{"id":816,"date":"2025-07-03T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/?p=816"},"modified":"2025-10-12T02:24:36","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T02:24:36","slug":"why-are-french-numbers-so-complicatedlogic-history-and-a-bit-of-math-madness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/french\/why-are-french-numbers-so-complicatedlogic-history-and-a-bit-of-math-madness\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Are French Numbers So Complicated?(Logic, History, and a Bit of Math Madness)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Let\u2019s talk numbers. Not so much maths, but how different languages count\u2014because some counting systems are super straightforward, and others make you perform mental gymnastics. If you\u2019ve ever learned French, you know exactly what I mean.<\/p>\n\n        <h3>The Basics: 1 to 69 Is Smooth Sailing<\/h3>\n\n        <p>French starts off simple enough. From 1 to 69, the counting system is logical:<\/p>\n\n        <ul>\n            <li>1 = <em>un<\/em><\/li>\n            <li>10 = <em>dix<\/em><\/li>\n            <li>20 = <em>vingt<\/em><\/li>\n            <li>30 = <em>trente<\/em><\/li>\n            <li>40 = <em>quarante<\/em><\/li>\n            <li>50 = <em>cinquante<\/em><\/li>\n            <li>60 = <em>soixante<\/em><\/li>\n        <\/ul>\n\n        <p>You form numbers by stacking them together. For example:<\/p>\n\n        <ul>\n            <li>21 = <em>vingt et un<\/em><\/li>\n            <li>35 = <em>trente-cinq<\/em><\/li>\n            <li>59 = <em>cinquante-neuf<\/em><\/li>\n        <\/ul>\n\n        <p>So far, so good.<\/p>\n\n        <h3>Things Get Strange from 70 Onwards<\/h3>\n\n        <p>Once you hit 70, French decides to ditch the neat pattern. Instead of creating a new word like <em>septante<\/em> (which is used in Belgium and Switzerland), France\u2019s official French uses:<\/p>\n\n        <ul>\n            <li>70 = <em>soixante-dix<\/em> (literally \u201csixty-ten\u201d)<\/li>\n            <li>71 = <em>soixante et onze<\/em> (\u201csixty and eleven\u201d)<\/li>\n            <li>72 = <em>soixante-douze<\/em> (\u201csixty-twelve\u201d)<\/li>\n            <li>\u2026all the way to 79 = <em>soixante-dix-neuf<\/em> (\u201csixty-nineteen\u201d)<\/li>\n        <\/ul>\n\n        <p>It\u2019s almost as if French said, \u201cWe\u2019re done creating new numbers\u2014figure it out yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n        <h3>And Then 80 Throws Logic Out the Window<\/h3>\n\n        <p>French takes it even further:<\/p>\n\n        <ul>\n            <li>80 = <em>quatre-vingts<\/em> (\u201cfour twenties\u201d)<\/li>\n            <li>81 = <em>quatre-vingt-un<\/em><\/li>\n            <li>90 = <em>quatre-vingt-dix<\/em> (\u201cfour twenties and ten\u201d)<\/li>\n            <li>99 = <em>quatre-vingt-dix-neuf<\/em> (\u201cfour twenties and nineteen\u201d)<\/li>\n        <\/ul>\n\n        <p>Basically, French switches from base-10 logic to base-20 (or <em>vigesimal<\/em>), a relic of old counting systems used in parts of Europe centuries ago.<\/p>\n\n        <h3>Why So Complicated?<\/h3>\n\n        <p>French numbers reflect layers of linguistic and cultural history:<\/p>\n\n        <ul>\n            <li>The base-20 system likely originates from Celtic and Viking influences.<\/li>\n            <li>Latin had its own numeral quirks that mixed with Old French.<\/li>\n            <li>French-speaking countries like Belgium and Switzerland simplified things with <em>septante<\/em> (70), <em>huitante<\/em> (80), and <em>nonante<\/em> (90).<\/li>\n        <\/ul>\n\n        <p>France, however, stuck with tradition, forcing students everywhere to deal with the complexity.<\/p>\n\n        <h3>Is It Just French?<\/h3>\n\n        <p>Not at all. Other languages also use base-20:<\/p>\n\n        <ul>\n            <li>Danish uses a similar system for numbers like 50 and 60.<\/li>\n            <li>Some indigenous languages worldwide rely on body-based counting (20 for fingers and toes).<\/li>\n        <\/ul>\n\n        <p>French just happens to be one of the only major global languages where this old system remains standard.<\/p>\n\n        <h3>Final Thought<\/h3>\n\n        <p>French numbers mix math, history, and stubborn tradition. If you\u2019ve ever caught yourself baffled while trying to count beyond 69, now you know why\u2014it\u2019s not your fault, it\u2019s French.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Let\u2019s talk numbers. Not so much maths, but how different languages count\u2014because some counting systems are super straightforward, and others make you perform mental gymnastics. If you\u2019ve ever learned French, you know exactly what I mean. The Basics: 1 to 69 Is Smooth Sailing French starts off simple enough. From 1 to 69, the counting [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":817,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-french"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=816"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/816\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":818,"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/816\/revisions\/818"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}