French fractions and decimals: un demi, un tiers, virgule

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated 23 September 2026 · About the library

Say fractions and decimals in French: un demi, la moitié, un tiers, un quart, trois quarts, and 2,5 read as deux virgule cinq. A compact reference with practice.

In short

The common fractions are un demi (½), un tiers (⅓), un quart (¼) and trois quarts (¾). From ⅕ on, use ordinal numbers: un cinquième, un dixième. Decimals use a comma, read virgule: 2,5 = deux virgule cinq.

Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn

A partly served cake, a half-full milk bottle and flour on a kitchen table. — The kitchen gives context to un tiers and la moitié. Illustration: Atelier

Fractions et décimales · fiche

1 · The special ones

Learn these four by heart.

½	un demi / la moitié
⅓	un tiers
¼	un quart
¾	trois quarts

Il reste un tiers du gâteau.There's a third of the cake left.

2 · Demi or moitié?

Demi is a number; la moitié is half of something.

une demi-heurehalf an hour

la moitié des élèveshalf the pupils

3 · Fifths and beyond

Ordinal number used as a noun.

deux cinquièmestwo fifths

un centièmeone hundredth

4 · Decimals

Comma = virgule; read each part as a number.

0,75zéro virgule soixante-quinze

3,2 kmtrois virgule deux kilomètres

5 · Percentages

Pour cent, with a space before %.

15 %quinze pour cent

50 % de réductionfifty per cent off

6 · Et demi(e)

After a noun, demi agrees: et demie. Before it, it's invariable with a hyphen.

deux heures et demiehalf past two

une demi-bouteillehalf a bottle

En cuisine

Léa
Il faut combien de farine ?
How much flour do we need?
Toi
Deux cent cinquante grammes, c'est-à-dire un quart de kilo.
Two hundred and fifty grams, so a quarter of a kilo.
Léa
Et le lait ?
And the milk?
Toi
Un demi-litre. On a la moitié de la bouteille, ça suffit.
Half a litre. We've got half the bottle, that's enough.

How do you say fractions in French?

You'll meet fractions in recipes (un demi-litre de lait, un quart de beurre), in time (un quart d'heure, trois quarts d'heure) and in shops (un demi-kilo, often called une livre). Prices on receipts and sales tags use the decimal comma: 4,99 € is read quatre euros quatre-vingt-dix-neuf.

1 · Write it in words

½ litre → un -litre (half)
¼ d'heure → un d'heure (quarter)
⅓ → un (third)
2,5 → deux cinq (decimal)
¾ → trois (three quarters)