Italian Numbers 0-100: Rules, Pronunciation and Common Mistakes

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By Rossana Pazzaglia, native Italian teacher with a CEDILS certification in teaching Italian to foreigners (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice) · Updated 19 October 2026

Numbers are everywhere: at the café, at the supermarket, on the phone, at the station. They are also among the first things you really need, because without them you cannot ask a price, say your age or understand which platform your train leaves from. Luckily, for Italian numbers from 0 to 100 there are only two rules to remember.

From 0 to 20

0 zero	7 sette	14 quattordici
1 uno	8 otto	15 quindici
2 due	9 nove	16 sedici
3 tre	10 dieci	17 diciassette
4 quattro	11 undici	18 diciotto
5 cinque	12 dodici	19 diciannove
6 sei	13 tredici	20 venti

A trick: from 11 to 16 the unit comes first and the number ends in -dici (un-dici, do-dici, tre-dici…). From 17 to 19, dici- comes first: dicia-ssette, dici-otto, dicia-nnove.

The tens

20 venti – 30 trenta – 40 quaranta – 50 cinquanta – 60 sessanta – 70 settanta – 80 ottanta – 90 novanta – 100 cento.

Note: you just say cento, not “uno cento” (unlike “one hundred”).

From 21 to 99: one single word

Compound numbers join the ten and the unit into one word: 22 ventidue, 35 trentacinque, 47 quarantasette, 96 novantasei.

Rule 1: uno and otto drop the vowel

Before uno and otto, which start with a vowel, the ten loses its final vowel:

• 21 → ventuno (not “ventiuno”)
• 28 → ventotto (not “ventiotto”)
• 31 → trentuno, 38 → trentotto
• 81 → ottantuno, 88 → ottantotto

Rule 2: the accent on -tré

Tre on its own has no accent, but in compound numbers it does: ventitré, trentatré, novantatré. It is one of the most frequent spelling mistakes, even among Italians.

Uno, una, un: numbers with nouns

Uno behaves like the indefinite article: un libro (a book), una casa (a house). Numbers ending in -uno are often shortened before a noun: ventun anni (or ventuno anni), trentun giorni.

Numbers in everyday life

• Prices: Quanto costa? – Dodici euro e cinquanta (€12.50). In Italian, decimals are written with a comma: 12,50 €.
• Age: Ho ventotto anni – I’m 28 (with the verb avere!).
• Phone numbers: usually said in pairs or digit by digit: zero novantuno – ventitré – quarantacinque…
• Times: Il treno parte alle diciassette e trenta (17:30). Italy and Switzerland use the 24-hour clock a lot.

Exercise

Write in words: 18 – 21 – 33 – 48 – 67 – 71 – 100.

Answers: diciotto, ventuno, trentatré, quarantotto, sessantasette, settantuno, cento.

Always read numbers out loud: compound numbers only become fluent with practice.

Ordinal Numbers: A Quick Note

Cardinal numbers (uno, due, tre) say how many; ordinals (primo, secondo, terzo) say which position: il primo piano (the first floor), la seconda strada a destra (the second street on the right). From 1st to 10th ordinals have special forms: primo, secondo, terzo, quarto, quinto, sesto, settimo, ottavo, nono, decimo. According to Treccani’s Enciclopedia dell’italiano, numerals also include fractional, multiplicative, distributive and collective numbers, besides cardinals and ordinals ^[1].

Mini-Dialogue at the Supermarket

Cassiera: Sono ventitré euro e quaranta.
Cliente: Ecco cinquanta euro.
Cassiera: Ho il resto: ventisei euro e sessanta.
Cliente: Grazie! Mi dà anche lo scontrino?

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• “ventiuno” or “ventiotto” → write ventuno, ventotto.
• “ventitre” without the accent → write ventitré.
• “uno cento” → say cento.
• “Sono 30 anni” → say Ho 30 anni.
• Mixing up “sedici” and “sessanta”: listen for the stress. Sèdici (16) and sessànta (60) are stressed on different syllables.

Second Exercise: Read and Answer

1. Quanto fa 15 + 17? (Trentadue.)
2. Quanti giorni ha il mese di ottobre? (Trentuno.)
3. Quanto fa 100 – 9? (Novantuno.)
4. Write your favourite number between 20 and 99 in words.
5. Write the price 4,80 € in words. (Quattro euro e ottanta.)

Think about it: in which everyday situations do you use numbers in Italian? Write three sentences with a price, an age and a time.

Zero, cento and a peek beyond 100

The word zero has a long history: Treccani’s dictionary explains that it comes from medieval Latin and was adapted by Leonardo Fibonacci in 1202 from the Arabic sifr ^[2]. As a beginner you only need to know that it is pronounced DZÈ-ro and that it is used for temperatures (zero gradi), for the start of a phone number and for scores (due a zero, 2-0).

The same dictionary describes cento as an invariable cardinal adjective ^[3]: it never changes, whatever it counts (cento euro, cento persone). When you go past 100, you simply add the next number without dropping any vowel: centouno (101), centodue (102), centotré (103, with the accent, like ventitré). According to the Treccani Enciclopedia dell’italiano, elision with cento is rare, and centouno is preferred to “centuno” ^[1]. A small bonus: mille (1000) is also invariable, but above one thousand it becomes mila: duemila, diecimila ^[4].

Un, uno or una? Choose the right form

The number one follows the same pattern as the indefinite article: it loses its final vowel in the same places where the article does ^[1]. So you say un euro, un anno, but uno zaino or uno studente (before z- or s + consonant), and una pizza with feminine nouns. The same applies to the compounds:

• ventun euro or ventuno euro (both fine, the short form is common);
• trentuno studenti (before s + consonant we keep the full form);
• ventuna ragazze (feminine: -una).

Say it aloud: prices, ages and phone numbers

Practise with real situations, not only with lists. Here are some models you can copy:

• 1,99 € → un euro e novantanove; 7,35 € → sette euro e trentacinque; 0,50 € → cinquanta centesimi.
• Age: Quanti anni hai? – Ho trentacinque anni. Remember: in Italian you have years, you are not them.
• Phone: a Swiss mobile number such as 079 123 45 67 can be read zero sette nove – uno due tre – quarantacinque – sessantasette. Choose the rhythm that your listener finds easiest.

Mini-Dialogue at the Market

Cliente: Buongiorno! Quanto costano le arance?
Fruttivendolo: Due euro e quaranta al chilo.
Cliente: Ne prendo due chili. E le mele?
Fruttivendolo: Un euro e novanta. In tutto fanno sei euro e settanta.
Cliente: Ecco dieci euro.
Fruttivendolo: Il resto: tre euro e trenta. Arrivederci!

Third Exercise: Prices and Ages

Write the numbers in words.

1. Maria is 41 years old. (Maria ha quarantun anni / quarantuno anni.)
2. The ticket costs 13,50 €. (Tredici euro e cinquanta.)
3. There are 58 students. (Cinquantotto.)
4. The room is number 83. (Ottantatré.)
5. 101 (Centouno.)
6. The coffee costs 1,20 €. (Un euro e venti.)

Another mistake to watch: after cento the vowel is normally kept (centouno; the dictionary also records centuno, but it is less common), while after the tens it drops: quarantotto, not “quarantaotto”. Think about it: which numbers do you still hesitate on? Make a personal list of five and read them aloud every morning for a week.

How to learn Italian numbers faster: four strategies

1. Count in tens first

Before memorising all 100 numbers, learn the tens as a chain: dieci, venti, trenta, quaranta, cinquanta, sessanta, settanta, ottanta, novanta, cento. From quaranta to novanta every ten ends in -anta, so once you know the pattern, the compound numbers are just a matter of adding the unit.

2. Build the pattern, not the list

Take one ten and add 1 to 9: trenta, trentuno, trentadue, trentatré, trentaquattro, trentacinque, trentasei, trentasette, trentotto, trentanove. Say the whole row aloud, then repeat with another ten. Notice that the only two “irregular” moments are -uno and -otto (the vowel drops) and -tré (the accent).

3. Practise with numbers that matter to you

Your house number, your postcode, your birthday, the bus number you take every day, your age and your family’s ages. Personal numbers stay in memory much longer than random ones.

4. Dictation and mental maths

Ask a friend (or your teacher) to dictate numbers and write them down in digits, then the other way round. Add and subtract in Italian: Dieci più venti fa trenta. Cento meno quindici fa ottantacinque. The verb fare is used for results: quanto fa?

Pronunciation notes for beginners

• Double consonants matter. In otto (8), sette (7) and diciotto (18) the double t is held longer than a single one. Compare sette (7) with sete (thirst): one consonant changes the word.
• The accent in ventitré. The stress falls on the last syllable, which is why it is written: pronounce ventitré with a clear final syllable, then compare it with ventitreesimo (23rd). Say compound numbers slowly first, then faster.
• Diciassette, diciannove. The double s and the double n are pronounced long. Many learners say them as if they were written with a single letter.
• Sedici and sessanta. Listen for the stress: SÈ-di-ci versus ses-SÀN-ta. The first has the stress at the beginning, the second in the middle.

Fourth exercise: dictation and mental maths

Write the answers in words, not in digits:

1. Venti più quaranta fa…?
2. Cento meno ventuno fa…?
3. Trentatré più trentatré fa…?
4. Sessanta meno quindici fa…?
5. Quanto fa nove per otto? (nove per otto = 9 × 8)
6. Scrivi in parole il numero 99.

Answers: 1. sessanta – 2. settantanove – 3. sessantasei – 4. quarantacinque – 5. settantadue – 6. novantanove.

Questions to reflect on

• Which numbers in your own language follow a different order from Italian (for instance, units before tens)? How does that influence you when you say ventitré or trentasei?
• In which real situations this week will you need numbers in Italian (a price, a platform, a phone number)? Prepare one sentence for each.
• Which of the two rules (the dropped vowel or the accent on -tré) do you find easier to remember? Explain it to someone else in your own words.

Keep learning

• Essere and avere: the two essential verbs
• The Italian alphabet and pronunciation
• Italian greetings

Want to practise numbers in a real conversation? Book a free trial lesson, join the course waiting list or take the free level test.

Sources

• [1] Federico Faloppa, “Numerali”, Enciclopedia dell’Italiano, Treccani (accessed 6 October 2026): on the optional apocope of ventuno / ventun and the accent on compounds of tre.
• [2] “Zero”, Vocabolario Treccani (accessed 6 October 2026): origin of the word and its uses as a number.
• [3] “Cento”, Vocabolario Treccani (accessed 6 October 2026): cento as an invariable cardinal adjective; forms such as centouno, centodue.
• [4] “Mille”, Vocabolario Treccani (accessed 6 October 2026): mille is invariable; the plural form mila in duemila, diecimila.