Ch 2 · Lesson 37French · Chapter 2 · Lesson 37 · Grammar primer
Number workshop three: cent, mille, million
No before cent or , never takes an s, and million and are nouns: million .
The short version
Cent and
,
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A hundred is plain cent and a thousand plain : and are wrong. Both sit straight in front of a noun, cent euros. Million and are nouns, so they take , add an s in the plural and need before a noun: million .
The big numbers: cent, mille, million, milliard
| Number | French | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | | no in front |
| 1,000 | | no , never takes an s |
| 2,000 | | |
| 100,000 | | |
| 1 million | | a noun: million |
| 1 billion | | a noun: the English billion |
and are numbers, so they sit straight in front of a noun:
.- It costs a hundred euros..- There are a thousand people.
and are nouns. They take , add an s in the plural, and need before a noun:
When another number follows, there is no : , 1,200,000.
The false friend is billion. In French, billion is a million million, the English trillion. For the English billion, say .
Years are read as ordinary numbers: - is 2026. Before 2000 you have a choice, both correct: 1990 is or, like English "nineteen ninety", - .
Going further: The whole system on one screen and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
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Lesson 37 of 42 in this chapter