Italian All-in-One For Dummies (13 page)
Read Italian All-in-One For Dummies Online
Authors: Consumer Dummies
To build numbers in Italian, simply add the larger number at the beginning, as in the following examples:
2 | due |
22 | ventidue |
122 | centoventidue |
422 | quattrocentoventidue |
1,422 | millequattrocentoventidue |
3,422 | tremilaquattrocentoventidue |
Here are some other specifics you need to know about using numbers in Italian:
 
Some handwritten numbers, such as 1, 4, 7, and 9, look different in Italian from their English counterparts. See
Figure 2-1
.
Illustration by Wiley, Composition Services Graphics
Figure 2-1:
Handwritten Italian numbers 1, 4, 7, and 9.
Italian uses periods and commas in numbers differently from English. For example,
1.200
in Italian is
1,200
in English. Remembering this difference is particularly important when looking at bills. A dinner that costs â¬36,00 differs greatly from one that costs â¬36.00!
Telephone numbers are usually separated by periods rather than hyphens and are broken into units of two rather than three. Italian speakers often say the units of two digits as one number; for example, 21.30.52 would be said
ventuno, trenta,
cinquantadue
(vehn-
tooh
-noh,
trehn
-tah, cheen-
kwahn
-tah-
dooh
-eh)
.
A seven-digit number may be given as 4.21.30.52, or
quattro, ventuno, trenta, cinquantadue
(
kwaht
-troh, vehn-
tooh
-noh,
trehn
-tah, cheen-
kwahn
-tah-
dooh
-eh)
.
However, nothing can stop you from simply saying each individual digit to relay a phone number, such as
due, uno, tre, zero, cinque, due
(
dooh
-eh,
ooh
-noh, treh,
dzeh
-roh,
cheen
-kweh,
dooh
-eh).
Speaking numbers like a native
When speaking numbers in general, you want to maintain the fluid nature of spoken Italian. To this end, from 20 through 90, the numbers 1 (
uno
) and 8 (
otto
)
contract,
meaning they drop the final vowel from
venti
(
vehn
-tee),
trenta
(
trehn
-tah)
,
and so on, before adding
uno
(
ooh
-noh) or
otto
(
oht
-toh).
So although some numbers follow the counting pattern, such as 22 (
ventidue
) (vehn-tee-
dooh
-eh) or 75 (
settantacinque
) (seht-
tahn
-tah-
cheen
-kweh), others, like 21 (
ventuno,
rather than
ventiuno
) (vehn-
tooh
-noh) and 68 (
sessantotto,
not
sessantaotto
) (sehs-sahn-
toht
-toh), drop the final vowel from the tens and flow directly into
uno
and
otto.
Read the following numbers, paying close attention to the
musicality,
or the flow of sound, in each example.
ventotto
(vehn-
toht
-toh)
trentuno
(trehn-
tooh
-noh)
cinquantuno
(cheen-kwahn-
tooh
-noh)
sessantotto
(sehs-sahn-
toht
-toh)
novantuno
(noh-vahn-
tooh
-noh)
quarantotto
(kwah-rahn-
toht
-toh)
Also, numbers ending in 3 require the use of an accent when written out. Thus, the number
tre
(treh) when added onto one of the tens becomes
tré,
as in
ventitré
(vehn-tee-
treh
).
One
(
uno
) is the only cardinal number that agrees in number (only singular) and gender with words it modifies. It works in the same way as the indefinite article.
un ragazzo
(oohn rah-
gaht
-tsoh) (
a boy
)
una ragazza
(
ooh
-nah rah-
gaht
-tsah) (
a girl
)
uno studente
(
ooh
-noh stooh-
dehn
-teh) (
a male student
)
una casa
(
ooh
-nah
kah
-sah) (
a house
)
uno zio
(
ooh
-noh
dzee
-oh) (
an uncle
)
un'amica
(ooh-nah-
mee
-kah) (
a female friend
)
Cardinal numbers with special meanings
Certain cardinal numbers, accompanied by the masculine singular definite article
il
(eel) or
l',
have specialized meanings, particularly when making historical, literary, or art historical references.
Il Trecento
(eel treh-
chen
-toh),
Il Quattrocento
(eel
kwaht
-troh-
chen
-toh), and so on, refer to the
1300s,
the
1400s,
and so on, which is certainly easier than the English naming of centuries, where the 14th century refers to the 1300s. For example, Petrarch (
Petrarca
), inventor of the sonnet form of poetry, lived during the
Trecento
(also written as '
300
). Michelangelo lived during both the
Quattrocento
(
1400s
) and the
Cinquecento
(
cheen
-kweh-
chen
-toh)
(
1500s
). The High Renaissance refers to that time in the
Cinquecento
(
1500s
) when the focus of effort and artists moved from Florence to Rome. A study of 20th-century literature would be a study of the literature of the
Novecento
(
noh
-veh-
chen
-toh)
(
1900s
).
Other nouns that derive from the cardinal numbers include references to large quantities (
hundreds
=
centinaia
[chen-tee-
nah
-yah];
thousands
=
migliaia
[mee-
lyah
-yah]). Also, by dropping the final vowel from a number and adding -
enne,
you can refer to a person of a certain age. A
diciottenne
(dee-choht-
tehn
-neh) is an 18-year-old; a
ventenne
(vehn-
tehn
-neh) is a 20-year-old.
Making sense of addresses
Like dates, which are covered later in this chapter, Italian reverses the order of street numbers and zip codes from the typical pattern in English. In Italian, numbers
follow
street names and
precede
city names, so an address may read something like this:
Dott. Duilio Falcone
Via Verdi, 86
20000 Firenze (FI), Italia
This reverse order isn't the only thing that can make street addresses confusing in Italian. Occasionally, business addresses include a number and a color (such as
rosso
[
rohs
-soh] [
red
]), and residential numbers are followed by a different color (
blu
[blooh] [
blue
], for example). A street may have two buildings with the same number but with a color added. For example,
Via Verdi, 86blu
(
vee
-ah
vehr
-dee, oht-
tahn
-tah-sey blooh) may indicate a residence;
Via Verdi, 86rosso
(
vee
-ah
vehr
-dee, oht-
tahn
-tah-sey
rohs
-soh) may indicate a store. These same numbers can be on different buildings, blocks apart, with only the color indicating the correct site.
