The Italian Number System
In learning a new language, learning the number system plays an important role. The same applies if you’re learning Italian. There are many instances when knowledge of Italian numbers comes in handy, and this can include dealing with money, getting someone’s phone number, etc. Basically, your knowledge of Italian will remain rather incomplete if you do not know how to say the numbers right. This write-up, however, will help you with the same.
The numbering system in Italian follows the same basic principle as do numbers in English. This simply means you use one, two, three, etc. along with the prefix to make the chosen two digit number. For example; twenty one and twenty two would translate to ‘ventuno’ and ‘ventidue’ respectively. This makes it important for you to memorize/master the numbers 1 to 19, because after twenty you can make do with knowing the ‘tens’ and ‘hundreds’.
The All Important 1 to 19:
Here are the numbers 1 to 19 along with their pronunciations.
1 uno OO-noh
2 due DOO-eh
3 tre TREH
4 quattro KWAHT-troh
5 cinque CHEEN-kweh
6 sei SEH-ee
7 sette SET-teh
8 otto OHT-toh
9 nove NOH-veh
10 dieci dee-EH-chee
11 undici OON-dee-chee
12 dodici DOH-dee-chee
13 tredici TREH-dee-chee
14 quattordici kwaht-TOR-dee-chee
15 quindici KWEEN-dee-chee
16 sedici SEH-dee-chee
17 diciassette dee-chahs-SET-teh
18 diciotto dee-CHOHT-toh
19 diciannove dee-chahn-NOH-veh
Twenty to Twenty Nine:
These numbers will give you a good guide of how to use bigger numbers.
20 venti VEN-tee
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-SEH-ee
27 ventisette ven-tee-SET-teh
28 ventotto ven-TOHT-toh
29 ventinove ven-tee-NOH-veh
Thirty to Ninety Nine:
Once you get to thirty, the thirty ones, the forty twos, and the fifty threes follow the same pattern as the twenties.
30 trenta TREN-tah
40 quaranta kwah-RAHN-tah
50 cinquanta cheen-KWAHN-tah
60 sessanta ses-SAHN-tah
70 settanta set-TAHN-ta
80 ottanta oht-TAHN-ta
90 novanta noh-VAHN-tah
Hundred and Beyond :
100 cento chen-toh
101 centouno chen-toh-OO-noh
150 centocinquanta chen-toh-cheen-KWAHN-tah
200 duecento doo-eh-CHEN-toh
300 trecento treh-CHEN-toh
400 quattrocento kwaht-troh-CHEN-toh
500 cinquecento cheen-kweh-CHEN-toh
600 seicento seh-ee-CHEN-toh
700 settecento set-the-CHEN-toh
800 ottocento oht-toh-CHEN-toh
900 novecento noh-veh-CHEN-toh
1,000 mille MEEL-leh
2,000 duemila doo-eh-MEE-lah
10,000 diecimila dee-eh-chee-MEE-lah
15,000 quindicimila kween-dee-chee-MEE-lah
The Big Numbers:
Here is a list of the big numbers in Italian, and these when used with smaller numbers, follow the same pattern as established before.
100,000 centomila chen-toh-mee-leh
1,000,000 un milione OON mee-lee-OH-neh
2,000.000 due milioni DOO-eh mee-lee-OH-neh
1,000,000,000 un miliardo OON mee-lee-ARE-doh
The Role of the Gender:
When using numbers to denote years, you have to pay particular attention to the article being used. With years, you will need to use a singular masculine definite article. Here’s an example:
‘He was born in 1977’, becomes, ‘Era nato nel 1977’.
‘1982 was a great year for wine’, becomes, ‘Il 1982 è stato grande anno’.
Bear in mind that learning Italian numbers is not really difficult. All you need to do is practice regularly till you get a hang of them. Once you have these mastered, you’ll be surprised at how often you can get to use them even if you’re nowhere close to Italy.
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