Italian 101 · Lesson 5
Numbers and Prices
Recognise numbers up to 100 and use them for prices and quantities.
Begin ↓01 / 08
Start with ten
uno, due, tre, quattro, cinque
OO-noh, DOO-eh, treh, KWAT-troh, CHEEN-kweh
1, 2, 3, 4, 5
sei, sette, otto, nove, dieci
say, SET-teh, OT-toh, NOH-veh, DYEH-chee
6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Say each number separately first. Then practise recognising them out of order, as you would in a phone number.
02 / 08
Eleven to sixteen
undici, dodici, tredici
OON-dee-chee, DOH-dee-chee, TREH-dee-chee
11, 12, 13
quattordici, quindici, sedici
kwat-TOR-dee-chee, KWEEN-dee-chee, SEH-dee-chee
14, 15, 16
These are worth learning as whole words; they do not all follow the same pattern.
03 / 08
Seventeen to twenty
diciassette, diciotto, diciannove, venti
dee-chas-SET-teh, dee-CHOT-toh, dee-chan-NOH-veh, VEN-tee
17, 18, 19, 20
Notice the doubled consonants in diciassette and diciannove. Diciotto has no extra a.
04 / 08
The tens
trenta, quaranta, cinquanta, sessanta
30, 40, 50, 60
settanta, ottanta, novanta, cento
70, 80, 90, 100
Add the small number to the tens as one word. Trenta + due becomes trentadue: 32.
05 / 08
Two useful spelling changes
ventuno, ventotto, ventitré
21, 28, 23
trentuno, quarantotto, novantanove
31, 48, 99
Drop the final vowel of the tens before uno and otto. Compounds ending in tre take an accent: ventitré.
06 / 08
At the till
Quanto costa? / Quanto viene?
How much does it cost? / How much is it altogether?
Sono cinque euro.
It’s five euros.
Costa dodici euro.
It costs twelve euros.
Euro does not change in the plural. A comma separates euros and cents on price labels: 5,50 €.
07 / 08
Listen for cents and digits
Cinque euro e cinquanta.
Five euros and fifty cents.
zero, tre, quattro, sette
0, 3, 4, 7
Five fifty often becomes cinque e cinquanta. For phone numbers, zero is zero and digits are often said individually; ask for repetition if needed.
Remember this
Takeaway
Due caffè, per favore.
Two coffees, please.
Sono tre euro e venti.
It’s three euros and twenty cents.
Separate the price into euros and cents. For quantities, use the number directly before the noun.