 is venti. Venti now becomes the stem that we place at the front and place the single digit after it. The only exception to this rule is with 21, 31, 41, 51… and so on. 

Here are the numbers 21 to 29 in Italian:

Cardinal Number Pronunciation of Italian Number Transliteration
21 ventuno   ven-too-noh
22 ventidue   ven-tee-doo-eh
23 ventitré   ven-tee-treh
24 ventiquattro   ven-tee-kwaht-troh
25 venticinque   ven-tee-cheen-kweh
26 ventisei   ven-tee-say
27 ventisette   ven-tee-seh-teh
28 ventotto   ven-toht-toh
29 ventinove   ven-tee-noh-veh

Italian sounds so beautiful because it rolls off the tongue. With that in mind, notice the i in venti is dropped in ventuno (21), and dropped again in ventotto (28) all the way up to 108 when this rule doesn’t apply. This is to ensure it rolls off the tongue easier by avoiding doubling up on vowels. Another change is the addition of the acute accent on the last vowel. Notice the tré in ventitré has an accent mark, this lets you know that the stress falls on the last syllable of this Italian number.

Here are the numbers 30 to 39 in Italian:

Cardinal Number Pronunciation of Italian Number Transliteration
30 trenta   tren-tah
31 trentuno   tren-too-noh
32 trentadue   tren-tah-doo-eh
33 trentatré   tren-tah-treh
34 trentaquattro   tren-tah-kwaht-troh
35 trentacinque   tren-tah-cheen-kweh
36 trentasei   tren-tah-say
37 trentasette   tren-tah-seh-teh
38 trentotto   tren-toht-toh
39 trentanove   tren-tah-noh-veh

Here are the numbers 40 to 49 in Italian:

Cardinal Number Pronunciation of Italian Number Transliteration
40 quaranta   kwah-rahn-tah
41 quarantuno kwah-rahn-too-noh
42 quarantadue kwah-rahn-tah-doo-eh
43 quarantatré kwah-rahn-tah-treh
44 quarantaquattro kwah-rahn-tah-kwaht-troh
45 quarantacinque kwah-rahn-tah-cheen-kweh
46 quarantasei kwah-rahn-tah-say
47 quarantasette kwah-rahn-tah-seh-teh
48 quarantotto kwah-rahn-toht-toh
49 quarantanove kwah-rahn-tah-noh-veh

Here are the numbers 50 to 59 in Italian:

Cardinal Number Pronunciation of Italian Number Transliteration
50 cinquanta cheen-kwahn-tah
51 cinquantuno cheen-kwahn-too-noh
52 cinquantadue cheen-kwahn-tah-doo-eh
53 cinquantatré cheen-kwahn-tah-treh
54 cinquantaquattro cheen-kwahn-tah-kwaht-troh
55 cinquantacinque cheen-kwahn-tah-cheen-kweh
56 cinquantasei cheen-kwahn-tah-say
57 cinquantasette cheen-kwahn-tah-seh-teh
58 cinquantotto cheen-kwahn-toht-toh
59 cinquantanove cheen-kwahn-tah-noh-veh

Here are the numbers 60 to 69 in Italian:

Cardinal Number Pronunciation of Italian Number Transliteration
60 sessanta ses-sahn-tah
61 sessantuno ses-sahn-too-noh
62 sessantadue ses-sahn-tah-doo-eh
63 sessantatré ses-sahn-tah-treh
64 sessantaquattro ses-sahn-tah-kwaht-troh
65 sessantacinque ses-sahn-tah-cheen-kweh
66 sessantasei ses-sahn-tah-say
67 sessantasette ses-sahn-tah-seh-teh
68 sessantotto ses-sahn-toht-toh
69 sessantanove ses-sahn-tah-noh-veh

Here are the numbers 70 to 79 in Italian:

Cardinal Number Pronunciation of Italian Number Transliteration
70 settanta set-tahn-tah
71 settantuno set-tahn-too-noh
72 settantadue set-tahn-tah-doo-eh
73 settantatré set-tahn-tah-treh
74 settantaquattro set-tahn-tah-kwaht-troh
75 settantacinque set-tahn-tah-cheen-kweh
76 settantasei set-tahn-tah-say
77 settantasette set-tahn-tah-seh-teh
78 settantotto set-tahn-toht-toh
79 settantanove set-tahn-tah-noh-veh

Here are the numbers 80 to 89 in Italian:

Cardinal Number Pronunciation of Italian Number Transliteration
80 ottanta oht-tahn-tah
81 ottantuno oht-tahn-too-noh
82 ottantadue oht-tahn-tah-doo-eh
83 ottantatré oht-tahn-tah-treh
84 ottantaquattro oht-tahn-tah-kwaht-troh
85 ottantacinque oht-tahn-tah-cheen-kweh
86 ottantasei oht-tahn-tah-say
87 ottantasette oht-tahn-tah-seh-teh
88 ottantotto oht-tahn-toht-toh
89 ottantanove oht-tahn-tah-noh-veh

Here are the numbers 90 to 99 in Italian:

Cardinal Number Pronunciation of Italian Number Transliteration
90 novanta noh-vahn-tah
91 novantuno noh-vahn-too-noh
92 novantadue noh-vahn-tah-doo-eh
93 novantatré noh-vahn-tah-treh
94 novantaquattro noh-vahn-tah-kwaht-troh
95 novantacinque noh-vahn-tah-cheen-kweh
96 novantasei noh-vahn-tah-say
97 novantasette noh-vahn-tah-seh-teh
98 novantotto noh-vahn-toht-toh
99 novantanove noh-vahn-tah-noh-veh

Italian Numbers - How to Count in Italian from 0 to 1 billion - Sunset in VeronaItalian numbers 100-9,999

The word for 100 is ‘cento’. This comes from the Latin word centum, meaning “hundred”. Believe it or not, we use this in English too to denote a factor of one hundredth. For example, centimetre, century, centipede, centennial, or the suffix, percent. Once you learn cento, all you have to do is put any number you’ve learnt so far after it.

Using ‘cento’ as the stem at the front, here are the numbers 100 to 110 in Italian:

Cardinal Number Pronunciation of Italian Number Transliteration
100 cento chen-toh
101 centuno chen-too-noh
102 centodue chen-toh-doo-eh
103 centotré chen-toh-treh
104 centoquattro chen-toh-kwaht-troh
105 centocinque chen-toh-cheen-kweh
106 centosei chen-toh-say
107 centosette chen-toh-seh-teh
108 centootto chen-toh-oh-toh
109 centonove chen-toh-noh-veh
110 centodieci chen-toh-dyeh-chee

 and so on…

Using ‘cento’ as the stem in the second position, here are the numbers 200 to 210 in Italian:

Cardinal Number Pronunciation of Italian Number Transliteration
200 duecento doo-eh-chen-toh
201 duecentouno doo-eh-chen-toh-noh
202 duecentodue doo-eh-chen-toh-doo-eh
203 duecentotré doo-eh-chen-toh-treh
204 duecentoquattro doo-eh-chen-toh-kwaht-troh
205 duecentocinque doo-eh-chen-toh-cheen-kweh
206 duecentosei doo-eh-chen-toh-say
207 duecentosette doo-eh-chen-toh-seh-teh
208 duecentootto doo-eh-chen-toh-oh-toh
209 duecentonove doo-eh-chen-toh-noh-veh
210 duecentodieci doo-eh-chen-toh-dyeh-chee

Using this same pattern, you can count all the way up to 9,999 using ‘cento’ as the stem at the front.

Here are the numbers 300 to 900 in Italian:

Cardinal Number Pronunciation of Italian Number Transliteration
300 trecento treh-chen-toh
400 quattrocento kwaht-troh-chen-toh
500 cinquecento cheen-kweh-chen-toh
600 seicento say-chen-toh
700 settecento set-teh-chen-toh
800 ottocento oht-toh-chen-toh
900 novecento noh-veh-chen-toh

Italian Numbers - How to Count in Italian from 0 to 1 billion - Piazza dei Signori and Italian flags in VeronaItalian numbers 1,000-100,000

The word for one thousand (1,000) is ‘mille‘ and just like we saw with ‘cento‘ this comes from the same Latin word mille, meaning ‘thousand’. Yup! You guessed it, we also use this same term in English in the form of the prefix ‘milli’ meaning ‘one thousandth of’. For example, millimetre, millisecond, and millilitre.

Once you learn ‘mille’, use it as the stem at the end and place any number you’ve already learnt so far after it. Notice how after 1,000, ‘mille’ becomes ‘mila‘.

Cardinal Number Pronunciation of Italian Number Transliteration
1,000 mille meel-leh
1,001 milleuno meel-leh-oo-noh
1,600 milleseicento meel-leh-say-chen-toh
2,000 duemila doo-eh-mee-lah
3,000 tremila treh-mee-lah
4,000 quattromila kwaht-troh-mee-lah
5,000 cinquemila cheen-kweh-mee-lah
6,000 seimila say-mee-lah
7,000 settemila seh-teh-mee-lah
8,000 ottomila oht-toh-mee-lah
9,000 novemila noh-veh-mee-lah
10,000 diecimila dyeh-chee-mee-lah
15,000 quindicimila kween-dee-chee-mee-lah
100,000 centomila chen-toh-mee-lah

Italian numbers 1 million to 1 billion

The word for one million (1,000,000) is ‘milione’ which comes from the Latin word mille plus the augmentative suffix -one. You can see this in English words such as million, or millionaire.

Once you learn ‘milione’, place any number you’ve already learnt so far after it. Notice how after one million, ‘un milione‘ becomes ‘milioni’ in the plural.

Cardinal Number Pronunciation of Italian Number Transliteration
1,000,000 un milione oon meel-lee-oh-neh
2,000,000 due milioni doo-eh mee-lee-oh-nee
3,000,000 tre milioni treh mee-lee-oh-nee
4,000,000 quattro milioni kwaht-troh mee-lee-oh-nee
5,000,000 cinque milioni cheen-kweh mee-lee-oh-nee
6,000,000 sei milioni say mee-lee-oh-nee
7,000,000 sette milioni seh-teh mee-lee-oh-nee
8,000,000 otto milioni oht-toh mee-lee-oh-nee
9,000,000 nove milioni noh-veh mee-lee-oh-nee
10,000,000 dieci milioni dyeh-chee mee-lee-oh-nee
1,000,000,000 un miliardo oon mee-lee-arh-doh

To word to say one billion (1,000,000,000) is ‘un miliardo’ and the rest is history!

How to use numbers in Italians

Now that you know how to form all the numbers in Italian, let’s take a look at different scenarios in which numbers are used in everyday life.

How to give someone your phone number in Italian

Whether you want to call your hotel or invite a friend out for dinner, you’ll need to know how to give your phone number to Italians and to understand when they give you theirs.

Remember to factor in the prefisso, that is, the “country code”, “international dialling code” or  “area code”. Without this, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to make contact.  It’s important to know that Italy’s country code is +39 which in Italian is said: più trentanove.

Here are some practical examples:

  • Il prefisso dell’Australia è +61. – Australia’s country code is +61
  • Qual è il prefisso di Roma? 06 – What is Rome’s area code? 06.

When calling from a landline,  you must include the city’s area code which always starts with 0. On the other hand, an area code isn’t needed if you’re calling a smartphone in Italy.

Going shopping and saying prices in Italian

Want to pay for a gelato in Naples? Buy tickets to the Colosseum? Or buy a leather bag in Florence? Then you’ll need to know how to ask how much something is and how the response is formed. 

Here are some useful phrases to learn:

  • Quanto costa? – What’s the price? / How much does it cost?
  • Quant’è? – How much is it?
  • Quanto viene? – How much does it come to?
  • I biglietti costano venti euro e cinquanta centesimi – The tickets costs 20 euros and 50 cents.
  • Costa dodici euro – It costs 12 euros

Sometimes you’ll just hear Costa/È/Viene… followed by the price. These are all synonyms to say “It costs/It’s…”.

Talking about age and birthdays

To find out when something has or will occur, you use quando (when) and to ask when someone was born you use the verb nascere (to be born). 

  • Quando sei nata? – When were you born? (Asking a female)
  • Quando sei nato? – When were you born? (Asking a male)

To respond, you say…

  • Sono nata/o il quattro aprile millenovecento cinquantuno. – I was born April 4, 1951

To ask when someone’s birthday is, you can say:

  • Quando è il tuo compleanno? – When is your birthday?

To respond, you say…

  • (il mio compleanno è) il ventisette dicembre – (My birthday is) December 27

To find out the quantity of something, you use quanto (how much/how many) which must agree in gender and number. Expressing your age in Italian is a little different than in English because you use the verb avere (to have) + the number + anni (years). So, to ask how old someone is you say:

  • Quanti anni hai? – How old are you? (Note: quanti agrees with anni)
  • Quanti anni hanno i tuoi fratelli? – How old are your siblings?

What you’re literally asking is, ‘how many years do you have?’. To respond, you say…

  • Ho trentasei anni – I’m 36 years old (Literally, ‘I have 36 years’)
  • Mia sorella Vittoria ha 41 anni e mio fratello Paolo ha 29 anni – My sister Vittoria is 41 and my brother Paolo is 29

Telling the time in Italian

In Italy, the 24-hour clock is used much more than in English speaking countries. In fact, the 24-hour clock is always used for things such as movie times, flight times, bus and train schedules, and opening times for shops, offices, and museums.

While the 24-hour clock is the preferred choice when writing, the 12-hour clock is more common when speaking. If you’re in doubt as to if the time refers to a.m or p.m you can say di mattina (in the morning), di pomeriggio (in the afternoon) or di sera (in the evening) for added clarity. 

To ask what the time is, you can use either of the following phrases interchangeably:

  • Che ora è? – What time is it? (Literally, ‘What hour is it’?)
  • Che ore sono? – What time is it? (Literally, ‘What hours are they’?)

If the hour is singular (i.e 1 p.m., 1 a.m., midday, midnight), you answer with the singular verb. For example:

  • È l’una – It’s one o’clock. 
  • È mezzogiorno – It’s noon/midday.
  • È mezzanotte – It’s midnight.

The rest of the time you use the plural form, so è (is) changes to sono (are). For example:

  • Sono le tre – It’s three o’clock [03:00]
  • Sono le diciotto – It’s six p.m [18:00]

To say how many minutes past the hour, you simply add e (and). For example:

  • Sono le quindici e cinque – It’s five past three [15:05] (Literally, ‘It’s 15 and 5’)
  • Sono le tre e dieci – It’s ten past three [03:10] (Literally, ‘It’s 3 and 10’)
  • È l’una e venti – It’s twenty past one [01:20] (Literally, ‘It’s 1 and 20’)
  • Sono le diciannove e venticinque – It’s twenty-five past seven [19:25] (Literally, ‘It’s 19 and 25’)

To say how many minutes to the next hour you use meno (less) and the number of the next full hour. For example:

  • Sono le undici meno venticinque – It’s twenty-five to eleven (Literally, ‘It’s 11 minus 25’) [10:35]
  • Sono le undici meno venti – It’s twenty to eleven (Literally, ‘It’s 11 minus 20’) [10:40]

To express quarters and halves you say:

  • Sono le cinque e un quarto – It’s a quarter past five (Literally, ‘It’s 5 and a quarter’) [05:15]
  • Sono le cinque e mezzo – It’s half past five (Literally, ‘It’s 5 and a half) [05:30]

Saying the temperature in Italian 

When talking about the temperature of the weather, Italian uses the verb fare in the third person singular. For example:

  • Oggi fa trenta gradi. – Today is 30° (celsius)

Note that Italy uses degrees Celsius not Fahrenheit.

Italian Ordinal Numbers 

When referring to the one’s address, floors in a building, or the first day of the month, you use ordinal numbers (first, second, third….). Italian ordinal numbers are adjectives, therefore they must agree in gender and number of the nouns they describe. Notice how there is nost, -rd, or -th after ordinal numbers in Italian, instead they use the degree symbol (°).

Ordinal Number Number in Italian Translation
il primo / la prima the first
il secondo / la seconda the second
il terzo / la terza the third
il quarto / la quarta the fourth
il quinto / la quinta the fifth
6° il sesto / la sesta the sixth
7° il settimo / la settima the seventh
8° l’ottavo / l’ottava the eighth
9° il nono / la nona the ninth
10° il decimo / la decima the tenth
13° il tredicesimo / la tredicesima the thirteenth
20° il ventesimo / la ventesima the twentieth
48° il quarantottesimo / la quarantottesima the forty-eighth

Once you reach il decimo (the tenth), you take the whole number, drop the final vowel, and add -esimo/a/e/i. Numbers ending in -trè and -sei retain the final vowel.

  • undici → undicesimo BUT
  • ventitré → ventitreesimo
  • trentasei → trentaseiesimo

Here are some example sentences:

  • È la seconda strada a sinistra – It’s the second street on the left.
  • Abito al sesto piano – I live on the sixth floor.

As a side note, all Italian buildings begin on the pianoterra (ground floor). So the first floor (il primo piano) corresponds to a North American second floor, the second floor (il secondo piano) corresponds to a North American third floor, e così via (and so on).

The first day of the month

Unlike in English, Italian does not use ordinal numbers when speaking about dates. For example, in English, we say ‘My birthday is the ninth of September’, but in Italian, we simply say ‘nine September’ (nove settembre).

There is, however, one exception. In Italian, only the first day of the month uses the ordinal number along with the definite article. For example:

  • Oggi è il primo novembre – Today is November first.

All other dates are expressed by using the cardinal numbers, preceded by the definite article.

  • Domani è il 3 novembre – Tomorrow is November third.

Here’s a quick recap on Italian numbers and their pronunciation so you can start practicing.

Italian Numbers - How to Count in Italian from 0 to 1 billion

Download this guide to Italian Numbers for FREE!


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Ultimate Guide to Italian Numbers - How to Count in Italian from 0 to 1 billion - PDF Download


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Learn how to say numbers in Italian.

Cardinal numbers

zero zero
uno one
due two
tre three
quattro four
cinque five
sei six
sette seven
otto eight
nove nine
dieci ten
undici eleven
dodici twelve
tredici thirteen
quattordici fourteen
quindici fifteen
sedici sixteen
diciassette seventeen
diciotto eighteen
diciannove nineteen
venti twenty
ventuno twenty-one
ventidue twenty-two
ventitre twenty-three
ventiquattro twenty-four
venticinque twenty-five
ventisei twenty-six
ventisette twenty-seven
ventotto twenty-eight
ventinove twenty-nine
trenta thirty
trentuno thirty-one
trentadue thirty-two
trentatre thirty-three
trentaquattro thirty-four
trentacinque thirty-five
trentasei thirty-six
trentasette thirty-seven
trentotto thirty-eight
trentanove thirty-nine
quaranta forty
quarantuno forty-one
quarantadue forty-two
quarantatre forty-three
cinquanta fifty
sessanta sixty
settanta seventy
ottanta eighty
novanta ninety
cento one hundred
centouno one hundred and one
duecento two hundred
trecento three hundred
mille one thousand
duemila two thousand
tremila three thousand
un milione one million
un miliardo one billion

Repetition

una volta once
due volte twice
tre volte three times
quattro volte four times
cinque volte five times

Italian vocabulary

Page 1 of 9

Contents

Colours

Ordinal numbers

primo first
secondo second
terzo third
quarto fourth
quinto fifth
sesto sixth
settimo seventh
ottavo eighth
nono ninth
decimo tenth
undicesimo eleventh
dodicesimo twelfth
tredicesimo thirteenth
quattordicesimo fourteenth
quindicesimo fifteenth
sedicesimo sixteenth
diciassettesimo seventeenth
diciottesimo eighteenth
diciannovesimo nineteenth
ventesimo twentieth
ventunesimo twenty-first
ventiduesimo twenty-second
ventitreesimo twenty-third
trentesimo thirtieth
quarantesimo fortieth
cinquantesimo fiftieth
sessantesimo sixtieth
settantesimo seventieth
ottantesimo eightieth
novantesimo ninetieth

Other useful words

circa or approssimativamente about
oltre or più di over
sotto or meno di under

Examples

36 36
54 54
89 89
106 106
123 123
678 678
3.294 3,294
9.755 9,755
2.608.411 2,608,411

counting in italian

By
Last updated:

February 25, 2023

Nobody thinks about numbers when learning Italian, but they clarify our communication and enrich our imagination. So numbers do count… a lot.

It’s not just about eggs—it’s about how many eggs are in the basket. How many people are coming? What time did you arrive? How much is that watch?

These all require you to know Italian numbers. They are essential to day-to-day, real-life conversation.

This guide will show you exactly how to use numbers in Italian—from zero up to sextillion, with the basics of ordinal numbers included too.

Read on to get the hang of Italian numbers, and practice along with the audio pronunciation!

Contents

  • Numbers 1 to 10 in Italian
  • Numbers 11 to 20 in Italian
  • Numbers 30 to 100 in Italian
  • Numbers 101 and Beyond in Italian
  • Ordinal Numbers in Italian


Download:
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numbers 1-100 in italian

Numbers 1 to 10 in Italian

So here are the first 10 numbers in Italian. You’re going to have to memorize them as they’re the building blocks of any Italian number you can think of:

  • Zero — Zero
  • Uno — One
  • Due — Two
  • Tre — Three
  • Quattro — Four
  • Cinque — Five
  • Sei — Six
  • Sette — Seven
  • Otto — Eight
  • Nove — Nine
  • Dieci — Ten

Numbers 11 to 20 in Italian

Here are numbers 11 to 20: 

  • Undici — Eleven
  • Dodici — Twelve
  • Tredici — Thirteen
  • Quattordici — Fourteen
  • Quindici — Fifteen
  • Sedici — Sixteen
  • Diciasesette — Seventeen
  • Diciotto — Eighteen
  • Diciannove — Nineteen
  • Venti — Twenty

You’ll have an easier time remembering them if you think:

11 is “1 and 10” combined, where uno and dieci undici

12 is “2 and 10” combined, where due and dieci dodici

You’ll also notice that the order of names becomes inverted from 17 to 19. Instead of dici coming second, it gets written first for numbers diciassette , diciotto and diciannove .

Numbers 30 to 100 in Italian

Here are the tens, starting from thirty:

  • Trenta — Thirty
  • Quaranta — Forty
  • Cinquanta — Fifty
  • Sessanta — Sixty
  • Settanta — Seventy
  • Ottanta — Eighty
  • Novanta — Ninety
  • Cento — One hundred

The tens get written before the ones digit. For example:

23 = Ventitre  

76 = Settantasei

84 = Ottantaquattro

Except for dieci (10) and venti (20), all tens digits are named based on their roots. So 50, coming from cinque (five), becomes cinquanta.

Note that Italians have found ways to save time and pronounce their numbers faster. This is primarily done by dropping a letter or two.

For example, when two vowels happen to be sitting side by side, the first vowel is dropped. So instead of venti-uno, you’d drop the i of venti and say ventuno  for the number 21. 

Ventuno is a little smoother on the tongue, don’t you think?

Other examples include:

38 = Trentotto  (instead of trenta-otto)

51 = Cinquantuno (instead of cinquanta-uno)

98 = Novantotto (instead of novanta-otto)

Numbers 101 and Beyond in Italian

101 to 1,000

Let’s move on to hundreds:

  • Duecento — Two hundred
  • Trecento — Three hundred
  • Quattrocento — Four hundred
  • Cinquecento — Five hundred
  • Seicento — Six hundred
  • Settecento — Seven hundred
  • Ottocento — Eight hundred
  • Novecento — Nine hundred
  • Mille — One thousand

The hundreds are formed by adding the suffix -cento  to the multiplier digit.

From the ones, tens and hundreds, the bigger your number is, the longer its written form will be. This is because Italian doesn’t separate the hundreds, tens and ones. They have it as one long word with no breaks or spaces.

For example:

154 = Centocinquantaquattro

747 = Settecentoquarantasette

948 = Novecentoquarantotto

1,001 to 1,000,000

Here are your thousands series:

  • Duemila — Two thousand  
  • Tremila — Three thousand
  • Quattromila — Four thousand
  • Cinquemila — Five thousand
  • Seimila — Six thousand
  • Settemila — Seven thousand
  • Ottomila — Eight thousand
  • Novemila — Nine thousand
  • Diecimila — Ten thousand

The thousands are formed by adding the suffix -mille  to the digit multiplier.

But unlike the hundreds which used -cento throughout the series (because cento has no plural form), the thousands use the plural of mille which is mila .

For the hundred-thousands, we use the suffix -centomila :

  • Centomila — One hundred thousand
  • Duecentomila — Two hundred thousand
  • Trecentomila — Three hundred thousand
  • Quattrocentomila — Four hundred thousand
  • Cinquecentomila — Five hundred thousand
  • Seicentomila — Six hundred thousand
  • Settecentomila — Seven hundred thousand
  • Ottocentomila — Eight hundred thousand
  • Novecentomila — Nine hundred thousand
  • Un milione — One million

In Italian, to form the plurals of regular nouns, we change the e to i. So one million is un milione, and two million becomes due milioni .

This pattern carries on through the millions, so tre milioni , quattro milioni , etc. 

Now that we have reached the million, it’s time to talk about really big numbers in Italian. 

Going Beyond 1,000,000

Here are some of those bigger numbers: 

  • Un miliardo — One billion
  • Un bilione — One trillion
  • Un biliardo — One quadrillion
  • Un trilione — One quintillion 
  • Un triliardo — One sextillion

Once you get beyond the millions, Italian alternates between the suffixes -ione and -iardo.

Note that the Italian bilione refers to the English trillion, not billion. This is due to the differences in long and short-scale naming systems used in the different countries. 

So when an American thinks of, say, “a billion,” his Italian counterpart thinks of it as “a thousand million.”

Now that you know the Italian numbers, you just need to put them into practice!

It does involve a bit of memorization, but once you have the basics down, you’ll be able to count up to bigger numbers in Italian. Flashcards come in really handy for this kind of learning, with digital options like Anki available for those learning on the go.

Another option is the language learning program FluentU, as it has a number flashcard deck linked to a video library of Italian media clips. Here, you can see the numbers used naturally by native speakers with the help of interactive subtitles.

Once you’re more confident with Italian numbers, try them out in the real world with these guides on time in Italian and shopping in Italian.

Ordinal Numbers in Italian

So far, we’ve talked about cardinal numbers, which are used for things like counting apples in a bag or counting the number of times you’ve seen a movie.

In this section, we’ll be talking about ordinal numbers in Italian. These tell us about the specific position or rank that an object has relative to an ordered set, such as “first,” “second” and “third.”

Here are the first ten ordinal numbers:

  • Primo — First
  • Secondo — Second
  • Terzo — Third
  • Quarto — Fourth
  • Quinto — Fifth
  • Sesto — Sixth
  • Settimo — Seventh
  • Ottavo — Eighth
  • Nono — Ninth
  • Decimo — Tenth

Examples:

Terzo giro  (Third lap)

Sesto mese  (6th month) 

Ho vinto il primo premio! (I won first prize!)

Now that you know numbers in Italian, you’re one step close to fluency!

With enough practice, you can boost your confidence when interacting with native speakers. Count on it!


Download:
This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you
can take anywhere.
Click here to get a copy. (Download)

One of the first things you would most likely learn when you start learning Italian are Italian numbers — at least those from one to ten. But what about beyond that? What about Renato Zero, or songs about Ventiquattromila Baci or Centocinquanta Stelle

This article is here to help with numbers in Italian when speaking to someone beyond the “cinque minuti!” you must have heard a thousand times, or mille volte. Let’s take a look at the world of Italian counting so you’ll never be caught off-guard when asked to count something.  

You may already be familiar with how to count Italian, even if you haven’t even covered how to count to 10 in Italian in a language class. That’s probably because they are easy to remember, don’t contain any complicated Italian grammar rules, and are very, very useful. And don’t worry, there is nothing in this article that’s going to change your mind about that. 

The numbers in Italian are written the same as English ones, for one. And they don’t contain letters or calculations like those pesky Roman numerals do (even though speaking Italian helps with those, as well, since C standing for 100 and M standing for 1000 make more sense when you know the words cento and mille).  

Either way, knowing numbers is vitally important for speaking a language and expressing even the simplest things, so let’s get on with counting. 

By the way, if you want to learn Italian fast and have fun while doing it, my top recommendation is Italian Uncovered which teaches you through StoryLearning®. 

With Italian Uncovered you’ll use my unique StoryLearning® method to learn Italian naturally through story… not rules. It’s as fun as it is effective.

If you’re ready to start, click here for a 7-day FREE trial.

Italian Numbers: The Basics

Counting to 20 in Italian

First, a little recap on how to count to 10 in Italian: 

1. uno – one

2. due – two

3. tre – three

4. quattro – four

5. cinque – five

6. sei – six

7. sette – seven

8. otto – eight

9. nove – nine

10. dieci – ten

Then you have: 

20. venti – twenty

30. trenta – thirty 

40. quaranta – forty 

50. cinquanta – fifty 

60. sessanta – sixty 

70. settanta – seventy

80. ottanta – eighty

90. novanta – ninety

100. cento  is one hundred in Italian (the form stays the same even if it’s several. 400: quattrocento)

1000. mille – thousand (mila if several thousand, e.g. quattromila)

1 000 000 milione – million (milioni if several milion, e.g. due milioni)

1 000 000 000 miliardo – billion (miliardi if several billion, e.g. settanta miliardi)

When it comes to dates, rules aren’t always the same. For example, you’d say: 1900, novecento, for the period — sort of like you’d say “the nineteen-hundreds” except it’s only nine hundred, because the thousand is just assumed, for some reason. But a specific year, like 1990, say, would be mille|novecento|novanta (one word).

Special Cases With Italian Numbers

ordinal numbers Italian

But let’s go back a bit and look at the form of single and double-digit numbers, for now. 

While in English (and German, to name another example) the numbers eleven and twelve divert from the rest of the double digits such as fourteen and twenty-seven in terms of form, in Italian they don’t — but others do, instead. 

In Italian, you say undici, dodici, tredici (literally something like one-ten, two-ten, three-ten) and switch at seventeen for some reason, saying diciassette, or ten-seven. From there, this system is followed for all double digit numbers: 23 – ventitré, 76 – settantasei, 94 – novantaquattro

In English, you switch form once again in the twenties, going from nineteen to twenty-seven. Pretty easy. Similar in Italian, because while in the numbers that start with 1, you adapt the form of dieci, ten, in some way, i.e. undici or diciassette.

From the twenties it’s just the number next to another number, such as ventitré for 23 and quarantacinque for 45 — with one exception: when the second number starts with “o” or “u,” you contract: venti+otto becomes ventotto, trenta+uno: trentuno. This is really only the case for numbers with uno, one, and otto, eight. 

See? Easy. Now let’s move on to the kinds of numbers you could come across because there are a few. 

Kinds Of Italian Numbers

Italian cardinal numbers

When you learn Italian numbers, you should know, the three groups of numbers are called cardinal, nominal and ordinal, or numeri cardinali, nominali, and ordinali in Italian. 

Cardinal Numbers

Cardinali, or cardinal numbers are the most straightforward, since they are used to number things in pure form, in other words as an answer the question “how many?”: 

  • Conosci Maria e le sue sette sorelle? (Do you know Maria and her seven sisters?)

Nominal Numbers

Nominal numbers in turn are, as the name suggests, about the number as a thing in itself. This is used for phone numbers, house numbers, and the like. The easier way to think of it is that nominal numbers don’t indicate quantity, but are just a row of numbers, like a code. 

  • Il mio numero di telefono è zero-tre-quattro-sette-undici-trenta-cinquantadue. (My phone number is 0-3-4-7-11-30-52.)

In writing, nominali are always written in numbers, while cardinal numbers are only written in numbers instead of words from a certain size. 

Vocab Power Pack

Ordinal Numbers

Finally, Italian ordinal numbers serve to put things in order, as the name again suggests. You use them when you want to say you came first or second in a race or that it’s your third time at a restaurant.

Quentin Tarantino, the director of Italian heritage, is actually named after an ordinal number, the Latin for “fifth,” quintus. The name in Italian would be Quintino, while his is a French or English variation.

Here are some ordinal numbers in Italian, for reference: 

  • primo – first
  • secondo – second (also used in secondo me as in “in my opinion”)
  • terzo – third
  • quarto – fourth
  • quinto – fifth
  • sesto – sixth 
  • settimo -seventh (close to settimana, or the week)
  • ottavo – eight
  • nono – ninth
  • decimo – tenth 

You also use these terms when you’re trying to say things like a third of something, or the fifth of a whole. Fun fact: in Rome, when buying offal at a butcher shop, you’d ask for the quinto quarto, the “fifth quarter.”

This comes from Roman times, where nobility was given the first quarter of the animal, the finest cuts, while the second quarter was reserved for clergy, the third for the bourgeoisie and the last for members of the military. So, regular folk got the quinto quarto, fashioned from the rest.

Italian Maths Terms

Italian numerals

While this article is about numbers generally, it can’t hurt to go into some basic terms of maths, matematica, so you know what to do with those numbers, whenever it comes about in Italian.

There are four main things you can do with numbers: add them up, subtract them, multiply them or divide them. I’ll briefly get into all of these below. But first, the way you’d or ask someone about the end result of these calculations is quanto fa? (Literally “how much does it make?).

Add it up: the plus sign is più in Italian, while equals is uguale. The final result is called somma (you may remember from words like insomma).

To sum it up, here’s an example: 

Addition

  • Quanto fa dieci più cinque? (How much is ten plus five?)
  • Quindici. (Fifteen.)

Subtraction

This minus that: minus is meno in Italian, which literally means “less.” So: 

  • Cento meno dieci uguale novanta. (One hundred minus ten equals ninety.)

You can call the final sum either differenza or resto, though the first is more fancy, if you will.

Multiplication

Multiplication is written with an x, and said with per. See this example: 

  • Dieci per dieci uguale cento. (Ten times ten equals one hundred.)

The sum left after multiplication is the prodotto

Divisions

Divisions: “divided by” is diviso in Italian. An example: 

  • Cento diviso due uguale cinquanta. (One hundred divided by two equals fifty.)

In cases like the one above, the final sum of a division is called quoto. When there is a remainder, you call it quoziente, instead. 

% or Percento: if you just want to say 20%, you can say venti percento. But if you want to say 20% in a sentence or write it into a text, you have to add an article, like this: 

  • Il quaranta percento della popolazione. (Forty percent of the population.)

Dimensions

Last but not least, dimensions: while not used very often, a situation may arise where you need to give someone the dimensions of something in Italian. You’d do that by saying the two numbers, separated by a per, or “x” — this is also often used to substitute the word per, or for, in texting. But here, it stands for “by” just like in English: 

  • Un foglio* da venti per ottanta centimetri. (A sheet [of paper] of twenty by eighty centimeters.)

*as in a sheet of paper, un foglio di carta.  

Italian Numbers: Wrapping It Up

counting in Italian

So really, numbers in Italian aren’t all that difficult, and the language doesn’t make maths more of a nightmare than it already is. 

Now you’re familiar with Italian numbers, the trick is to immerse yourself in Italian so you hear the numbers in context. That way, you’ll be able to use them effortlessly yourself when the time comes to count in Italian.

So make sure you’re making daily contact with the Italian language whether that’s through Italian books, Italian podcasts or Italian YouTube channels.

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