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Want to learn how to count in Italian? Learning cardinal numbers in Italian is pretty easy.

With this guide you’ll be able to correctly pronounce Italian numbers thanks to the audio snippets. Don’t miss your FREE cheat-sheet you can download to practice with!

Counting in Italian is as easy as uno, due, tre! In fact, Italian numbers share a lot of similarities with English numbers. They also follow a very simple and predictable pattern that you can learn in very little time. To make things even easier, I’ve included the audio for each number so you know exactly how to pronounce it. Plus, you can download a free PDF guide so you can practice how to count in Italian anytime you like!

Why you NEED to learn numbers in Italian

Along with the 100 most common Italian words, knowing how to use and understand both Italian cardinal numbers and Italian cardinal numbers is a major stepping stone when learning to speak Italian. We use numbers more than you think – from telling the time, asking how much something costs, sharing your age, making a dinner reservation, jotting down phone numbers, to even understanding a Wi-Fi password. Master Italian numbers and you’ve mastered a key element of Italian conversation.

This guide includes tables and examples of Italian numbers that will teach you how to read and pronounce the numbers in Italian from one to 1 billion.

Pronti!? (Ready!?) 

Here’s how to count in Italian from zero to 1 billion. Click on the play button to hear how they’re pronounced!

Italian Cardinal Numbers

Italian Numbers 0-12

The first number is ‘zero‘, which is followed by the pronunciation shown in brackets and a play button to hear the pronunciation.

Need help remembering Italian numbers?

When you first learn something, it can be tricky to get the ball rolling. Luckily there is a catch Italian proverb to help you the first few numbers.

Non c’è due senza tre, il quattro vien da sè.

This fun expression literally means “There’s no two without three, the four comes by itself”. This is the equivalent of English saying that things (good or bad) “always come in threes”. Stubbed your toe? Got a parking fine? Broke your phone? “Non c’è due senza tre!“.

Practice counting 0-12 

Using the numbers you’ve learned above, insert them into these simple sentences to tell the time. 

• Sono le _____ – It is 3 o’clock
• Sono le _____ – It’s 5 o’clock
• Sono le _____ – It’s 6 o’clock
• Sono le _____ – It’s 12 o’clock

Italian Numbers 13-20

Now, let’s look at numbers 13 to 20 in Italian.

Notice how the first part of the number resembles the English pattern. That is, the single-digit number comes before the ‘-teen’ part, like thirteen, fourteen and so on. The Italian equivalent of ‘teen’ is dici.  Earlier, when you learned undici (11) and dodici (12), think of these as if you were saying, one-teen and two-teen.

From 17, this pattern is reversed and dici is placed at the front.

Just like in English, once you count numbers 20, 30, 40, 50… they follow their own pattern. As you will see, numbers 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90 resemble their single-digit versions. For example, 30 is trenta which looks like tre (3), and settanta looks like sette (7). The only exception is 20, which is venti.

Italian numbers 21–99

The good news? You’ve already learned the trickiest numbers! Now you can apply these same rules to most of the numbers up to 99! 

Now that we are in the tens, it’s all about remembering the stem and using it to count up to the next lot of tens. For example, you learned that 20 is venti. Venti now becomes the stem that we place at the front and place the single digit after it. The only exception to this rule is with 21, 31, 41, 51… and so on. 

Here are the numbers 21 to 29 in Italian:

Italian sounds so beautiful because it rolls off the tongue. With that in mind, notice the i in venti is dropped in ventuno (21), and dropped again in ventotto (28) all the way up to 108 when this rule doesn’t apply. This is to ensure it rolls off the tongue easier by avoiding doubling up on vowels. Another change is the addition of the acute accent on the last vowel. Notice the tré in ventitré has an accent mark, this lets you know that the stress falls on the last syllable of this Italian number.

Here are the numbers 30 to 39 in Italian:

Here are the numbers 40 to 49 in Italian:

Here are the numbers 50 to 59 in Italian:

Here are the numbers 60 to 69 in Italian:

Here are the numbers 70 to 79 in Italian:

Here are the numbers 80 to 89 in Italian:

Here are the numbers 90 to 99 in Italian:

Italian numbers 100-9,999

The word for 100 is ‘cento’. This comes from the Latin word centum, meaning “hundred”. Believe it or not, we use this in English too to denote a factor of one hundredth. For example, centimetre, century, centipede, centennial, or the suffix, percent. Once you learn cento, all you have to do is put any number you’ve learnt so far after it.

Using ‘cento’ as the stem at the front, here are the numbers 100 to 110 in Italian:

 and so on…

Using ‘cento’ as the stem in the second position, here are the numbers 200 to 210 in Italian:

Using this same pattern, you can count all the way up to 9,999 using ‘cento’ as the stem at the front.

Here are the numbers 300 to 900 in Italian:

Italian numbers 1,000-100,000

The word for one thousand (1,000) is ‘mille‘ and just like we saw with ‘cento‘ this comes from the same Latin word mille, meaning ‘thousand’. Yup! You guessed it, we also use this same term in English in the form of the prefix ‘milli’ meaning ‘one thousandth of’. For example, millimetre, millisecond, and millilitre.

Once you learn ‘mille’, use it as the stem at the end and place any number you’ve already learnt so far after it. Notice how after 1,000, ‘mille’ becomes ‘mila‘.

Italian numbers 1 million to 1 billion

The word for one million (1,000,000) is ‘milione’ which comes from the Latin word mille plus the augmentative suffix -one. You can see this in English words such as million, or millionaire.

Once you learn ‘milione’, place any number you’ve already learnt so far after it. Notice how after one million, ‘un milione‘ becomes ‘milioni’ in the plural.

To word to say one billion (1,000,000,000) is ‘un miliardo’ and the rest is history!

How to use numbers in Italians

Now that you know how to form all the numbers in Italian, let’s take a look at different scenarios in which numbers are used in everyday life.

How to give someone your phone number in Italian

Whether you want to call your hotel or invite a friend out for dinner, you’ll need to know how to give your phone number to Italians and to understand when they give you theirs.

Remember to factor in the prefisso, that is, the “country code”, “international dialling code” or  “area code”. Without this, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to make contact.  It’s important to know that Italy’s country code is +39 which in Italian is said: più trentanove.

Here are some practical examples:

• Il prefisso dell’Australia è +61. – Australia’s country code is +61
• Qual è il prefisso di Roma? 06 – What is Rome’s area code? 06.

When calling from a landline,  you must include the city’s area code which always starts with 0. On the other hand, an area code isn’t needed if you’re calling a smartphone in Italy.

Going shopping and saying prices in Italian

Want to pay for a gelato in Naples? Buy tickets to the Colosseum? Or buy a leather bag in Florence? Then you’ll need to know how to ask how much something is and how the response is formed. 

Here are some useful phrases to learn:

• Quanto costa? – What’s the price? / How much does it cost?
• Quant’è? – How much is it?
• Quanto viene? – How much does it come to?
• I biglietti costano venti euro e cinquanta centesimi – The tickets costs 20 euros and 50 cents.
• Costa dodici euro – It costs 12 euros

Sometimes you’ll just hear Costa/È/Viene… followed by the price. These are all synonyms to say “It costs/It’s…”.

Talking about age and birthdays

To find out when something has or will occur, you use quando (when) and to ask when someone was born you use the verb nascere (to be born). 

• Quando sei nata? – When were you born? (Asking a female)
• Quando sei nato? – When were you born? (Asking a male)

To respond, you say…

• Sono nata/o il quattro aprile millenovecento cinquantuno. – I was born April 4, 1951

To ask when someone’s birthday is, you can say:

• Quando è il tuo compleanno? – When is your birthday?

To respond, you say…

• (il mio compleanno è) il ventisette dicembre – (My birthday is) December 27

To find out the quantity of something, you use quanto (how much/how many) which must agree in gender and number. Expressing your age in Italian is a little different than in English because you use the verb avere (to have) + the number + anni (years). So, to ask how old someone is you say:

• Quanti anni hai? – How old are you? (Note: quanti agrees with anni)
• Quanti anni hanno i tuoi fratelli? – How old are your siblings?

What you’re literally asking is, ‘how many years do you have?’. To respond, you say…

• Ho trentasei anni – I’m 36 years old (Literally, ‘I have 36 years’)
• Mia sorella Vittoria ha 41 anni e mio fratello Paolo ha 29 anni – My sister Vittoria is 41 and my brother Paolo is 29

Telling the time in Italian

In Italy, the 24-hour clock is used much more than in English speaking countries. In fact, the 24-hour clock is always used for things such as movie times, flight times, bus and train schedules, and opening times for shops, offices, and museums.

While the 24-hour clock is the preferred choice when writing, the 12-hour clock is more common when speaking. If you’re in doubt as to if the time refers to a.m or p.m you can say di mattina (in the morning), di pomeriggio (in the afternoon) or di sera (in the evening) for added clarity. 

To ask what the time is, you can use either of the following phrases interchangeably:

• Che ora è? – What time is it? (Literally, ‘What hour is it’?)
• Che ore sono? – What time is it? (Literally, ‘What hours are they’?)

If the hour is singular (i.e 1 p.m., 1 a.m., midday, midnight), you answer with the singular verb. For example:

• È l’una – It’s one o’clock. 
• È mezzogiorno – It’s noon/midday.
• È mezzanotte – It’s midnight.

The rest of the time you use the plural form, so è (is) changes to sono (are). For example:

• Sono le tre – It’s three o’clock [03:00]
• Sono le diciotto – It’s six p.m [18:00]

To say how many minutes past the hour, you simply add e (and). For example:

• Sono le quindici e cinque – It’s five past three [15:05] (Literally, ‘It’s 15 and 5’)
• Sono le tre e dieci – It’s ten past three [03:10] (Literally, ‘It’s 3 and 10’)
• È l’una e venti – It’s twenty past one [01:20] (Literally, ‘It’s 1 and 20’)
• Sono le diciannove e venticinque – It’s twenty-five past seven [19:25] (Literally, ‘It’s 19 and 25’)

To say how many minutes to the next hour you use meno (less) and the number of the next full hour. For example:

• Sono le undici meno venticinque – It’s twenty-five to eleven (Literally, ‘It’s 11 minus 25’) [10:35]
• Sono le undici meno venti – It’s twenty to eleven (Literally, ‘It’s 11 minus 20’) [10:40]

To express quarters and halves you say:

• Sono le cinque e un quarto – It’s a quarter past five (Literally, ‘It’s 5 and a quarter’) [05:15]
• Sono le cinque e mezzo – It’s half past five (Literally, ‘It’s 5 and a half) [05:30]

Want more? Get my complete guide to telling the time in Italian.

Saying the temperature in Italian 

When talking about the temperature of the weather, Italian uses the verb fare in the third person singular. For example:

• Oggi fa trenta gradi. – Today is 30° (celsius)

Note that Italy uses degrees Celsius not Fahrenheit.

Italian Ordinal Numbers 

When referring to the one’s address, floors in a building, or the first day of the month, you use ordinal numbers (first, second, third….). Italian ordinal numbers are adjectives, therefore they must agree in gender and number of the nouns they describe. Notice how there is no –st, -rd, or -th after ordinal numbers in Italian, instead they use the degree symbol (°).

Once you reach il decimo (the tenth), you take the whole number, drop the final vowel, and add -esimo/a/e/i. Numbers ending in -trè and -sei retain the final vowel.

• undici → undicesimo BUT
• ventitré → ventitreesimo
• trentasei → trentaseiesimo

Here are some example sentences:

• È la seconda strada a sinistra – It’s the second street on the left.
• Abito al sesto piano – I live on the sixth floor.

As a side note, all Italian buildings begin on the pianoterra (ground floor). So the first floor (il primo piano) corresponds to a North American second floor, the second floor (il secondo piano) corresponds to a North American third floor, e così via (and so on).

The first day of the month

Unlike in English, Italian does not use ordinal numbers when speaking about dates. For example, in English, we say ‘My birthday is the ninth of September’, but in Italian, we simply say ‘nine September’ (nove settembre).

There is, however, one exception. In Italian, only the first day of the month uses the ordinal number along with the definite article. For example:

• Oggi è il primo novembre – Today is November first.

All other dates are expressed by using the cardinal numbers, preceded by the definite article.

• Domani è il 3 novembre – Tomorrow is November third.

Here’s a quick recap on Italian numbers and their pronunciation so you can start practicing.

Download this guide to Italian Numbers for FREE!

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