#108: Italian Numbers Made Easy: How to Learn and Remember Them

How well do you know your Italian numbers? 

Whether you’re learning them for the first time, or reviewing them for the 158th… they can be challenging! 

Numbers feel like they should be easy, because we learn them so young in our first language. But when you learn them all over again in Italian, there’s actually quite a lot of information to master. 

That’s why in this lesson, you’ll learn Italian numbers AND get tips on how to remember them, so you can get past that awkward beginner stage as quickly as possible. 

And be sure to check out our Italian numbers challenge at the end – once you’ve taken part, you’ll find yourself remembering them automatically whenever you need them.
But first, let’s count: Uno, due, tre…

Italian Numbers: 1 – 10

When might you use these numbers in Italy? Everywhere! Let’s see some real-life examples:   

Due bicchieri di vino rosso – Two glasses of red wine

Un tavolo per tre, per favore – A table for three, please

Quattro biglietti per Roma – Four tickets to Rome

Sono le sette – It’s seven o’ clock

For more help with that last example, check out this episode on how to tell the time in Italian. 

Next, let’s learn how to say these numbers like a true Italian! Here are some pronunciation tips and common mistakes to avoid: 

1. Pay special attention to the double tt in quattro, sette and otto. This should be nice and long. You can almost imagine a little pause between the two ts: quat-tro, set-te, ot-to

2. Speaking of sette, don’t confuse it with the Spanish siete. In Italian, it starts with SET, like in the word ‘setting’. 

3. In the number six, sei, remember to pronounce the i at the end. It sounds like SEY. 

4. Dieci also has an i, pronounced like a little Y sound. It sounds like you’ve got the word ‘yeh’ in the middle: D-YEH-CHEE. 

To hear these pronunciation tips in more detail, be sure to listen to the podcast episode at the top of this lesson. 

Now you’ve mastered one to ten, let’s move onto the teens! 

Italian Numbers: 11 – 20

OK. We know what you’re thinking: what the heck happens at 17? You’re following this nice logical list with –dici at the end, then all of a sudden, it moves to the beginning! Let’s see those pesky numbers that start with dici again: 

17. Diciassette

18. Diciotto

19. Diciannove

We’re afraid this is just one of those annoying quirks that you’ll need to get used to. The good news is, the more you practise, the more natural and automatic it will become – you’ll find some tips on how to speed this part up later. 

But first, let’s see some real-life examples of numbers from 11 to 20: 

– Sono le undici – It’s eleven o’clock 

– La bottiglia di vino costa dodici euro – The bottle of wine costs twelve euros. 

– Mio figlio ha sedici anni – My son is sixteen years old

– Sono diciotto euro – That’s eighteen euros

And here are a few common mistakes to avoid. Even very advanced learners make the mistakes in number 3, but not you, because you’re here learning the details, bravo! 

1. The –dici in words like undici and dodici, is pronounced DEE-CHEE. Don’t confuse it with the number 10, dieci, which has a little Y sound (DYEH-CHEE). 

2. A lot of learners assume that numbers 14, 15, and 16 are simply quattro, cinque and sei with –dici on the end. But there are a few sneaky details to watch out for: 

– Quattordici starts with quattor, pronounced like KWAT-TOR

– Quindici starts with quin, pronounced like CHIN

– The se in sedici doesn’t contain an ‘i’, so we say SEH, not SEY

3. Pay attention to the beginning of numbers 17, 18 and 19. Most learners pronounce them like dieci (D-YEH-CHEE) or dici (DEE-CHEE), but actually…

The start of: 

– Diciassette sounds like DEE-CHAS

– Diciotto sounds like DEE-CHOT

– Diciannove sounds like DEE-CHAN

Now you know how to say numbers 11 to 20 like a pro, let’s continue. Continuiamo! 

Italian Numbers: 21 – 30 

Ah, finalmente, finally! These numbers follow a nice, simple logic. You just say ‘twenty’ venti, then add the smaller number, for example: 

22. Venti + due = ventidue 

23. Venti + tre = ventitré

24. Venti + quattro = ventiquattro

There are just two pesky numbers to watch out for: 21 and 28. For these, you need to remove the –i from venti. 

21. Venti + uno = ventuno

28. Venti + otto = ventotto

Why? Because uno and otto start with vowels, so removing the i at the end of the previous word, venti helps us say them in a smoother way. 

Let’s see some real-life examples of when you might use these numbers in Italy: 

Il croissant costa uno e venticinque – A croissant costs one euro twenty five

Il treno arriva alle otto e ventisei – The train will arrive at eight twenty six

Ecco la chiave. Stanza ventotto – Here’s the key. Room twenty eight

Sono ventinove euro – That’s twenty nine euros

To learn more about prices, check out this episode on how to go shopping in Italian

Now you know nearly everything you need to know to count to 100 in Italian. All you need now are the rest of the tens: forty, fifty, sixty… etc. 

Italian Numbers up to 100

For the sake of completeness, let’s see a full list of the tens, from twenty to ninety: 

These all follow the exact same patterns you already learned. For example: 

30 – trenta

31 – trentuno

32 – trentadue

33 – trentatré

34 – trentaquattro

35 – trentacinque

36 – trentasei

37 – trentasette

38 – trentotto 

39 – trentanove

40 – quaranta 

41 – quarantuno

42 – quarantadue

43 – quarantatré…

And so on. 

Don’t forget the weird little rule about 1 and 8! We always cut the last vowel from the number before. For example: 

31 – trentuno (not trenta-uno)

38 – trentotto (not trenta-otto)

41 – quarantuno (not quaranta-uno)

48 – quarantotto (not quaranta-otto)

Last but not least, let’s not forget one hundred… 

100 – cento (pronounced CHEN-TOH)

And that’s it! Now you know how to say Italian numbers from 1 to 100. All you need to do now is remember them… easier said than done, we know. 

That’s why in the next section, you’ll get some pro tips to help you do just that. 

How to Remember Italian Numbers

If you want to feel confident using Italian numbers, you’ll need to know them so well that they come to you automatically when you need them… no small feat! 

To get to this point, the secret is lots of repetition and practice in different situations.

Step 1: Counting in order

First, focus on remembering how to count upwards in order: uno, due, tre… Here are some ways to integrate this into your daily life:  

• Every time you take a shower, or do household chores, count from 1 to 100.
• Whenever you take the stairs, or walk around the block, count your steps. 
• While you’re falling asleep, count sheep in Italian! 

If you find certain parts more difficult, for example, from 60 to 80, repeat these parts more so that you get extra practice. 

Step 2: Remember them quickly 

Once you’re comfortable with remembering Italian numbers in order, you can work on remembering random numbers whenever they come up. Here are some activities that will help you train yourself to do this: 

• Think about everyone you know. How old are they? Practice saying these numbers in Italian until they roll off your tongue. 
• Practise sums and say them aloud: dieci + quarantadue = ? 
• Every time you see or hear a number, ask yourself: ‘how would I say that in Italian?’ 

The last tip is the best one – do this consistently and you’ll master Italian numbers in no time! Speaking of which…

Take the 14 Day Italian Number Challenge

Learning Italian numbers takes a concerted effort in the beginning, but once you’ve committed them to memory, they’ll be there for life. 

So we’re challenging you to go all in. 

Choose a few, or all of the activities in the previous section and do them as much as you can for the next 14 days. We recommend leaving notes around the house or setting an alarm on your phone to remind yourself. 

By focusing intensely on learning Italian numbers now, you’ll remember them easily in future whenever you need them. After two short weeks, you’ll be reaping the rewards for years to come. 

In fact, you can start your challenge right now, by testing what you’ve learned in our quiz below! 

Vocabulary: Italian Numbers Made Easy

uno, due, tre, quattro, cinque, sei, sette, otto, nove, dieci = 1 – 10
undici, dodici, tredici, quattordici, quindici, sedici = 11 – 16
diciassette, diciotto, diciannove = 17 – 19
venti = 20
ventuno = 21
ventidue, ventitré, ventiquattro, venticinque, ventisei, ventisette = 22 – 27
ventotto = 28
ventinove = 29
trenta = 30
quaranta = 40
cinquanta = 50
sessanta = 60
settanta = 70
ottanta = 80
novanta = 90
cento = 100

Quiz: Italian Numbers Made Easy

How much did you learn? Find out in the quiz!

Click here to take the quiz for this episode: Italian Numbers Made Easy

Flashcards: Italian Numbers Made Easy

Remember the vocabulary from this lesson by downloading the digital flashcards

Not sure how it works? Click here to watch the tutorial

Transcript: Italian Numbers Made Easy: How to Learn and Remember Them

Please note, this is not a word for word transcript.

K: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti! Hi everyone and welcome to “Learn Italian with Joy of Languages”. 

M: Ciao! 

K: Today we’re talking about something that lots of people feel a bit embarrassed about. Numeri italiani. Italian numbers. 

M: Yes! In our native language, we learn numbers when we’re very young, so when we’re speaking a foreign language, we feel like a bit of an idiot when we find it challenging. 

K: But actually it’s really normal! All our students go through this. The quickest way to push past this awkward phase and get them to the point where they feel really automatic, is through lots and lots of practice. 

M: Sì. When you think you’ve practised numbers enough, practise them some more! 

K: Speaking of which, I thought of a good way to practise. Remember the very important birthday you had last year? Something strange happened when we were counting the candles. 

M: Hmm. I didn’t notice anything strange. 

K: Well, let’s listen to the conversation anyway. Pay special attention to the numbers: 

K: Matteo, dobbiamo comprare più candeline per la tua torta. 

M: Perché? Contiamo: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30. Sono giuste. 

K: Ma hai quarant’anni. 

M: No! 

K: So, we’re getting the candles ready for Matteo’s cake, and I say: 

M: Dobbiamo comprare più candeline per la tua torta – We have to buy more candles for your cake. 

Dobbiamo – We have to 

Comprare – buy

Più – more 

Candeline – little candles 

Per – for 

La tua torta – your cake 

K: But Matteo isn’t so sure. He says: 

Perché? – Why? 

Contiamo – Let’s count

K: Then he starts counting. Listen to the numbers one to ten, and count along with Matteo. 

M: [SLOWLY] uno, due, tre, quattro, cinque, sei, sette, otto, nove, dieci

K: One more time, that’s: 

M: [SLOWLY] uno, due, tre, quattro, cinque, sei, sette, otto, nove, dieci

K: Here, there are a few common mistakes to avoid. It’s good to know about them early, so you can avoid having to correct them later. Firstly, some of the numbers have double tts. The tt should be nice and long. For example in four: quat-tro. 

M: Quattro (x2)

K: It helps to almost pause in the middle of the two tts. Quat–tro. Number seven is the same: set–te. 

M: Sette (x2) 

K: People who speak some Spanish often make mistakes with this one. It’s not siete, but rather set, set, set, sette. Then, we also have ot–to, with a little pause between the double t.  

M: Otto (x2)

K: Also, notice how the number 6 in Italian finishes with an ‘iii’ sound: seeeiiiiiii, seeeeeeiiiiiiiii. Not ‘se’ but seeeeiiiiiii. 

M: Sei (x2). 

K: Finally, we’ve got dieci. It kind of sounds like you’ve got the word ‘yeh’ in the middle. D-YEH-CHEE, dieci. D-YEH-CHEE, dieci.

M: Dieci (x2)

K: Let’s keep counting. This time eleven to twenty. 

M: [SLOWLY] undici, dodici, tredici, quattordici, quindici, sedici, diciassette, diciotto, diciannove, venti. 

K: And again, thats: 

M: [SLOWLY] undici, dodici, tredici, quattordici, quindici, sedici, diciassette, diciotto, diciannove, venti. 

K: Here there are a few things to watch out for. Firstly, notice that at the end of most of these words, we have the sound dici, pronounced DEE-CHEE. Undici, dodici, tredici etc.  

It’s not the same as the number 10. The number ten is dieci. Pronounced with a ‘yeh’. D-YEH-CHEE (x2)

While at the end of undici, dodici, tredici etc. we have DEE–CHEE (x2)

M: Undici, dodici, tredici

K: Here we come to another common mistake. Quattordici. It’s not quattro, four, plus dici. It’s quattor, quattor… quattooooordici.  

M: Quattordici (x2)

K: Then we have quindici, which starts with quin. Not CHIN, like in cinque, the number 5. For fifteen, we start quin. Quindici. 

M: Quindici (x2)

K: And sedici. A small but important detail to notice here. Remember how the number 6 in Italian finishes with an ‘iii’ sound? Seeeiiiiiii. Sedici is different. There’s no iiiii sound. It’s seeee, seeee, seeeedici. This is one of those mistakes I didn’t realise I was making until I had quite an advanced level. 

M: For the next numbers, something craaaaaaazy happens. 

K: Yes, let’s listen to numbers seventeen to nineteen. 

M: diciassette, diciotto, diciannove

K: What happened here?! The order changed, and now we’re starting with ‘dic’. Why Matteo, why? Perché????

M: It’s just one of those weird annoying things, sorry about that. 

K: So we’ve got seventeen: diciassette. And here, there are some details that are important for advanced students too. Notice that it sounds like DEEE-CHA (x3). It’s not dieci, with a ‘yeh’, like the number 10. And it’s not dici, like in the other teen numbers. It’s DEEE-CHA.

M: Diciassette

K: And there’s also a double ss that not everyone knows about. This should be nice and long. Diciassette. 

M: Diciassette. 

K: Next, eighteen: diciotto. Here we have DEEE-CHO (x3)

M: Diciotto (x2)

K: And nineteen: diciannove. Here we’ve got DEE-CHA again. DEE-CHA. 

M: Diciannove. 

K: And watch out for the double nn. This should be nice and long. Diciannnnove. 

N: Diciannove. 

K: One reason we keep making these mistakes at an advanced level is that we hardly ever see numbers written down, so it’s easy to miss these extra details. For this episode in particular, we’d really recommend seeing everything written down, which you can do on our website by clicking the link in the podcast description. 

M: And we’re finally at twenty. Venti (x2)

K: Make the VVV really strong and Italian sounding: VVVV:  

M: Venti

K: Let’s listen to the numbers 21 to 30. 

M: [SLOWLY] ventuno, ventidue, ventitré, ventiquattro, venticinque, ventisei, ventisette, ventotto, ventinove, trenta. 

K: One more time, that’s: 

M: [SLOWLY] ventuno, ventidue, ventitré, ventiquattro, venticinque, ventisei, ventisette, ventotto, ventinove, trenta. 

K: Finalmente! Finally. Something that feels logical. We just say the big number, for example twenty, venti, then we add the small number. For example, twenty two is ventidue. Twenty three is ventitré. Twenty four is ventiquattro etc. There are just two numbers to watch out for. Twenty one and twenty eight. Twenty one is: 

M: Ventuno 

K: What’s different? Ventuno. We don’t say ‘venti-uno’. We cut the ‘i’ from venti, so it becomes ventuno. The same happens with twenty eight. 

M: Ventotto 

K: This is because uno and otto start with vowels. We remove the ‘i’ from the end of venti so  it can flow together in a smoother way. Let’s listen again, twenty one and twenty eight. 

M: Ventuno, ventotto. 

K: So we’ve counted thirty candles. And Matteo thinks that’s enough. He says: 

Sono giuste – they’re right 

Sono – they are

Giuste – right 

K: Then I said: 

M: Ma hai quarant’anni – But you’re 40. Literally: 

Ma – but 

Hai – you have

Quarant’anni – forty years. In Italian, we ‘have’ our years. 

K: Matteo preferred to stop at 30, so he says

M: No! 

K: So now you know how to count to 30, you just need to learn the other numbers and you can apply the same logic. Remember how to say ‘thirty’? 

M: Trenta

K: Let’s count to 39: 

M: trentuno, trentadue, trentatré, trentaquattro, trentacinque, trentasei, trentasette, trentotto, trentanove. 

K: And we do the same here for thirty one and thirty eight. Instead of saying trenta-uno, we say trentuno. Instead of trenta-otto, we say trentotto. 

All the other tens work exactly the same way. We say the big number, then add the little one to the end. 

K: Forty is

M: Quaranta (x3)

K: Forty two  

M: Quarantadue

K: Forty seven

M: Quarantasette

K: Eccetera. And we always have these slight exceptions with uno and otto. Forty one is quarantuno. Forty eight is quarantotto. Let’s learn the other tens: 

Fifty is: 

M: Cinquanta (x3)

K: Sixty: 

M: Sessanta (x3)

K: Seventy: 

M: Settanta (x3) 

K: Careful not to confuse these. Sixty has a long sssss. Sesssssssanta. Seventy has a long ttttt. Settttttttanta. 

Eighty is: 

M: Ottanta (x3) 

K: Ninety

M: Novanta (x3) 

K: And 100? 

M: Cento (x3). 

K: Matteo definitely deserves a cake after all this counting! 

M: Sì! We hope this episode will help you avoid some common mistakes, and learn how to count in Italian in an automatic way. 

K: And remember, Italian numbers take a lot of practice, so it’s important to put in the time and effort and be patient with yourself. Go back and listen to this episode as many times as you can, and feel free to pause, rewind, and keep practising aloud with Matteo. 

M: And, if you really want to get the numbers to feel automatic over the next couple of weeks, you can join our Italian numbers challenge! 

K: To get all the details, together with tips on how to remember Italian numbers (including a weird shower one!), head over to our website by clicking the link in the description. 

M – See you next time.

K – Or as we say in Italian.

Alla prossima!

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