You might find cardinal (counting) numbers the most useful to know—you will need them to express time, record dates, do math, interpret recipe amounts, and, of course, count. In Italian, cardinal numbers are written as one word. Use the following table to memorize numbers from 1 to 100.
ITALIAN CARDINAL NUMBERS: 1-100
1
uno
OO-noh
2
due
DOO-eh
3
tre
TREH
4
quattro
KWAHT-troh
5
cinque
CHEEN-kweh
6
sei
SEH-ee
7
sette
SET-teh
8
otto
OHT-toh
9
nove
NOH-veh
10
dieci
dee-EH-chee
11
undici
OON-dee-chee
12
dodici
DOH-dee-chee
13
tredici
TREH-dee-chee
14
quattordici
kwaht-TOR-dee-chee
15
quindici
KWEEN-dee-chee
16
sedici
SEH-dee-chee
17
diciassette
dee-chahs-SET-teh
18
diciotto
dee-CHOHT-toh
19
diciannove
dee-chahn-NOH-veh
20
venti
VEN-tee
21
ventuno
ven-TOO-noh
22
ventidue
ven-tee-DOO-eh
23
ventitré
ven-tee-TREH
24
ventiquattro
ven-tee-KWAHT-troh
25
venticinque
ven-tee-CHEEN-kweh
26
ventisei
ven-tee-SEH-ee
27
ventisette
ven-tee-SET-teh
28
ventotto
ven-TOHT-toh
29
ventinove
ven-tee-NOH-veh
30
trenta
TREN-tah
40
quaranta
kwah-RAHN-tah
50
cinquanta
cheen-KWAHN-tah
60
sessanta
ses-SAHN-tah
70
settanta
set-TAHN-ta
80
ottanta
oht-TAHN-ta
90
novanta
noh-VAHN-tah
100
cento
CHEN-toh
The numbers venti, trenta, quaranta, cinquanta, and so on drop the final vowel when combined with uno and otto. Tre is written without an accent, but ventitré, trentatré, and so on are written with an accent.
Beyond 100
Do you remember those good old days before the euro’s arrival in Italy when you would pay a few thousand lire for admission to a museum or a cappuccino and biscotti? Tourists needed more than just the numbers up to 100 to get around. Lire are history, but learning numbers greater than 100 might still prove useful. Though they might seem unwieldy, after a bit of practice you’ll be rolling them off your tongue like a pro.