{"id":258,"date":"2010-01-14T14:37:56","date_gmt":"2010-01-14T18:37:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=258"},"modified":"2010-01-14T14:37:56","modified_gmt":"2010-01-14T18:37:56","slug":"numeri-ordinali","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/numeri-ordinali\/","title":{"rendered":"Numeri Cardinali"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s a blog that will be useful both for beginners and more advanced students who need a bit of revision.<\/span><\/p>\n

Numeri Cardinali<\/strong> (Cardinal Numbers) don\u2019t change from masculine to feminine except for \u2018one\u2019. The word piatto<\/strong> (plate), for example, is a masculine word and therefore if we were asked: quanti piatti ci sono sul tavolo? <\/strong>(how many plates are on the table?) we would reply: Ce n\u2019\u00e8 uno<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong> (There is one<\/span>). Forchetta <\/strong>(fork), on the other hand, is feminine, so if we were asked: quante forchette ci sono sul tavolo?<\/strong> (How many forks are on the table?) we would reply: Ce n\u2019\u00e8 una<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0 (There is one<\/span>).<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are the Cardinal numbers from zero to ten:<\/span><\/p>\n

zero \u2013 <\/strong>zero<\/span><\/p>\n

uno \u2013 <\/strong>one<\/span><\/p>\n

due \u2013 <\/strong>two<\/span><\/p>\n

tre \u2013 <\/strong>three<\/span><\/p>\n

quattro \u2013 <\/strong>four<\/span><\/p>\n

cinque \u2013 <\/strong>five<\/span><\/p>\n

sei \u2013 <\/strong>six<\/span><\/p>\n

sette \u2013 <\/strong>seven<\/span><\/p>\n

otto \u2013 <\/strong>eight<\/span><\/p>\n

nove \u2013 <\/strong>nine<\/span><\/p>\n

d<\/strong><\/span>ieci \u2013 <\/strong>ten<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Numbers from eleven to nineteen are an amalgam of dieci<\/strong> (ten) and the units uno<\/strong>, due<\/strong>, tre<\/strong>, etc. The \u2018e<\/strong>\u2019 of \u2018dieci<\/strong>‘ is dropped to create \u2018dici<\/strong>\u2019, and, just to keep things interesting, whereas the numbers from eleven to sixteen end<\/span> in \u2018-dici<\/strong>\u2019, the numbers seventeen to nineteen start<\/span> with it as you can see from the list below:<\/span><\/p>\n

undici \u2013 <\/strong>eleven<\/span><\/p>\n

dodici \u2013 <\/strong>twelve<\/span><\/p>\n

tredici \u2013 <\/strong>thirteen<\/span><\/p>\n

quattordici \u2013 <\/strong>fourteen<\/span><\/p>\n

quindici \u2013 <\/strong>fifteen<\/span><\/p>\n

sedici \u2013 <\/strong>sixteen<\/span><\/p>\n

diciassette \u2013 <\/strong>seventeen<\/span><\/p>\n

diciotto \u2013 <\/strong>eighteen<\/span><\/p>\n

diciannove \u2013 <\/strong>nineteen<\/span><\/p>\n

The numbers from 20 to 99 are pretty straightforward as we simply add the units uno<\/strong>, due<\/strong>, tre<\/strong>, etc. to the root:<\/span><\/p>\n

venti \u2013 <\/strong>twenty <\/span><\/p>\n

ventuno \u2013 <\/strong>twenty one<\/span><\/p>\n

ventidue \u2013 <\/strong>twenty two<\/span><\/p>\n

ventitr\u00e9 \u2013 <\/strong>twenty three<\/span><\/p>\n

ventiquattro \u2013 <\/strong>twenty four \u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

trenta \u2013 <\/strong>thirty<\/span><\/p>\n

quaranta \u2013 <\/strong>forty <\/span><\/p>\n

cinquanta \u2013 <\/strong>fifty <\/span><\/p>\n

sessanta \u2013 <\/strong>sixty <\/span><\/p>\n

settanta \u2013 <\/strong>seventy <\/span><\/p>\n

ottanta \u2013 <\/strong>eighty <\/span><\/p>\n

novanta \u2013 <\/strong>ninety <\/span><\/p>\n

Notice that in front of –uno<\/strong> and –otto<\/strong> we drop the vowels \u2018i<\/strong>\u2019 or \u2018a<\/strong>\u2019 from venti<\/span><\/strong>,\u00a0trenta<\/span><\/strong>,\u00a0hence: ventuno, ventotto, trentuno, trentotto, quarantuno, quarantotto, <\/strong>etc. Also note that the number –tr\u00e9<\/strong> as in ventitr\u00e9 <\/strong>(twenty three), or<\/span>\u00a0sessantatr\u00e9<\/span><\/strong> (sixty three) <\/strong>is now written (and pronounced) with an accent.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cento <\/strong>(a\/one hundred) doesn\u2019t pluralize, e.g. Quel tavolo costa cento<\/span> Euro <\/strong>(that table costs one hundred Euros); c\u2019erano duecento<\/span> persone al concerto <\/strong>(there were two hundred people at the concert).<\/span><\/p>\n

Mille <\/strong>(a\/one thousand), on the other hand,\u00a0<\/strong>becomes mila<\/strong> in the plural, e.g. Mariella ha venduto un quadro per mille<\/span> Euro <\/strong>(Mariella sold a picture for one thousand Euros), c\u2019erano almeno quattromila<\/span> persone al concerto <\/strong>(there were at least four thousand people at the concert).<\/span><\/p>\n

Milione <\/strong>(a\/one million) changes to milioni <\/strong>in the plural, and miliardo <\/strong>(a\/one billion\/thousand million)\u00a0becomes miliardi<\/strong> (billions). Note that unlike cento<\/strong> and mille<\/strong>, we always use un<\/strong> (a\/one) before milione <\/strong>and miliardo<\/strong>. In addition milione\/i<\/strong> and miliardo\/i<\/strong> are always followed by the preposition di<\/strong> (of).\u00a0For example:\u00a0Mi hanno detto che la\u00a0villa di Maurizio\u00a0\u00e8 in vendita per un milione di<\/span> Euro <\/strong>(I\u2019ve heard\u00a0that\u00a0Maurizio\u2019s\u00a0villa is on the market for one million Euros); l\u2019Italia ha circa sessanta milioni di<\/span> abitanti <\/strong>(Italy has got about sixty million inhabitants).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

If you want to use cardinal numbers in a slightly less precise manner you can use the Italian equivalent of \u2018roughly\u2019, or \u2018about\u2019:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

una decina<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 about\/roughly ten<\/span><\/p>\n

una ventina<\/strong> \u2013 about\/roughly twenty<\/span><\/p>\n

una trentina<\/strong> \u2013 about\/roughly thirty<\/span><\/p>\n

and so\u00a0on up to un centinaio<\/strong> \u2013 about\/roughly\u00a0one hundred<\/span><\/p>\n

un migliaio<\/strong> \u2013 about\/roughly a thousand<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

For example: Franco ha una cinquantina di pecore<\/strong> (Franco has got roughly fifty sheep), or:\u00a0quest\u2019anno ho fatto una ventina di barattoli di marmellata<\/strong> (This year I made about twenty jars of jam)<\/span><\/p>\n

We also use <\/span><\/span>una dozzina<\/strong> (twelve) which is very similar to the English word dozen, e.g. una dozzina di uova <\/strong>(a dozen eggs).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, una quindicina di giorni<\/strong> (about fifteen days) is the Italian\u00a0equivalent of \u2018a fortnight\u2019, very useful if you\u2019re on holiday because it gives the possibility of that extra fifteenth day! <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s a blog that will be useful both for beginners and more advanced students who need a bit of revision. Numeri Cardinali (Cardinal Numbers) don\u2019t change from masculine to feminine except for \u2018one\u2019. The word piatto (plate), for example, is a masculine word and therefore if we were asked: quanti piatti ci sono sul tavolo?…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[619],"tags":[674,737,738],"class_list":["post-258","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-italian-language","tag-counting-in-italian","tag-italian-numbers","tag-italian-numeri-cardinali"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t