A solid guide on how to count in Italian from 1-100 (and beyond!)

When we set out to learn a foreign language, we focus on learning the Italian alphabet, adding new words to our vocab lists, studying grammar and practicing verb conjugations. But we sometimes forget about a very useful skill, which we'll surely need if we plan on visiting the beautiful boot-shaped country: the Italian numbers!

In this article we’ll not only learn the Italian numbers from 1 to 100, and even up to 1000, we’ll also look at the spelling in words, and their pronunciation.

Moreover, to help you get the Italian numbers pronunciation just right, we will provide you with a phonetic transcription for English speakers.

Tre, due uno... Let’s start with i numeri italiani!

Why learn Italian numbers?

Well, you don’t need a reason to learn something new and exciting every day but, since you asked...

1. Going shopping

The first thing that comes to mind with numbers are prices... If you are planning a trip to Italy or have to deal with an Italian client at work, you want to learn your numbers properly.

Sure, if you go to the supermarket or shopping center, the prices are written down on a label in numerals. If you want to have an authentic Italian experience, though, you’ll also want to venture to an Italian market, and you’ll be grateful you learned how to pronounce Italian numbers.

• Quanto costano queste melanzane? Costano due euro e quarantatré al kilo.
  How much are these eggplants? They cost two euros and forty-three cents per kg.

2. Telling the time and date

Another fundamental reason to learn the numbers is telling the time in Italian. And no, you don’t just need them up to 12 - in Italy, we use the 24-hour system. Also, numbers are definitely a must for telling the date.

Just learn the numbers, the days of the week in Italian and the months in Italian and you’re ready: you’ll be able to make appointments, set up meetings with your Italian clients and ask for museum opening times when you visit this beautiful country.

• Va bene, allora organizzo una riunione per martedì diciotto febbraio alle diciassette e trenta.
  Ok, so I’ll set up a meeting for Tuesday the 18th of February at 5 pm.

3. Everyday life purposes

Of course, there are countless more reasons: writing down the phone numbers of your new Italian friends, understanding the waiter telling you the Wi-Fi password in a café, listening to platform announcements at train stations, and so on.

Learn Italian numbers, spelling and pronunciation

As you might already know, Italian is a phonetic language, which is good news! It means that once you learn the Italian alphabet and its pronunciation, you’ll be able to read any word with no problems.

What about numbers, though? Don’t worry! We’ve got you covered. In the following tables, you’ll find:

• The numeral,
• The Italian number’s spelling
• And next to it, a sound transcription of how to pronounce it (for English speakers).

Practice your Italian accent by reading them all out loud. It’ll help you remember them and train your Italian pronunciation muscles, and remember, the Rs are rolled.

Italian numbers from 1 - 20

They say that you really know a language once you can think directly in the foreign language itself, rather than translating them from your native tongue…So start practicing!

I numeri da 1 a 20 (numbers from 1 to 20) are quite simple in Italian. Here they are:

Italian numbers from 21 - 99

Here, we’ll look at numbers from 21 to 99. Have a look at the table - to form numbers higher than 20, simply stick the numbers 1 to 9 after the main number.

Notice that it’s 21 ventuno (not ventiuno), 31 trentuno (not trentauno), 41 quarantuno (not quarantauno), etc. you drop the last letter to attach the number. This only happens with number 1.

Also, notice that numbers that end with 3 take an accent in the written form: 23 ventitré, 33 trentatré, 43 quarantatré, etc

Italian numbers to 1000

The excellent news is that from here on things actually get pretty easy! For the centinaia (hundreds) just add the word cento to the numbers 1 to 10… That’s it!

Italian numbers from 1000 - 1,000,000

So now we start with the migliaia (thousands) and centinaia di migliaia (hundreds of thousands). We told you we'd go beyond 100 and 1000 - so if you're feeling comfortable and confident, embrace this level up! Again, it actually is very simple. Just add the suffix -mila the numbers you just learned, and you’re done!

Then, you will get to milioni (millions) and miliardi (billions). Careful, the word bilioni in Italian is not billions! (It’s actually a million millions!)

So if ottantasei is 86, ottantaseimila is 86,000. Pretty easy right?

How to put it all together

As you must have noticed by now, putting the Italian numbers together is really easy: they just become one single word: no dashes, no “and” or other connecting words.

Just from un milione (one million) onwards, we separate the first number: trenta milioni (thirty millions).

Italian ordinal numbers

Let’s now see the most used ordinal numbers in Italian. These are used to talk about rankings, but also to talk about centuries, or kings’ and queens’ titles:

• Siamo nel ventunesimo secolo.
  We are in the 21st century.
• Re Giorgio VI (read “sesto”) d’Inghilterra nacque nel 1985.
  King George VI of England was born in 1985.

Basically, from number 11 on, the rule is to remove the last letter of the number and add -esimo

Remember, ordinal numbers behave like adjectives, so they will need to agree in gender and number with the subject you are describing.

Italian number songs

Numeri canzone 1 a 100 | Canzoni per bambini | Filastrocche in italiano | Farmees | Cartoni animati

Well, of course you could just listen to the great old numbers songs for kids… But Italian music has so much more!

Adriano Celentano - 24000 Baci

Here the legend Adriano Celentano wants 24.000 kisses and 1000 caresses… Pretty romantic.

I numeri - Jovanotti

In this funky song Jovanotti doesn’t really like i numeri…

Lucio Battisti - 7 e 40 (1970)

Here Lucio Battisti talks about a leaving train… Definitely an Italian classic from the 70s! What time does the train leave?

Nina Zilli - 50mila ft. Giuliano Palma

And what if someone made you shed 50 mila lacrime (50.000 tears!)? Doesn’t sound that great… but it’s a catchy song!

FAQs for the Italian numbers

Are Italian numbers masculine or feminine?

Italian numbers are always masculine. Although, the collective nouns decine (tens), centinaia (hundreds) and migliaia (thousands) are feminine.

Are Italian numbers capitalized?

No, Italian numbers are never capitalized.

Decimal numbers in Italian

To form decimal numbers in Italian, we use a comma and not a point. Comma in Italian is virgola (veer-goh-lah). So 10.5 will be 10,5 and will be read: dieci virgola cinque (dee-eh-chee veer-goh-lah cheen-kweh).

Tips for learning numbers in Italian

Learning any aspect of a new language requires lots of practice! So try to find ways in your daily life to use the numbers.

• Are you still a student? Try to read your math problems in Italian!
• If math is not your strength, then just keep your receipts when you go shopping and then, once you’re home, re-read them in Italian!
• Do you get stressed at work? Count dieci respiri instead of ten breaths, and you’ll feel better straight away, while practicing your Italian!
• Our general advice is to try to make it fun, and incorporate ways of practicing the Italian numbers in your daily life!

Ready to put theory into practice?

Knowing numbers is practical and useful knowledge to have in any language! Numbers are everywhere you look, and now hopefully, you’ve gained the confidence to count to 100, 1,000, even 1,000,000 in Italian.

Remember, if you feel you’ll need to reread it, just save the page in your favorites and come back for the pronunciation or spelling whenever you need to!

To round up your Italian vocabulary knowledge, check out our Italian language blog or explore some of our Italian courses.