Count things, not the air
Numbers stick when they count something: deux livres, trois chaises, cinq crayons. Every count you say aloud is also an article-free plural — numbers replace un/une, so it is deux livres, never deux des livres.
Numbers 0–12
The first thirteen French numbers, zéro to douze, each with a respelling — the set every age, price, date and phone number is built from. Three of them hide old friends: un is the article you already know, and six and dix end in a spoken s sound.
The words
| French | English | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| zéro | 0 | zay-ROH |
| un | 1 | uh(n) |
| deux | 2 | duh |
| trois | 3 | trwah |
| quatre | 4 | KAHTR |
| cinq | 5 | sa(n)k |
| six | 6 | sees |
| sept | 7 | set |
| huit | 8 | weet |
| neuf | 9 | nuhf |
| dix | 10 | dees |
| onze | 11 | oh(n)z |
| douze | 12 | dooz |
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
Hear the words
Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.
Do it now — on paper
- Count 0–12 aloud three times: forwards, backwards, then evens only.
- Count real things on your desk in French, out loud.
- Write the numbers as words, 0–12, from memory; check the accents on zéro.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The French Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.
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