65 in French
soixante-cinq
Spellings verified June 2026 · page updated 2 October 2026
Retirement age reference in France
“Sixty-five in French” is soixante-cinq, the number 65. Hear it spoken below.
NUMERAL
65
FRENCH
soixante-cinq
IPA
/swa.sɑ̃t.sɛ̃k/
Ordinal form
Ranking things rather than counting them: 65 becomes soixante-cinquième, written 65e in figures.
MASCULINE
soixante-cinquième
65e
FEMININE
soixante-cinquième
65e (same word as the masculine)
French writes the abbreviation with a plain e, never ème: 65e. 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 65
64
soixante-quatre
65
soixante-cinq
66
soixante-six
Real sentence examples
“L'âge légal de départ à la retraite à soixante-cinq ans est en cours de discussion.”
“Mon pere a soixante-cinq ans et continue de travailler.”
Pronunciation and morphology notes
Soixante-cinq is the last regular tens-plus-unit form before the vigesimal range starts at 70. No connector (et is for X1 only). The legal retirement age in France has been a major political topic; this number is high-frequency in news and policy texts.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say sixty-five (65) in French?
Sixty-five in French is "soixante-cinq" (the number 65).
How is soixante-cinq (65) pronounced in French?
In the International Phonetic Alphabet, "soixante-cinq" is transcribed /swa.sɑ̃t.sɛ̃k/. Use the audio button on this page to hear the standard French pronunciation.
What is the ordinal form of 65 in French?
The ordinal for 65 is "soixante-cinquième", abbreviated 65e. The form is the same in the masculine and the feminine.
How is 65 used in a French sentence?
A natural example is: "L'âge légal de départ à la retraite à soixante-cinq ans est en cours de discussion."
Related numbers
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