quatre-vingt-six
The English phrase eighty six is said in French as quatre-vingt-six.
quatre-vingt-six is used to denote the number that comes after eighty-five.
What does it mean word for word?
The term is literally composed of quatre (four), vingt (twenty) and six (six). This structure follows the French vigesimal, or base-20, counting system used for numbers between 80 and 99.
Did you know?
- The vigesimal system used in quatre-vingt-six is a linguistic fossil from the Celts and Gauls who used to count by twenties.
- If you travel to Switzerland or parts of Belgium, you might hear the number expressed as huitante-six instead of the standard French quatre-vingt-six.
- English speakers might recognize the base-20 logic of quatre-vingt-six in the English word 'score', as in Abraham Lincoln's 'four score and seven years ago'.
Examples in context
- Depuis Tchernobyl en mille neuf cent quatre-vingt-six, on craint toujours pour la sécurité.Safety fears have been a problem since Chernobyl in nineteen eighty-six.This sentence is useful for illustrating how quatre-vingt-six is used when referring to a specific year.Tatoeba #2142776 by Dreamk33, translation #2142762 by Dreamk33
- Le numéro de la maison est quatre-vingt-six.The house number is eighty-six.
Example conversation
Hugo and Chloé are checking the price of a shared item.
- HugoCombien coûte ce vase, Chloé ?How much does this vase cost, Chloé?
- ChloéIl coûte quatre-vingt-six euros.It costs eighty-six euros.
- HugoC'est un peu cher pour moi.It is a bit expensive for me.
- ChloéJe suis d'accord avec toi, Hugo.I agree with you, Hugo.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
