16 in French
seize
Spellings verified June 2026 · page updated 2 October 2026
The last unique-word teen
“Sixteen in French” is seize, the number 16. Hear it spoken below.
NUMERAL
16
FRENCH
seize
IPA
/sɛz/
Ordinal form
Ranking things rather than counting them: 16 becomes seizième, written 16e in figures.
MASCULINE
seizième
16e
FEMININE
seizième
16e (same word as the masculine)
French writes the abbreviation with a plain e, never ème: 16e. 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 16
Real sentence examples
“Elle vient d'avoir seize ans.”
“Ils habitent dans le seizième arrondissement de Paris.”
“Le tournoi entre en seizièmes de finale.”
Pronunciation and morphology notes
Seize (Latin "sedecim") is the last of the unique-word teens. From seventeen onward French turns transparent: dix-sept, dix-huit, dix-neuf are literally "ten-seven, ten-eight, ten-nine". Seize also names the chic sixteenth arrondissement of Paris (le seizième) and the "seizièmes de finale" knockout round (the last 32).
Frequently asked questions
How do you say sixteen (16) in French?
Sixteen in French is "seize" (the number 16).
How is seize (16) pronounced in French?
In the International Phonetic Alphabet, "seize" is transcribed /sɛz/. Use the audio button on this page to hear the standard French pronunciation.
What is the ordinal form of 16 in French?
The ordinal for 16 is "seizième", abbreviated 16e. The form is the same in the masculine and the feminine.
How is 16 used in a French sentence?
A natural example is: "Elle vient d'avoir seize ans."
Related numbers
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