French grammar · A1 · Lesson 14
Big numbers. Faire and prendre
100 is cent and 1 000 is mille, with no “un” in front. Cent takes an -s only when it is multiplied and ends the number (deux cents, but deux cent cinquante); mille never does (dix mille francs). Faire (to do, to make) and prendre (to take) are irregular: vous faites, ils font, ils prennent.
Last updated:
How does it work?
Big numbers are mostly Lego: you already know 0 to 69, and now you add hundreds and thousands on top.
| number | in words | |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | cent | no “un” in front |
| 101 | cent un | no “and” |
| 200 | deux cents | -s: multiplied, nothing after |
| 250 | deux cent cinquante | no -s: something follows |
| 1 000 | mille | no “un” in front |
| 10 000 | dix mille | never an -s |
| 1 000 000 | un million de francs | a noun, so it takes de |
Three things to notice. First, “a hundred” and “a thousand” are just cent and mille: no un. Second, cent takes an -s only when it is multiplied and ends the number (deux cents, trois cents), while mille never does: dix mille francs. Third, French writes a space where English writes a comma, 10 000, and a comma where English writes a point: 2,5 is “two point five”.
And the numbers you skipped, 70 to 99? Brace yourself: 70 is soixante-dix (sixty-ten), 80 is quatre-vingts (four twenties) and 90 is quatre-vingt-dix (four twenties and ten). Yes, really. Belgians and the Swiss sensibly say septante and nonante.
Faire and prendre are two of the busiest verbs in French, and both are irregular.
| faire (do, make) | prendre (take) | |
|---|---|---|
| je | fais | prends |
| tu | fais | prends |
| il / elle / on | fait | prend |
| nous | faisons | prenons |
| vous | faites | prenez |
| ils / elles | font | prennent |
The traps are in bold. Vous faites is one of only three vous forms in the whole language that do not end in -ez (the others are vous êtes and vous dites). Ils font rhymes with ils vont and ils sont. Ils prennent doubles its n. Learn prendre well and you get two more verbs free: apprendre (to learn) and comprendre (to understand) work exactly the same way.
Faire is English “do” and “make” at once: faire une enquête (to investigate), faire le calcul (to do the sums), faire un pari (to make a bet), faire le tour de (to go round). And French takes its tea: prendre le thé, “to have tea”. For photos, both work: faire une photo and prendre une photo.
What does it look like in the story?
These sentences come from lesson 14, “Ten thousand francs”, where the narrator is crossing the Atlantic on the liner Provence with Arsène Lupin hidden among the passengers.
| French | English |
|---|---|
| « Je promets dix mille francs à la personne qui démasque Arsène Lupin ! » | “I promise ten thousand francs to the person who unmasks Arsène Lupin!” |
| Ses marins prennent des lampes et fouillent les cabines : cent cabines, deux cents cabines… | His sailors take lamps and search the cabins: a hundred cabins, two hundred cabins… |
| Au salon, les passagers font des paris : « Cent francs pour Rozaine ! » | In the lounge the passengers place bets: “A hundred francs on Rozaine!” |
| Je prends mon kodak et je fais des photos de miss Nelly. | I take my camera and I take photos of miss Nelly. |
Try it: Find the numbers. Why cent but deux cents, with an -s? And why no -s on dix mille? Then the verbs: two of them keep coming back. Which one means “to do / to make”, and which “to take”?
« M. Louis Rozaine promettait une somme de dix mille francs à qui démasquerait Arsène Lupin, ou trouverait le possesseur des pierres dérobées. »
Mr Louis Rozaine promised a sum of ten thousand francs to whoever unmasked Arsène Lupin, or found the person holding the stolen stones. Maurice Leblanc, L’Arrestation d’Arsène Lupin (1905).
How is it different from English?
English splits the work between “do” and “make”; French uses faire for both. And where English “makes” a decision and “has” tea, French takes them: prendre une décision, prendre le thé.
What mistake do English speakers make?
Three classics. ✗ vous faisez, by analogy with nous faisons: ✓ vous faites. ✗ ils prendent: ✓ ils prennent, with two ns. ✗ dix milles francs: mille never takes an -s, ✓ dix mille francs.
Where can I practise it?
- Lesson 14: Ten thousand francs: the story, the rule and interactive exercises, free.
- Review 3: lessons 11 to 15: this point again, in a summary table with the other lessons of the block.
- The A1 glossary: every word of the course, French to English.
← Aller and the near future · Pouvoir, vouloir, devoir + infinitive →