80 in French
quatre-vingts
Spellings verified June 2026 · page updated 2 October 2026
Four-twenties. The plural-s rule.
“Eighty in French” is quatre-vingts, the number 80. Hear it spoken below.
NUMERAL
80
FRENCH
quatre-vingts
IPA
/katʁ.vɛ̃/
Breakdown
Regional variants
FR France
quatre-vingts
CH Switzerland
huitante
Vaud, Valais, Fribourg
Ordinal form
Ranking things rather than counting them: 80 becomes quatre-vingtième, written 80e in figures.
MASCULINE
quatre-vingtième
80e
FEMININE
quatre-vingtième
80e (same word as the masculine)
SWITZERLAND
huitantième
Vaud, Valais, Fribourg
French writes the abbreviation with a plain e, never ème: 80e. 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 80
Real sentence examples
“Mon grand-père a fêté ses quatre-vingts ans hier.”
“Le ballon coûte quatre-vingts euros.”
“Le bus quatre-vingts dessert le centre-ville.”
Pronunciation and morphology notes
Quatre-vingts means "four-twenties" (4 x 20 = 80). The plural-s appears when 80 stands alone or ends the number. The s disappears when followed by another number (quatre-vingt-un, quatre-vingt-deux). Swiss-cantonal French in Vaud, Valais, and Fribourg says "huitante".
Frequently asked questions
How do you say eighty (80) in French?
Eighty in French is "quatre-vingts" (the number 80). It is built as 4 x 20 = 80.
How is quatre-vingts (80) pronounced in French?
In the International Phonetic Alphabet, "quatre-vingts" is transcribed /katʁ.vɛ̃/. Use the audio button on this page to hear the standard French pronunciation.
Is 80 said differently in Belgian or Swiss French?
Yes. In Metropolitan France 80 is "quatre-vingts", but in Swiss French it is "huitante" (Vaud, Valais, Fribourg).
What is the ordinal form of 80 in French?
The ordinal for 80 is "quatre-vingtième", abbreviated 80e. The form is the same in the masculine and the feminine. In Switzerland it is "huitantième".
How is 80 used in a French sentence?
A natural example is: "Mon grand-père a fêté ses quatre-vingts ans hier."
Related numbers
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