douze
/duz/
The French word for twelve is douze.
douze is the cardinal number 12. To refer to a set of twelve objects, you can use the term une douzaine. Additionally, the informal expression douze balles can be used to mean twelve bucks or twelve euros.
Meaning: cardinal number 12 (num)
How do you pronounce it?
/duz/
Did you know?
- The expression douze balles uses the word balles, which literally means 'balls', as a slang term for currency.
- The word douze comes from the Latin duodecim, which literally means 'two plus ten'.
- French uses the number douze to refer to the 'twelve-tone' system in music, known as douze tons, which is a fundamental part of modern classical composition.
Examples in context
- Il a douze ans.He is twelve years old.This sentence shows how to use douze to state someone's age.Tatoeba #8030903 by theachaean, translation #12647387 by IronBeagle
- Douze est un nombre pair.Twelve is an even number.This sentence uses douze to identify an even number.Tatoeba #337274 by TRANG, translation #73341 by CK
- Une année compte douze mois.A year has twelve months.This sentence uses douze to describe the number of months in a year.Tatoeba #552503 by sacredceltic, translation #73060 by CM
- J'ai 12 ansI am twelve years old
- Ce T-shirt coûte douze ballesThis T-shirt costs twelve bucks
- J'ai acheté une douzaine d'œufsI bought a dozen eggs
- Il y a douze mois dans une annéeThere are twelve months in a year
- Le film commence à 12 heuresThe movie starts at twelve o'clock
- Nous avons invité douze personnes à la fêteWe invited twelve people to the party
- J'ai décidé d'apprendre douze nouvelles expressions françaises cette semaineI've decided to learn twelve new French expressions this week
- 78 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
At a bakery, Nathan is ordering for a group.
- NathanJe voudrais douze croissants, s'il vous plaît.I would like twelve croissants, please.
- EmmaTrès bien, Nathan. Ce sera tout ?Very well, Nathan. Will that be all?
- NathanOui, juste douze croissants pour Emma et moi.Yes, just twelve croissants for Emma and me.
- EmmaC'est noté, merci beaucoup.Noted, thank you very much.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “twelve” translations and entries douze, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries douze, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
