Italian 1.4. Cardinal Numbers

Let us learn the cardinal numbers and counting in Italian. Here, we will learn how to count from 1 to 10 and beyond.

uno, una	1	ventuno	21	duecento	200
due	2	ventidue	22	trecento	300
tre	3	ventitré	23	quattrocento	400
quattro	4	trenta	30	cinquecento	500
cinque	5	trentuno	31	seicento	600
sei	6	trentadue	32	settecento	700
sette	7	trentatré	33	ottocento	800
otto	8	quaranta	40	novecento	900
nove	9	quarantuno	41	mille	1.000
dieci	10	quarantadue	42	duemila	2.000
undici	11	cinquanta	50	tremila	3.000
dodici	12	cinquantuno	51	diecimila	10.000
tredici	13	cinquantadue	52	centomila	100.000
quattordici	14	sessanta	60	centomilauno	100.001
quindici	15	settanta	70	centomiladieci	100.010
sedici	16	ottanta	80	un milione	1.000.000
diciassette	17	novanta	90	due milioni	2.000.000
diciotto	18	cento	100	dieci milioni	10.000.000
diciannove	19	centouno	101	un miliardo	1.000.000.000
venti	20	centodue	102	due miliardi	2.000.000.000

The Number “0”

The number “0” in Italian is “zero,” pronounced as “dze-ro.”

“Un” vs. “Uno”

Before a masculine noun, “uno” becomes “un,” e.g., “un cane” (a dog), “un gatto” (a cat). You will encounter a similar dropping of the final “o” with a few other words in Italian, such as “buono” (good) and “bello” (beautiful), e.g., “Questo ristorante è buono” (This restaurant is good), “Questo è un buon ristorante” (This is a good restaurant).

Tens

The cardinal numbers 21-99 in Italian are formed by contracting the combination of the tens (venti, trenta, quaranta, … etc.) and the units (uno, due, tre, … etc.). The following two changes apply, if necessary:

1. The vowel at the end of the tens is dropped if the unit starts with a vowel (“uno” and “otto”), e.g., “ventuno” (21), “trentotto” (38), “quarantuno” (41), “novantotto” (98), etc.

2. Numbers with “three” in their units are written with an acute accent on their endings, e.g., “ventitré” (23), “trentatré” (33), “ottantatré” (83), etc.

Hundreds

The multiples of hundred (200-900) are formed by combining (due, tre, … etc.) and “cento” to form (duecento, trecento, … etc.).

We use a comma to separate decimals and a period to separate thousands in Italian. For instance, the number 2.155,25 in Italian is equivalent to 2,155.25 in English.

Numbers of more than two digits in length can be concatenated or written separately. Unlike in English, the conjunction “and” is not used anywhere between units, tens, hundreds, thousands, etc., e.g., “quattrocentocinquantuno”(451) can also be written “quattrocento cinquantuno.”

Thousands, Millions, & Beyond

The word for a thousand in Italian is “mille.” To refer to multiples of a thousand, we use “mila” instead, e.g., “tremila” (3.000), “cinquemila” (5.000), etc.

When describing items in millions or billions, one must add “di” after “milione(-i)” or “miliardo(-i),” e.g., “un milione di studenti)” (a million students), “due miliardi di abitanti” (two billion inhabitants).

Notice that, in Italian, we cannot use the English way of expressing years, as in “nineteen seventy-three” (1973); that is, saying “diciannove settantatré” is incorrect. The correct way is to say “mille novecento settantatré.”

Arithmetic Operations

The basic arithmetic operations in Italian are as follows:

+	più	plus
–	meno	minus
×	per	times
÷	diviso (per)	divided by
=	fa, uguale (a)	equals

Next: Subject Personal Pronouns

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