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French numbers 100–999 999: cent, mille and spelling rules

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

How to write and say big French numbers: when cent takes an s, why mille never does, and where the hyphens go. A one-page reference with examples.

In short

Cent takes an -s only when it's multiplied and ends the number: deux cents but deux cent trois. Mille never changes: trois mille. Since the 1990 reform, you may hyphenate every part: deux-cent-trois.

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A blue compact car parked outside a French dealership as a customer admires it.
A car purchase gives vingt-trois mille cinq cents euros a context. Illustration: Atelier

Les grands nombres · fiche

1 · Hundreds

Cent alone for 100, no un.

200deux cents
300trois cents
900neuf cents

100 → centa hundred

101 → cent una hundred and one

2 · The s of cents

Plural -s only if nothing follows.

deux cents eurostwo hundred euros

deux cent cinquante eurostwo hundred and fifty euros

3 · Thousands

Mille is invariable and has no un.

2 300deux mille trois cents
10 500dix mille cinq cents

1 000 → millea thousand

5 000 → cinq millefive thousand

4 · Writing digits

Group thousands with a space, decimals with a comma.

12 500twelve thousand five hundred

3,5three point five

5 · Years

Years follow the same rules.

1998 → mille neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix-huit1998

2026 → deux mille vingt-six2026

6 · Millions

Million is a noun: it takes -s and de.

deux millions d'habitantstwo million inhabitants

7 · Hyphens

Traditional: hyphens only below 100. Reformed: hyphens everywhere.

trois cent vingt-deux / trois-cent-vingt-deux322

How do you say large numbers in French?

Read a big number group by group, exactly as it's written: 245 380 is deux cent quarante-cinq mille trois cent quatre-vingts. Note that quatre-vingts keeps its -s at the very end, by the same rule as cents. In prices, French often drops euros in the middle: mille deux cents euros is fine, but so is mille deux cents when the context is clear.

La voiture coûte vingt-trois mille cinq cents euros.

The car costs twenty-three thousand five hundred euros.

La ville compte trois cent mille habitants.

The city has three hundred thousand inhabitants.

Cent is followed by mille, so no -s.

The trap for English speakers is the comma: in French, 1,5 means one and a half and 1 500 (with a space) means one thousand five hundred. On price tags, 1.500 € sometimes appears too, but the space is the standard.

Question 1No account needed
Write 400.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

quatre cents. Multiplied and final: quatre cents.

Question 2No account needed
Write 420.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

quatre cent vingt. Something follows, so no -s: quatre cent vingt.

Question 3No account needed
Write 3,000.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

trois mille. Mille never takes -s.

Question 4No account needed
2,5 kg means…

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

two and a half kilos. The French comma is a decimal point.

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