Reconnaître les dizaines régionales
1 · Septante: start from 70
Add the unit as you do after soixante: septante-deux is 72 and septante-neuf is 79. You do not need the ten-plus-unit step used in France’s 70s.
Le total est de septante-deux euros.The total is seventy-two euros.
2 · Huitante: start from 80
Huitante is used especially in Vaud, Valais and Fribourg. French-speaking Switzerland also has areas where quatre-vingts is usual; the whole country does not use one form for 80.
Il reste huitante-trois places.There are eighty-three places left.
3 · Nonante: start from 90
Nonante-quatre is 94 and nonante-neuf is 99. In France, the matching forms are quatre-vingt-quatorze and quatre-vingt-dix-neuf.
Le numéro de dossier est le nonante-quatre.The file number is ninety-four.
4 · Belgium: a mixed pattern to recognise
The usual Belgian sequence is septante, quatre-vingts, nonante. Hearing septante does not mean that the same speaker will use huitante.
Septante, quatre-vingts, nonante.Seventy, eighty, ninety.
5 · One and eleven follow different patterns
In traditional spelling, use septante et un, huitante et un, nonante et un. Compare France’s soixante et onze for 71 and quatre-vingt-onze for 91. Fully hyphenated revised spellings also occur.
Le prix est de nonante et un euros.The price is ninety-one euros.
6 · Une with a feminine noun
The unit agrees when counting a feminine noun: septante et une personnes. In the same way, 81 people can be huitante et une personnes where huitante is used.
Septante et une personnes ont répondu.Seventy-one people replied.
7 · Recognise octante without making it your default
Octante also means 80, but is rare in modern everyday usage. Recognising a regional form helps you understand the speaker; you can keep using the number system familiar to you.
Vous avez dit septante ou soixante ?Did you say seventy or sixty?