Italian numbers: A complete guide to counting in Italian

Did you miss your class on Italian numbers? Time to catch up! Whether you’re ordering coffee, catching a train, or negotiating prices at a local market, knowing how to count and use numbers in Italian is essential. 

In this article, we’ll dive into Italian numbers, from basic digits to the dates, prices and idiomatic expressions in which numbers appear on a daily basis. We’ll also point out some patterns, pronunciation tips and practical examples that will help you develop a more intuitive understanding of Italian numbers.

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Counting in Italian: The basics

Numbers 1 to 10 

Italian and Spanish numbers share Latin roots, so if you’ve already learned the basic numbers (1–10) in Spanish, you’ll be glad to know they’re nearly identical in Italian. Some English numbers also derive from Latin, so you shouldn’t have trouble remembering the Italian numbers tre (three), sei (six) and nove (nine), among others.

English	Italian	Pronunciation
one	uno	oo-noh
two	due	doo-eh
three	tre	treh
four	quattro	kwah-troh
five	cinque	cheen-kweh
six	sei	say-ee
seven	sette	set-teh
eight	otto	oht-toh
nine	nove	noh-veh
ten	dieci	dyay-chee

• Ho una mela. (I have one apple.)
• Ci sono cinque libri sul tavolo. (There are five books on the table.)
• La lezione dura dieci minuti. (The lesson lasts ten minutes.)

Numbers 11 to 20

Numbers 11–16 combine a unique prefix with the suffix -dici, derived from dieci (ten). For numbers 17–19, the order flips; these numbers combine the prefix dici- with a unique suffix.

English	Italian	Pronunciation
eleven	undici	oon-dee-chee
twelve	dodici	doh-dee-chee
thirteen	tredici	treh-dee-chee
fourteen	quattordici	kwa-tor-dee-chee
fifteen	quindici	kween-dee-chee
sixteen	sedici	seh-dee-chee
seventeen	diciassette	dee-chah-set-teh
eighteen	diciotto	dee-chot-toh
nineteen	dicianove	dee-chah-noh-veh
twenty	venti	ven-tee

• Ho undici mele. (I have eleven apples.)
• Ci sono quindici studenti. (There are fifteen students.)
• Venti persone sono qui. (Twenty people are here.)

Counting beyond the basics

Numbers 21 to 100

Numbers 21–99 are formed by combining the appropriate tenth decimal prefix (venti, trenta, etc.) with the appropriate unit (uno, due, etc.). Notice that the final vowel of the prefix is dropped before uno and otto for smoother pronunciation, so instead of saying ventiuno or ventiotto, we would say ventuno and ventotto.

English	Italian	Pronunciation
twenty-one	ventuno	ven-too-noh
thirty	trenta	tren-tah
thirty-two	trentadue	tren-tah-doo-eh
forty	quaranta	kwa-rahn-tah
forty-three	quarantatré	kwa-rahn-tah-treh
fifty	cinquanta	cheen-kwan-tah
fifty-four	cinquantaquattro	cheen-kwan-tah-kwah-troh
sixty	sessanta	ses-sahn-tah
sixty-five	sessantacinque	ses-sahn-tah-cheen-kweh
seventy	settanta	set-tahn-tah
seventy-six	settantasei	set-tahn-tah-say-ee
eighty	ottanta	oht-tahn-tah
eighty-seven	ottantasette	oht-tahn-tah-set-teh
ninety	novanta	noh-vahn-tah
ninety-eight	novantotto	noh-vahn-toht-toh
one hundred	cento	chen-toh

• Ho ventiquattro anni. (I am twenty-four years old.)
• Abbiamo ventinove mele. (We have twenty-nine apples.)
• Ci sono trentacinque persone in fila. (There are thirty-five people in line.)
• Ci sono sessantadue posti disponibili. (There are sixty-two seats available.)
• Ho letto sessantotto pagine oggi. (I read sixty-eight pages today.)
• Abbiamo settantadue biscotti per la festa. (We have seventy-two cookies for the party.)
• Il libro ha settantanove capitoli. (The book has seventy-nine chapters.)
• Ci sono ottantuno studenti nella scuola. (There are eighty-one students in the school.)

Hundreds, thousands, and beyond

English	Italian	Pronunciation
one hundred eighty-three	centottantatré	chen-toh-tan-tah-treh
two hundred	duecento	dweh-chen-toh
two hundred fifty-eight	duecentocinquantotto	dweh-chen-toh-cheen-kwan-toht-toh
three hundred	trecento	treh-chen-toh
three hundred twenty-six	trecentoventisei	treh-chen-toh-ven-tee-say
four hundred	quattrocento	kwah-troh-chen-toh
four hundred twelve	quattrocentododici	kwah-troh-chen-toh-doh-dee-chee
five hundred	cinquecento	cheen-kwe-chen-toh
five hundred two	cinquecentodue	cheen-kwe-chen-toh-doo-eh
six hundred	seicento	say-chen-toh
six hundred ninety-one	seicentonovantuno	say-chen-toh-noh-van-too-noh
seven hundred	settecento	set-teh-chen-toh
seven hundred twenty-eight	settecentoventotto	set-teh-chen-toh-noh-ven-toht-toh
eight hundred	ottocento	oht-toh-chen-toh
eight hundred ten	ottocentodieci	oht-toh-chen-toh-dee-eh-chee
nine hundred	novecento	noh-veh-chen-toh
nine hundred forty	novecentoquaranta	noh-veh-chen-toh-kwah-rahn-tah
one thousand	mille	mee-leh
two thousand	duemila	doo-eh-mee-lah
ten thousand	diecimila	dyeh-chee-mee-lah
one hundred thousand	centomila	chen-to-mee-lah
one million	un milione	oon mee-lyoh-neh
two million	due milioni	doo-eh mee-lyoh-nee
one billion	un miliardo	oon mee-lyar-doh

Ordinal numbers in the Italian language

Ordinal numbers indicate positions in a sequence (first, second, third, etc.). You can use them to clarify rankings, dates, floors in buildings, and chapters or lessons. Keep in mind that ordinal numbers must agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.

English	Italian	Pronunciation
first	primo/a	pree-moh/mah
second	secondo/a	seh-kon-doh/dah
third	terzo/a	ter-tsoh/tsah
fourth	quarto/a	kwar-toh/tah
fifth	quinto/a	keen-toh/tah
sixth	sesto/a	ses-toh/tah
seventh	settimo/a	set-tee-moh/mah
eighth	ottavo/a	ot-tah-voh/vah
ninth	nono/a	noh-noh/nah
tenth	decimo/a	deh-chee-moh/mah

• Oggi è il primo giorno di scuola. (Today is the first day of school.)
• Sono arrivato al secondo piano. (I arrived on the second floor.)
• Il terzo capitolo è il mio preferito. (The third chapter is my favorite.)
• Questa è la quarta volta che lo faccio. (This is the fourth time I’ve done it.)
• Hanno festeggiato il loro decimo anniversario. (They celebrated their tenth anniversary.)

Using Italian numbers in daily life

Time and dates 

English	Italian
one o’clock	l’una
two o’clock	le due
noon	mezzogiorno
midnight	mezzanotte
quarter past three	le tre e un quarto
half past four	le quattro e mezza
today	oggi
tomorrow	domani
yesterday	ieri
first week of the month	la prima settimana del mese
May the 1st	il primo di maggio

• Che ore sono? È l’una. (What time is it? It’s one o’clock.)
• Incontriamoci a mezzogiorno. (Let’s meet at noon.)
• Il primo di maggio è la Festa dei lavoratori. (The First of May is Workers’ Day.)
• Ieri era una giornata speciale. (Yesterday was a special day.)
• Il treno parte a mezzanotte. (The train leaves at midnight.)

Shopping and prices

English	Italian
price	il prezzo
one euro	un euro
ten euros	dieci euro
50 cents	cinquanta centesimi
300 grams	tre etti (un etto = 100g)
150 grams	un etto e mezzo
discount	lo sconto
sale	i saldi
receipt	lo scontrino
a kilo	un chilo
a dozen	una dozzina

• Qual è il prezzo? (What’s the price?)
• Vorrei un chilo di mele. (I’d like a kilo of apples.)
• Il totale è dieci euro. (The total is ten euros.)
• Avete saldi su questi prodotti? (Do you have sales on these products?)
• Può darmi lo scontrino, per favore? (Can you give me the receipt, please?)

Telephone numbers and addresses 

English	Italian
phone number	il numero di telefono
area code	il prefisso
address	l'indirizzo
floor	il piano
house number	il numero civico
zip code	il codice postale

• Qual è il tuo numero di telefono? (What’s your phone number?)
• Il prefisso per Roma è 06. (The area code for Rome is 06.)
• Abito al numero civico 10. (I live at house number 10.)
• Qual è il tuo indirizzo? (What’s your address?)
• L’ufficio è al quinto piano. (The office is on the fifth floor.)

Italian expressions with numbers

Numbers frequently appear in Italian idiomatic expressions, proverbs and sayings, often carrying symbolic or cultural significance.

• Essere al settimo cielo. (To be in seventh heaven.)
• Meaning: o be extremely happy or ecstatic
• Fare quattro chiacchiere. (To do four chit-chats.)
  Meaning: to have a little chat
• Essere in quattro gatti. (To be four cats.)
• Meaning: to be just a few people
• Non c’è due senza tre. (There’s no two without three.)
• Meaning: If something has happened twice, it’s likely to happen a third time.
• Su due piedi. (On two feet.)
• Meaning: Off the top of my head. To explain something without too much preparation.
• Chi fa da sé fa per tre. (One who does it for oneself, does it as if they were three.)
• Meaning: You're better off doing it by yourself rather than waiting for someone else.

FAQs

What are the numbers 1 to 20 in Italian?

Uno, due, tre, quattro, cinque, sei, sette, otto, nove, dieci, undici, dodici, tredici, quattordici, quindici, sedici, diciassette, diciotto, diciannove, venti.

For 21, 31 and further numbers, combine the tenth decimal prefix with the unit (venti + uno = ventuno). Drop the final vowel of the prefix (venti, trenta) before uno and otto (ventotto).

What are some tips for learning Italian numbers quickly?

Our top three tips are: practice counting aloud, notice the patterns (dici for 11–19 or -anta for 30+) and use real-life examples like prices or dates to reinforce learning.

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