Numbers 1–10
Numbers 1–10
English numbers become transparent compounds from thirteen onward (thir-TEEN is clearly three + ten), with only eleven and twelve as odd ones out. French breaks that transparency earlier and for longer, so it's worth flagging now before you meet 11–16.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
Where the compounding breaks
onze, douze, treize... (11, 12, 13 — not obviously 'ten-one', 'ten-two')
eleven, twelve, thirteen (11, 12 are opaque; 13 onward is clearly '-teen' = ten)
English has only two truly opaque numbers before twenty — eleven and twelve don't visibly contain 'ten' (they come from an old Germanic phrase meaning 'one/two left over' after ten). From thirteen through nineteen, though, English is transparent: the '-teen' suffix is recognizably 'ten' every time. French breaks transparency much earlier and for longer: onze, douze, treize, quatorze, quinze, seize (11–16) don't visibly contain dix (ten) at all, so all six have to be memorized as standalone words. The compounding logic only becomes visible again from 17 onward (dix-sept = 'ten-seven'), which is actually where French numbers start behaving the way English numbers do from 13.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| un | uhn | one |
| deux | duh | two |
| trois | twah | three |
| quatre | KAH-truh | four |
| cinq | sank | five |
| six | sees | six |
| sept | set | seven |
| huit | weet | eight |
| neuf | nuhf | nine |
| dix | dees | ten |