Just checking, the number of minutes are written out in full in all the examples - is there ever a situation in French where numerals are written instead? eg 23 instead of vingt-trois.
Numbers written in full
- « Back to Q&A Forum
- « Previous questionNext question »
Numbers written in full
![](/files/shared/_avatar-mids/user/57/cecile-5-600x600_64026bc4b69bb.png)
Hi Anne,
To add to what Chris said, numerals will be used for dates, addresses, prices, measurements, years, and percentages however, in formal writing, such as literature or official documents, numbers are often spelled out, especially for smaller numbers (usually up to 16 or 20, depending on the style guide). In these cases, you would write "douze" instead of "12" or "vingt" instead of "20".
Hope this answers your question.
The convention is the same as in English. You use digits for brevity and clarity. Rarely will a time have its digits spelled out in full. On kwiziq this is mostly done for practice.
I’m also interested about centuries, which I can’t find covered anywhere on the site - pretty sure my answer of 1er siècle was marked wrongly in one of the dictées and the correct answer was in Roman numerals?
Anne,
the attached link will help you, I think.
I can’t recall seeing a single example on signs in France for, or in written material about, chateaux or churches etc that didn’t use Roman numerals for important ‘period dates’ in their history.
https://www.lawlessfrench.com/vocabulary/roman-numerals/
Don't have an account yet? Join today
Find your French level for FREE
Test your French to the CEFR standard
Find your French level