1000 in French
mille
Spellings verified June 2026 · page updated 2 October 2026
Mille never pluralises
“One thousand in French” is mille, the number 1,000. Hear it spoken below.
NUMERAL
1 000
FRENCH
mille
IPA
/mil/
Breakdown
Ordinal form
Ranking things rather than counting them: 1,000 becomes millième, written 1 000e in figures.
MASCULINE
millième
1 000e
FEMININE
millième
1 000e (same word as the masculine)
French writes the abbreviation with a plain e, never ème: 1 000e. The Académie française allows two irregular pairs: premier and première abbreviate 1er and 1re, and second and seconde abbreviate 2d and 2de. Full rules on the ordinal numbers reference.
Counting around 1000
999
neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix-neuf
1 000
mille
1 001
mille un
Real sentence examples
“Mille personnes étaient présentes au concert.”
“L'entreprise a mille employés.”
“Il habite à mille mètres d'altitude.”
Pronunciation and morphology notes
Mille is invariable: it never takes a plural-s, regardless of multiplier (deux mille, dix mille, cent mille). It also never takes "un" before it: "mille personnes" not "un mille personnes". In date contexts, the older form "mil" is permitted (l'an mil neuf cent), though modern standard prefers "mille".
Frequently asked questions
How do you say one thousand (1000) in French?
One thousand in French is "mille" (the number 1,000). It is built as Standalone thousand (no article).
How is mille (1000) pronounced in French?
In the International Phonetic Alphabet, "mille" is transcribed /mil/. Use the audio button on this page to hear the standard French pronunciation.
What is the ordinal form of 1000 in French?
The ordinal for 1000 is "millième", abbreviated 1 000e. The form is the same in the masculine and the feminine.
How is 1000 used in a French sentence?
A natural example is: "Mille personnes étaient présentes au concert."
Related numbers
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