Key Facts
- Italian numbers follow a repetitive pattern, making them easy to learn and similar to English.
- Counting in Italian starts with basic numbers from 1 to 10, progressing through 11 to 20 and beyond.
- Proverbs in Italian often incorporate numbers, illustrating cultural meanings and idiomatic expressions.
- Understanding the structure of Italian numbers helps in counting up to 1 billion with ease.
Italian Numbers
Italian numbers are easy to follow and follow a repetitive pattern that makes them easy to remember. If you look really closely, they are similar to English.
Counting in Italian
Italian Numbers 1-10
- 1- uno
- 2- due
- 3-tre
- 4-quattro
- 5-cinque
- 6-sei
- 7-sette
- 8-otto
- 9-nove
- 10-dieci
Need Help Remembering??
“Non c’è due senza tre” -This popular Italian proverb clearly explains that there is no two without three, the four comes by itself!
Yes, it is similar to the English proverb “always comes in threes”. For instance, all good things come in threes, a series of events comes in threes, three poor dates come together, three awful deaths happened in a row….etc.
Italian Numbers 11-20
- 11-undici
- 12-dodici
- 13-tredici
- 14-quattordici
- 15-quindici
- 16-sedici
- 17-diciassette
- 18-diciotto
- 19-diciannove
- 20-venti
Italian Numbers 21-30
- 21-ventuno
- 22-ventidue
- 23-ventitré
- 24-ventiquattro
- 25-venticinque
- 26-ventisei
- 27-ventisette
- 28-ventotto
- 29-ventinove
- 30-trenta
Italian Numbers 31-40
- 31-trentuno
- 32-trentadue
- 33-trentatré
- 34-trentaquattro
- 35-trentacinque
- 36-trentasei
- 37-trentasette
- 38-trentotto
- 39-trentanove
- 40-quaranta
Italian numbers 50 – 1 billion
Can you see a pattern now? Follow along:
- 50-cinquanta
- 60-sessanta
- 70-settanta
- 80-ottanta
- 90-novanta
- 100-cento
- 200-duecento
- 1,000-mille
- 2,000-duemila
- 1,000,000-un milione
- 2,000,000-due milioni
- 1000,000,000-un miliardo
Proverbs with numbers
Let’s look at some proverbs that involve numbers:
- Chi fa da sè fa per tre: It means a person who does for oneself, does for three people. But what it really means is if you want something done, you do it on your own!
- Andare a fare quattro salti: The literal meaning of this is go and make make four jumps. But what it really means is to go dance!
- Dare i numeri: The literal translation of this proverb is to give numbers (a reference that comes from people picking numbers for lottery based on superstitions). But what it really means is to be mentally imbalanced or crazy.