ILGUR: Italian Language, Grammar and Usage Resource

Numbers (i numeri) are important and should be memorized. Below is a handy chart that can be printed out or saved (if you want to print it out, simply click on the chart and then print it out after it opens in the new window).

With the exception of uno (see below), the numbers are invariable and do not change form when used as adjectives. The chart below shows the numbers in Italian from 1 to 10:

* Uno agrees in gender with the noun it precedes:

una macchina
a car / one car

un biglietto
a ticket / one ticket

uno studente
a student / one student

un amico
a friend (male) / one friend

un’amica
a friend (female) / one friend

un’arancia
an orange / one orange

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Other articles relating to numbers:
Lesson 28: Numbers: 100 to 1,000,000,000

In Italian…

• For each, for every, or per is expressed with the preposition, per:

  C’erano due casi del cancro per ogni 1.000.000 persone.
  There were two cases of cancer for every 1 million people.

• Speeds and prices are typically expressed with the preposition, a, but often do not take the preposition:

  Le mele costano 10 centesimi a grammo
  The apples cost 10 cents a gram.

• Half is expressed by the adjective, mezzo. Mezzo can also be an adverb:

  Ho mangiato mezza pizza.
  I ate half a pizza.

  Il bicchiere è mezzo pieno.
  The glass is half full.

• The following adjectives are often used with weights and measures and are used in the following manner — adjective + numeral + unit of measure. Don’t forget that the adjective agrees with the subject (the thing being measured, weighed, etc.):

  largo wide
  alto tall
  lontano away
  profondo deep

  L’entrata è larga tre metri.
  The doorway is three meters wide.

  The hotel is ten miles away.
  L’albergo è lontano 10 miglia
  

Here are the numbers in Italian from 100 – 1,000,000,000 (one hundred to one billion)

100 = cento
200 = duecento
300 = trecento
400 = quattrocento
500 = cinquecento
600 = seicento
700 = settecento
800 = ottocento
900 = novecento
1.000 = mille (*in Italian, periods are used instead of commas)
1.100 = millecento
1.200 = milleduecento
1.300 = milletrecento
2.000 = duemila
2.100 = duemillecento
2.200 = duemiladuecento
3.000 = tremila
4.000 = quattromila
10.000 = diecimila
50.000 = cinquantamila
100.000 = centomila
500.000 = cinquecentomila
1.000.000 = un milione
2.000.000 = due milioni
1.000.000.000 = un miliardo (one billion)

Some things to remember when using numbers:

1. The indefinite article is not used with cento or mille, but it is used with milione.
   cento uccelli = a hundred birds
   mille zanzare = a thousand mosquitoes
   un milione di domande = a million questions
2. Cento has no plural form.
   Cento = 100
   Duecento = 200
   Mille (1.000) has the plural of -mila.
   Duemila = 2.000
   Tremila = 3.000
3. Milione has the plural form of milioni = due milioni
4. Milione (and its plural) and miliardo (and its plural) require di when followed by a noun
5. In Italian, there is no equivalen to the English eleven-hundred (1100) or fourteen-hundred (1400) — it is simply: millecento (1100), milleduecento (1200), etc.
6. When referring to a specific year, the singular masculine form of the definite article (il) is used.
   1975 was a good year = Il 1975 e` stato un anno molto buono.