{"id":22449,"date":"2015-09-16T17:45:28","date_gmt":"2015-09-16T15:45:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=22449"},"modified":"2017-10-23T17:08:41","modified_gmt":"2017-10-23T15:08:41","slug":"have-you-ever-counted-to-one-billion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/have-you-ever-counted-to-one-billion\/","title":{"rendered":"Have you ever counted to one billion?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Les grands nombres<\/strong> (large numbers) are hard to understand in any language. The difference between one trillion<\/em> and one billion<\/em> seems so abstract that it\u2019s impossible to conceptualize the huge quantities that are being referenced.<\/p>\n

French numbers<\/a> are already difficult at 70 and 80 et en plus<\/strong> (and what’s more) the punctuation<\/a> for numbers is not the same as in English. Now add on to that the confusion of un billion<\/strong> not being the same number as one billion<\/em>!<\/p>\n

The technical description of why they\u2019re different is that in English every number greater than a million gets a new name for every number that is a thousand times larger than the previous number. Mais en fran\u00e7ais<\/strong> (but in French), every number greater than a million gets a new name for every number that is a million times larger than the previous number.<\/p>\n

After that confusing paragraph, I can already hear the shouting.<\/p>\n

Je ne comprends pas !<\/strong>
\nI don\u2019t understand!<\/em><\/p>\n

To make things easier to understand, voici des exemples<\/strong> (here are some examples):
\n
\nOne million\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1,000,000
\nOne billion\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1,000,000,000
\nOne trillion\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1,000,000,000,000
\nOne quadrillion\u00a0\u00a0 1,000,000,000,000,000<\/code><\/p>\n

Un million\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01 000 000
\nUn milliard\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1 000 000 000
\nUn billion\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a01 000 000 000 000
\nUn billiard\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01 000 000 000 000 000<\/code><\/p>\n

The French words un milliard et un billiard<\/strong> (one billion and one quadrillion) make these grands nombres<\/strong> a bit confusing. Ce qui est important<\/strong> (what\u2019s important) is remembering that un milliard<\/strong> is not one million<\/em> and un billion<\/strong> is not one billion<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Heuresement<\/strong>, there\u2019s another way to express these large numbers if you get confused. Un milliard<\/strong> (one billion) can also be called mille millions<\/strong> (thousand millions), and un billiard<\/strong> can be mille billions<\/strong>. Keep all this in mind the next time you have to count les z\u00e9ros<\/strong> of a large number!<\/p>\n

As a challenge, try to count<\/a> all the way to un milliard<\/strong> in French!<\/p>\n

—————<\/p>\n

I stumbled across une vid\u00e9o<\/strong> several months after writing this post that explains how les tr\u00e8s grands nombres<\/strong> work in French and English. Malheureusement<\/strong> (unfortunately), it does not have des sous-titres<\/a><\/strong> (subtitles) and they use le fran\u00e7ais canadien<\/strong><\/a> (Canadian French), which may make it difficult for some people to understand.<\/p>\n

That said, it very clearly explains how les tr\u00e8s grands nombres<\/strong> work!<\/p>\n