Learn Italian Numbers
This page covers Italian number words — vowel elision, accent rules, and the tricky parts like ventuno and ventitré.
0–19: building blocks
Memorize these individually:
- 0 = zero
- 1 = uno
- 2 = due
- 3 = tre
- 4 = quattro
- 5 = cinque
- 6 = sei
- 7 = sette
- 8 = otto
- 9 = nove
- 10 = dieci
- 11 = undici
- 12 = dodici
- 13 = tredici
- 14 = quattordici
- 15 = quindici
- 16 = sedici
- 17 = diciassette
- 18 = diciotto
- 19 = diciannove
20–99: tens & vowel elision
The tens: venti (20), trenta (30), quaranta (40), cinquanta (50), sessanta (60), settanta (70), ottanta (80), novanta (90).
When the ones digit starts with a vowel (uno or otto), the final vowel of the tens word is dropped:
- 21 = ventuno (not “ventiuno”)
- 28 = ventotto (not “ventiotto”)
- 38 = trentotto
The accent rule: compounds with tre get an accent: ventitré, trentatré, etc.
Quick check: 21, 33, 48?
21 ventuno · 33 trentatré · 48 quarantotto
Hundreds
- 100 = cento
- 200 = duecento
- 300 = trecento
- 500 = cinquecento
- 101 = centuno (elision with uno)
All hundreds are written as one word. Elision applies with uno and otto after cento too.
Thousands & large numbers
- 1,000 = mille
- 2,000 = duemila (note: mila in plural)
- 3,000 = tremila
- 10,000 = diecimila
- 1,000,000 = un milione
- 2,000,000 = due milioni
- 1,000,000,000 = un miliardo
Mille becomes mila in plural. Milione and miliardo are nouns with regular plurals.
Common mistakes
- Vowel elision: ventuno (not ventiuno), ventotto (not ventiotto).
- Accent on -tré: ventitré, trentatré, etc.
- mille vs. mila: mille (1,000) but duemila, tremila, etc.
- milione is a noun: “un milione” (not “mille mille”).
- diciassette / diciannove: double letters (ss, nn).