Updated 19 June 2026

Cheat sheet

French phone numbers: how to read the digits in pairs

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated 19 June 2026 · About the library

French phone numbers are read in pairs: 06 12 45 78 90 is zéro six, douze, quarante-cinq, soixante-dix-huit, quatre-vingt-dix. A one-page reference with practice.

In short

French phone numbers have ten digits, written and read in five pairs: 06 12 45 78 90 is zéro six, douze, quarante-cinq, soixante-dix-huit, quatre-vingt-dix. Mobile numbers start with 06 or 07; landlines with 01–05.

Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn

A receptionist taking a phone call with a pencil and blank notepad. — Give votre numéro clearly when reception asks. Illustration: Atelier

Les numéros · fiche

1 · Read in pairs

Each pair is one number from 00 to 99.

01 42 68 53 00zéro un, quarante-deux, soixante-huit, cinquante-trois, zéro zéro

2 · Pairs starting with 0

Say zéro and the digit.

07zéro sept

09zéro neuf

3 · 70–79

soixante + 10–19.

70	soixante-dix
71	soixante et onze

72soixante-douze

79soixante-dix-neuf

4 · 80–99

quatre-vingt(s) + 0–19.

80	quatre-vingts
90	quatre-vingt-dix

85quatre-vingt-cinq

97quatre-vingt-dix-sept

5 · Country code

France is +33; drop the first 0.

+33 6 12 45 78 90plus trente-trois, six, douze, quarante-cinq…

6 · Asking and checking

Two key questions.

Vous pouvez répéter plus lentement ?Can you repeat more slowly?

C'est bien le 06 12… ?Is it 06 12…?

Read these aloud

1 · Write the pair in words

06 12 00 15 (34) (34)
07 81 30 22 (76) (76)
01 45 10 08 (99) (99)
05 56 40 13 (71) (71)

Au téléphone

Réceptionniste
Vous pouvez me laisser votre numéro ?
Can you leave me your number?
Vous
Oui, c'est le zéro six, trente-quatre, soixante-seize, quatre-vingt-dix-neuf, zéro deux.
Yes, it's 06 34 76 99 02.
Réceptionniste
Zéro six, trente-quatre, soixante-seize… pardon, vous pouvez répéter la fin ?
06 34 76… sorry, can you repeat the end?
Vous
Quatre-vingt-dix-neuf, zéro deux.
99, 02.
Réceptionniste
Parfait, merci. On vous rappelle cet après-midi.
Perfect, thanks. We'll call you back this afternoon.

Numbers from 70 to 99 are the hard part for learners, because French counts in twenties: 76 is "sixty-sixteen" and 99 is "four-twenty-nineteen". Belgium and Switzerland say septante and nonante instead, but in France you will only hear soixante-dix and quatre-vingt-dix. Practise the pairs 70–99 aloud a few times and phone numbers stop being scary.

If someone gives you a number too fast, ask them to repeat chiffre par chiffre (digit by digit). Writing the pairs with spaces, as the French do, makes them easier to read back.