How to Count in Italian

Numbers are a must-know when learning a language because they’re used in so many situations—figuring out what time it is, how much something costs, understanding the timeline that your tour guide is talking about, doing math, understanding recipes, and even interpreting the Wi-Fi password. Below are tables and examples that will help you learn to read and pronounce the numbers in Italian from one to 1 million.

Italian Cardinal Numbers From 1 to 100

Use the following table to memorize numbers from 1 to 100.

The numbers venti, trenta, quaranta, cinquanta, and so on drop the final vowel when combined with uno - 1 and otto - 8. Tre - 3 is written without an accent, but ventitré - 23, trentatré - 33, and so on are written with an acute accent. Once you know the base number, like venti - 20, you can add your numbers for 1-10 to create ventuno - 21, ventidue - 22, ventitré - 23, and so on. Some esempi (examples), with the Italian listed on the left and the English translation on the right, include:

• Quanto costa la focaccia? ˃ How much does the focaccia cost?
• Costa due euro e cinquanta centesimi. ˃ It costs 2,50 euro.
• Fa caldo oggi! Quanti gradi ci sono? ˃ It’s hot today! What’s the temperature?
• Trentuno gradi! ˃ 31 degrees!
• Che ore sono? ˃ What time is it?
• Sono le due e undici. ˃ It’s 2:11. 

Italian Cardinal Numbers of 100 and Greater

Before the euro's arrival in Italy, you could pay a few thousand lire for admission to a museum or for a cappuccino and biscotti. During that time, tourists needed to know more than just the numbers up to 100. Fortunately, lire are history, but learning numbers greater than 100 will still prove useful, particularly when talking about years or the prices for any couture items.

Some examples include:

• 1492 ˃ millequattrocentonovantadue
• 1962 ˃ millenovecentosessantadue
• 1991 ˃ millenovecentonovantuno
• 2000 ˃ duemila
• 2016 ˃ duemila sedici

Italian Ordinal Numbers

You can place items in "order" with ordinal numbers. For instance, il primo is the first course on a menu and il secondo is the second course, so pay attention to articles.

When used with the numerical succession of kings, popes, and emperors, the ordinal numbers are capitalized. For example, Vittorio Emanuele III (Terzo), who ruled the unified Italian nation from 1900 to 1946, was the third king with that name.

Some other examples include:

• Pope Paul Quinto ˃ Pope Paul V
• Vittorio Emanuele Secondo ˃ Vittorio Emanuele II
• Leone Nono ˃ Leone IX
• Carlo Quinto ˃ Carlo V

Here are some examples of centuries:

• Diciottesimo secolo ˃ 18th century
• Diciannovesimo secolo ˃ 19th century
• Bentesimo secolo ˃ 20h century

Note the regularity of ordinal numbers beginning with undicesimo. The suffix -esimo is added to the cardinal numbers by dropping the final vowel of the cardinal number.

The one exception includes numbers ending in -tré. Those numbers drop their accent and are unchanged when -esimo is added. Since Italian ordinal numbers function as adjectives, they must agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify: primo, prima, primi, prime. Examples include:

• Il primo ministro ˃ the prime minister
• Il primo sindaco donna della storia di questa città ˃ the first female major in the history of this city
• Prendiamo il primo treno che arriva! ˃ Let’s catch the first train coming!
• La prima della fila è questa signora, io sono la seconda. ˃ The first in line ​is this lady, I’m the second one.