Understanding French Numbers: Why are 70, 80, 90 so strange?

French numbers can feel weird when you get to 70, 80, and 90, but there's a simple reason behind it!

Imagine you're building with blocks. You know how to count up to 60 easily, like stacking 6 groups of 10 blocks each. But then things change.

In French, numbers are built from groups of ten and ones, just like when you play with blocks or count toys.

• 70 is soixante-dix, which means "sixty-ten."
• 80 is quatre-vingt, meaning "four-twenty."
• 90 is quatre-vingt-dix, or "four-twenty-ten."

It's like if you had a special rule: instead of counting 70 as 7 groups of ten, you say it’s 6 groups of ten plus one more group of ten. And for 80? That’s like saying 4 times 20! It feels strange at first, but it's just another way to count, like how some people skip counting by fives and go straight to tens.

So the next time you see 70, 80, or 90 in French, remember: it’s not magic, it's just a different language rule for counting! French numbers can feel weird when you get to 70, 80, and 90, but there's a simple reason behind it!

Imagine you're building with blocks. You know how to count up to 60 easily, like stacking 6 groups of 10 blocks each. But then things change.