Italian numbers 0–100: spelling, prices, age, phone numbers

Numbers come up in almost every conversation: prices, times, ages, phone numbers, addresses. The counting numbers (one, two, three) are called cardinal numbers. In Italian they are easy to build once you know the words from 1 to 20 and the tens.

Italian writes each number as one single word, however long it is: 35 is «trentacinque», 78 is «settantotto». Numbers do not change for masculine or feminine, with one exception: «uno», which works like the word for “a”: «un caffè», «una pizza». «Ho trentaquattro anni.» “I’m thirty-four.”

Zero to twenty

Zero is «zero». From 11 to 16, the numbers end in -dici, from the old word for ten: «undici», «dodici», «tredici», «quattordici», «quindici», «sedici». From 17 to 19 the order flips and dici- comes first: «diciassette», «diciotto», «diciannove».

Stress matters. The -dici numbers are stressed on the syllable just before -dici: «UN-di-ci», «DO-di-ci», «quat-TOR-di-ci», «QUIN-di-ci». And «sei» (six) sounds close to English “say”, not “sigh”.

Before a noun, uno behaves exactly like the indefinite article: «un panino», «uno studente», «una birra», «un’aranciata». The other numbers never change: «due panini», «due birre».

• Un cappuccino e due cornetti, per favore. · One cappuccino and two croissants, please.
• Il mio ufficio è al numero diciassette. · My office is at number seventeen.

The tens and compound numbers up to 100

The tens are «venti» (20), «trenta» (30), «quaranta» (40), «cinquanta» (50), «sessanta» (60), «settanta» (70), «ottanta» (80) and «novanta» (90). One hundred is «cento», with no word for “one” in front.

To make the numbers in between, join the ten and the unit into one word: «trentadue» (32), «sessantacinque» (65), «novantanove» (99). Two small changes apply. Before «uno» and «otto», which start with a vowel, the ten drops its final vowel: «ventuno», «ventotto», «quarantuno», «ottantotto». And when the number ends in tre, it takes an accent: «ventitré», «trentatré». The plain number «tre» has no accent.

Above 100 the same system goes on: «centodieci» (110), «duecento» (200), «mille» (1,000). You will need these for prices and years.

Prices and quantities

The word «euro» does not change in the plural: «un euro», «due euro», «cinquanta euro». The cents are «centesimi», but in speech people usually just say the number after «e»: «un euro e venti» “one euro twenty”. At the till you will hear «Sono…» or «Fanno…» before the total: «Fanno sette euro e cinquanta.»

In writing, Italian uses a comma for decimals and a full stop for thousands, the opposite of English: «2,50» is two euros fifty, and «1.200» is one thousand two hundred. The euro sign can go before or after the number: «€ 2,50» or «2,50 €».

To ask a price, say «Quanto costa?» for one thing and «Quanto costano?» for more than one. For an amount of food, put the number before a measure word and «di»: «due etti di prosciutto», «tre litri di latte».

• Quanto costano queste arance? Due euro al chilo. · How much are these oranges? Two euros a kilo.
• Il biglietto dell’autobus costa un euro e settanta. · The bus ticket costs one euro seventy.

Age, phone numbers and addresses

Italian uses «avere» for age, with the word «anni» (years): «Ho ventisei anni», literally “I have twenty-six years”. To ask, say «Quanti anni hai?» or, formally, «Quanti anni ha?». In a short answer you can leave out anni: «Quanti anni ha tuo figlio? Otto.» Before anni, numbers ending in -uno often drop their o: «ventun anni». You will also hear «ventuno anni».

Italians usually read phone numbers one digit at a time, or in pairs: 347 is «tre quattro sette», and 25 60 can be «venticinque sessanta». Mobile numbers start with 3. Landline numbers start with 0, which is part of the area code and is always dialled: 06 for Rome, 02 for Milan, read «zero sei» and «zero due».

In an address, the street comes first and the house number after it: «via Garibaldi 12», read «via Garibaldi dodici». The five-digit postcode, called the CAP, goes before the town: «00184 Roma».

• Quanti anni ha tua nonna? Ha novantadue anni. · How old is your grandmother? She’s ninety-two.
• Abito in via Mazzini 48, al terzo piano. · I live at Via Mazzini 48, on the third floor.