21 and 81, in spoken French

If 21 is vingt-et-un, is 81 quatre vingt-et-un?
Or is it qautre vingt un?

And if the latter, can it be slurred into quatre vingtun?
As of today I have to get in some practice. :wink: :rofl:

2 Likes

I seem to remember that it’s not consistent to an English-thinking mind. I think we need @vero

Edited to add: Happy Birthday :birthday:

Was it ever thus? :wink: :joy:

For what it’s worth, I use quatre-vingt-un for eighty one.

3 Likes

Me too. They are the last digits in our phone number so I say them a lot.

Edit: sorry, missed the significance - Happy Birthday David.

I don’t know why it is that way but it’s quatre-vingt-un… I’ll ask my missus later if she knows why.

PS - happy birthday :tada:

Indeed, hoppy birdie David.

Joyeux quatre-vingt-unième anniversaire!
But 81 is still quatre-vingt-un :slightly_smiling_face::birthday::champagne::clinking_glasses:

4 Likes

Happy birthday!

Are you the oldest member, I wonder.

Happy birthday dear David :bouquet:

Congratulations on your 21st birthday!

Happy Birthday young man!

Well thanks all for the good wishes, it wasn’t an excuse because I only had one card, and that was an electronic one, honest. :innocent:

I have always thought it was quatre-vingt-un, but for some reason I found my tongue uncomfortable with that, so I was grasping at straws really.

If I make it that far, quatre-vingt-deux will be much easier next year, although, come to think of it I know that some French people call your age by the year in which the appropriate date occurs, so I could make a start on Monday I suppose. :thinking: :rofl:

To be fair I did get greetings from the UK and Australia via Facebook, so no need for an outbreak of
‘ah blesses’. :joy:

2 Likes

Belated happy birthday, David.

First, Happy Birthday!

I have 82 in my mobile phone number & have to really stress the “deux” bit as local ears have been known to mistake it for “douze”, which clearly creates a problem.

Many happy returns David. May you see many more. :+1:

Thanks to all 3 of you, not sure about the many more though @Moray , unless I can stay reasonably able physically and mentally. My Dad died at 94 but his quality of awareness of life was not good for some years before that. I wonder if I can leave a message, to whoever deals with such things, to ship me off to Switzerland before I get past it? :thinking: :rofl: