NOTES
(by DuoItalian)

CARDINAL NUMBERS
Numbers that denote quantity (1, 2, 3, etc.) are often referred to as “cardinal numbers” or “natural numbers”. The first twenty in Italian are fairly unique and need to be memorized.

 uno one undici eleven
 due two dodici twelve
 tre three tredici thirteen
 quattro four quattordici fourteen
 cinque five quindici fifteen
 sei six sedici sixteen
 sette seven diciassette seventeen
 otto eight diciotto eighteen
 nove nine diciannove nineteen
 dieci ten venti twenty


There are a couple of exceptions to the basic conformity of the Italian cardinal numbers after this:

  • When uno (one) and otto (eight) are added to numbers venti (twenty) through novanta (ninety), the final vowel is dropped.
  • Any number ending with tre (three) must add an accent on the end such as: trentatré (thirty-three), settantatré (seventy-three), etc.
  vent-uno twenty-one  ventisei twenty-six
  ventidue twenty-two  ventisette twenty-seven
  ventitré
twenty-three  vent-otto twenty-eight
  ventiquattro twenty-four  ventinove twenty-nine
  venticinque twenty-five


As seen below, cento (one hundred) does NOT change in the plural, but mille (one thousand) changes to mila and milione (one million) changes to milioni.

 trenta thirty cento one hundred
 quaranta forty trecento three hundred
 cinquanta fifty mille one thousand
 sessanta sixty duemila two thousand
 settanta seventy un milione one million
 ottanta eighty sei milioni
six million
 novanta ninety un miliardo one billion


TIP: In Italian, a period is used instead of a comma in large numbers and writing them out in text can look somewhat confusing, as there is no spacing.

  • English (36,918 = thirty-six thousand nine hundred eighteen)
  • Italian (36.918 = trentaseimilanovecentodiciotto)

ORDINAL NUMBERS
As in English, the Italian ordinal numbers are used to indicate order.

 primo first sesto sixth
 secondo second settimo seventh
 terzo third ottimo eighth
 quarto fourth nono ninth
 quinto fifth decimo tenth


In Italian however, they are treated as adjectives and must agree in gender with the noun they modify.

  • Questo è nostra primo concerto. (This is our first concert.)
  • Lei è la terza ragazza da sinistra. (She is the third girl from the left.)

Following decimo (tenth), the remaining ordinal numbers are formed by dropping the final vowel and adding -esimo. The only exceptions being numbers ending in -sei or -tre, which do NOT drop the final vowel.

  • diciott –esimo (eighteenth)
  • ventitre –esimo (twenty-third)
  • quarantasei –esimo (forty-sixth)

AGE
The expression of someone’s age in Italian is formulated as a number of years the person “has”.

  • Lei ha sedici anni. (She has sixteen years. → She is sixteen years old.)

MATH
Basic math in Italian is written out as follows:

  • 10 x 9 = 90 (dieci per nove uguale novanta)
  • 7 + 4 =11 (sette più quattro uguale undici)
  • 16 / 2 = 8 (sedici diviso due uguale otto)
  • 73 – 40 = 33 (settantatre meno quaranta uguale trentatre)

VIDEO
(from YouTube)


VOCABULARY
(from Duolingo)
numeronumber
unoone
primafirst
duetwo
secondosecond
trethree
terzothird
quattrofour
quartofourth
cinquefive
quintafifth
seisix
sestosixth
setteseven
settimoseventh
ottoeight
ottavoeigth
novenine
nononinth
dieciten
decimatenth
undicieleven
dodicitwelve
tredicithirteen
quattordicifourteen
quindicififteen
sedicisixteen
diciassetteseventeen
diciottoeighteen
diciannovenineteen
ventitwenty
trentathirty
trent'thirty (preceding vowels)
quarantaforty
quarant'forty (preceding vowels)
cinquantafifty
sessantasixty
sessant'sixty (preceding vowels)
settantaseventy
settant'seventy (preceding vowels)
ottantaeighty
novantaninety
centoone hundred
milleone thousand
un milioneone million
un miliardoone billion
ultimolast
zerozero
alcunosome
doppiodouble
moltomany
pochifew
sufficientesufficient
tantomuch
abbastanzaenough
menoless
metàhalf
piùmore
più grandebigger

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