Numbers, dates and time
A free French numbers quiz covering dates and time in French too, scored on the page. If quatre-vingt-dix still makes you do arithmetic mid-sentence, start here.
Ninety is four twenties and ten
Fourteen questions on written numbers, dates and clock times: why 90 is four twenties and ten, why the first of April gets premier, and why huit jours never means eight days. Reading only, no audio.
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French numbers, dates and time, sorted
The quiz tests written numbers, dates and time expressions: quatre-vingt-dix (four twenties plus ten for 90), soixante-quinze, le premier avril but le deux avril, quinze jours meaning two weeks, and the 24-hour clock in dix-huit heures trente. Learners stumble because French numbers demand mental math above 69, and because the traps are quiet: huit jours means a week, not eight days, and dates take cardinal numbers except the first of the month.
This is A1 material, but plenty of B1 learners fail it, so take it whatever your level. Work through the answer key: every question explains the rule, not just the answer. Retake it until 70 to 99 come out without pausing, because phone numbers and prices will not wait for you. The Learning Center has guides on numbers and telling time; The French Briefing gives you dates and figures in real news sentences every day.
Why is 90 « quatre-vingt-dix » in French?
It is base-twenty arithmetic inherited from older counting systems: quatre-vingts is four twenties (80), and quatre-vingt-dix adds ten. Likewise 70 is soixante-dix (60 plus 10) and 99 is quatre-vingt-dix-neuf. Belgium and Switzerland simplified: septante (70) and nonante (90), and the Swiss also say huitante (80).
Why does « quinze jours » mean two weeks?
French counts spans inclusively, taking in both endpoints: Monday to the Monday two weeks later touches fifteen days, hence quinze jours for a fortnight. Same logic makes huit jours a week. So « dans quinze jours » means in two weeks. For literally 15 days, French speakers would spell out the exact dates.
How do you say the date in French?
Pattern: le + number + month, with cardinal numbers: le deux avril, le vingt et un juin. The only ordinal is the first: le premier mai, never le un mai. Months take no capital letter. Asking the date: « Le combien sommes-nous ? » or more casually « On est le combien ? ».
