AtelierLe journal · French, understood
English

Language

The course

Updated

Cheat sheet

French vingt pronunciation: when to say the t in 20, 22 and 82

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

A compact pronunciation sheet for vingt, vingt ans, twenty-one to twenty-nine and quatre-vingts, with five checks on the consonants you say.

In short

In a common reference pronunciation, vingt is /vɛ̃/ on its own, but vingt ans and vingt-deux have /t/. Quatre-vingt-deux has no /t/ after vingt. Learn the whole number: the pattern for 22 differs from the pattern for 82.

Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learnRed watch out

An evening gathering of friends arriving for a birthday meal, a simple cake without candles or writing.
A birthday gives context to vingt ans. Illustration: Atelier

Vingt · the consonants to keep

1 · 20 on its own: /vɛ̃/

The written g stays silent. The nasal vowel is one sound; add neither /n/ nor /g/. Some regional speakers also say a final /t/ in isolated vingt.

Il en reste vingt.There are twenty left.

J’ai vingt minutes.I have twenty minutes.

2 · Before a counted noun starting with a vowel: /t/

Keep the number and noun together. Compare the age phrase with the time phrase: vingt ans has /t/, while vingt minutes normally has none.

Ma sœur a vingt ans.My sister is twenty years old.

Le cours commence à vingt heures.The class starts at eight in the evening.

3 · 21–29: keep /t/ inside the number

This /t/ can come before a consonant, as in vingt-deux. In vingt et un, the /t/ comes from vingt; add none after et.

Je me couche à vingt-deux heures.I go to bed at ten in the evening.

Il a vingt et un ans.He is twenty-one years old.

4 · 80 and 82: a different pattern

In quatre-vingt-deux, the t after vingt stays silent. In quatre-vingts ans, the plural s supplies a linking /z/. The spelling also changes: 80 ends in -vingts, while 82 has -vingt-deux.

Elle a quatre-vingts ans.She is eighty years old.

Son frère a quatre-vingt-deux ans.Her brother is eighty-two years old.

Study first: compare the whole phrase
PhraseConsonant after the nasal vowelReason
vingt minutesNo consonant20 before a consonant-initial noun
vingt ans/t/20 before a vowel-initial counted noun
vingt-deux/t/Inside the twenties
quatre-vingt-deuxNo /t/Inside 82
quatre-vingts ans/z/Liaison from the written plural s

Use a daily schedule to practise the contrast: à vingt heures, then à vingt-deux heures. Next switch to ages: vingt ans, vingt-deux ans, quatre-vingts ans. The noun stays familiar while the number changes. Say each complete expression smoothly; a hyphen helps you read the number as a unit and adds no pause.

Question 1No account needed
In the reference pattern above, what follows the vowel of vingt in vingt minutes?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

No consonant.. Before minutes, ordinary vingt is /vɛ̃/, ending in its nasal vowel.

Question 2No account needed
Which phrase has /t/ after vingt?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

vingt ans. Vingt ans has linking /t/; quatre-vingts ans has /z/.

Question 3No account needed
Compare 22 with 82. Which contains /t/ after vingt?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Only 22.. The twenties keep /t/: vingt-deux. Quatre-vingt-deux has a silent t.

Question 4No account needed
Where does the /t/ in vingt et un come from?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

The number twenty.. The /t/ joins vingt to et; the conjunction et adds no linking /t/.

Question 5No account needed
What is the linking sound in quatre-vingts ans?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

/z/. The written plural s gives /z/ before ans.

Sources and further reading

Keep going