Why does 70 differ between France, Belgium, and Switzerland?

France uses the vigesimal forms soixante-dix for 70 and quatre-vingt-dix for 90. Belgium and Switzerland use the simpler septante for 70 and nonante for 90. Switzerland additionally uses huitante for 80 in several cantons, while France and Belgium both say quatre-vingts.

Is septante used in France?

No. Standard French in France does not use septante or nonante; those are Belgian and Swiss forms. Selecting the France variant always gives soixante-dix and quatre-vingt-dix, which is why the tool offers a regional toggle.

How are compound numbers hyphenated?

Following the 1990 spelling reform, the parts of a compound number are joined with hyphens, as in quatre-vingt-onze. The word et still appears in twenty-one, thirty-one, and similar, and in France in soixante et onze for 71.

When does vingt or cent take a final s?

Quatre-vingts and a multiple like deux cents take a final s only when they end the number. When another number follows they drop it, giving quatre-vingt-un and deux cent trois. The tool applies this automatically.

What is the largest number supported?

The tool handles integers up to the JavaScript safe-integer limit, covering values into the quadrillions with the scale words mille, million, and milliard. Mille is invariable and never takes a plural s.

French Number to Words

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This tool writes whole numbers as French words, and it is built around the one thing generic number-spellers get wrong for French: the regional differences in how 70 to 99 are named. Choose your region and the output matches local usage.

How it works

The number is broken into groups of three digits. Each group is read with the French units, tens, and hundreds tables, then the scale words mille, million, and milliard are appended. The interesting logic lives in the 70–99 band:

France:       70 soixante-dix   80 quatre-vingts   90 quatre-vingt-dix
Belgium:      70 septante       80 quatre-vingts   90 nonante
Switzerland:  70 septante       80 huitante        90 nonante

Hyphenation follows the post-1990 reform (all parts joined, e.g. quatre-vingt-onze), et is kept in 21/31/…/61 and in France’s soixante et onze, and the final s on vingts and cents appears only when the word ends the number.

Tips and notes

If you are writing for a Belgian or Swiss audience, switch the region: writing soixante-dix to a Swiss reader looks as odd as writing septante to a reader in France. Mille never takes a plural s (deux mille, not deux milles), while millions and milliards do (trois millions). For ordinals such as premier and deuxième, use the companion French ordinal words tool.