Italian Numbers: A Beginner’s Guide

Basic Italian Numbers

The first step to counting in Italian is learning the basic numbers from 0 to 10. These are:

• 0 – zero
• 1 – uno
• 2 – due
• 3 – tre
• 4 – quattro
• 5 – cinque
• 6 – sei
• 7 – sette
• 8 – otto
• 9 – nove
• 10 – dieci

Italian Numbers 11 to 20

Once you have a handle on the basic numbers, it’s time to move on to numbers 11 to 20. Here are those numbers in Italian:

• 11 – undici
• 12 – dodici
• 13 – tredici
• 14 – quattordici
• 15 – quindici
• 16 – sedici
• 17 – diciassette
• 18 – diciotto
• 19 – diciannove
• 20 – venti

Italian Numbers in the Hundreds and Thousands

To build numbers in the hundreds and thousands, you’ll use the basic numbers you’ve already learned, along with the words for hundred (cento) and thousand (mille). Here’s how you can build numbers up to a million in Italian:

• 100 – cento
• 200 – due + cento = “duecento”
• 300 – tre + cento = “trecento”
• 500 – “cinque + cento” = “cinquecento”
• 1000 – mille
• 2000 – “due + mila” = “duemila”
• 3000 – “tre + mila” = “tremila”
• 10000 – “dieci + mila” = “diecimila”
• 100000 – “cento + mila” = “centomila”
• 500000 – “cinque + centomila” = “cinquecentomila”
• 1000000 – un milione

Practical Examples of Using Italian Numbers

Now that you have a good understanding of the basic Italian numbers, numbers from 11 to 20 and numbers in the hundreds and thousands, let’s put your knowledge into practice with some practical examples.

1. Ho ventuno anni. (I am 21 years old.)
2. C’è stato un terremoto di magnitudo sei. (There was a magnitude 6 earthquake.)
3. Ho bisogno di mille euro. (I need 1000 euros.)
4. Vorrei comprare cinque mele. (I would like to buy 5 apples.)
5. Ci sono trecento persone alla festa. (There are 300 people at the party.)

Practice using numbers in Italian in different situations, and soon you’ll be able to use numbers with ease in Italian.