Numbers in French 1–10: Pronunciation and Simple Rules

Counting to ten is a small lesson with a big payoff. You need these numbers for prices, addresses, times, phone numbers and almost every first conversation in French. In the video below, I say les chiffres de 1 à 10 one by one. Repeat each number after me, then use the pronunciation notes and examples in this guide to make them stick.

The numbers 1 to 10 in French

Here is the complete list. The English-friendly spellings are only a bridge: listen to the video for the real French sounds, especially the nasal vowels in un and cinq.

• 1 — un (a nasal "uh" sound)
• 2 — deux ("duh", with rounded lips)
• 3 — trois ("trwah")
• 4 — quatre ("katr")
• 5 — cinq ("sank", with a nasal vowel)
• 6 — six ("sees" when counting)
• 7 — sept ("set")
• 8 — huit ("weet", with tightly rounded lips)
• 9 — neuf ("nurf", without a strong English r)
• 10 — dix ("dees" when counting)

The three sounds beginners need to practise

Un: do not pronounce the n

In un, the letter n makes the vowel nasal; it is not a separate English-style n sound. Let a little air pass through your nose and stop before your tongue touches the roof of your mouth. When simply counting, say un. Before a feminine noun, however, one becomes une: un café but une baguette.

Deux and neuf: round your lips

The vowel in deuxdoes not exist in standard English. Start to say "eh" while keeping your lips rounded as if you were saying "oo". Neuf uses a more open version of the same rounded sound. This lip position matters more than trying to copy an English spelling.

Huit: begin with a French u

Huitis close to "weet", but the first sound is made with the tongue position of "ee" and the rounded lips of "oo". The h is silent. Practise the pair sept, huit slowly before saying it at normal speed.

Why six and dix change their sound

When you count, six sounds like sees and dix sounds like dees. In a sentence, their final sound changes depending on the next word:

• six — sees when used alone
• six personnes — see before a consonant
• six amis — seez before a vowel
• dix — dees when used alone
• dix minutes — dee before a consonant
• dix euros — deez before a vowel

That final z sound before a vowel is called liaison. You will also hear it in deux amis and trois euros. You do not need to memorise every liaison rule today; first learn to hear the connection.

Useful examples with numbers 1–10

• Je voudrais deux cafés. — I'd like two coffees.
• Nous sommes trois. — There are three of us.
• Ça coûte cinq euros. — It costs five euros.
• J'habite au numéro huit. — I live at number eight.
• Le train part dans dix minutes. — The train leaves in ten minutes.
• Elle a neuf ans. — She is nine years old.

Notice neuf ans: in careful speech, the final f often becomes a v sound before ans. Do not let that detail slow you down—French speakers will understand neuf perfectly while you build fluency.

Chiffre or nombre?

Technically, a chiffre is a digit from 0 to 9, while a nombre is a quantity written with one or more digits. So 7 is both a digit and a number, while 10 is a number made from the digits 1 and 0. In beginner materials, though, les chiffres is a very common, friendly heading for a counting lesson—so you will see both les chiffres de 1 à 10 and les nombres de 1 à 10.

A two-minute practice routine

Play the video once and only listen. On the second pass, pause after each number and repeat it twice. Then count forward from one to ten without looking, count backwards from ten to one, and finally choose five objects around you and say how many you can see. Short, repeated practice works better than staring at the list.

Continue with the colors in French so you can combine the two lessons—deux livres rouges, trois chaises blanches. For a broader beginner roadmap, use my French vocabulary guide. If you want help correcting your pronunciation in real time, you can also book a free 30-minute trial lesson.