da uno a venti

Italian numbers 1 to 20

The ten words after dieci are the last that have to be memorised. They come in two groups, and the line between them falls at 17.

Updated 8 October 2026

Figure	Italian
1	uno
2	due
3	tre
4	quattro
5	cinque
6	sei
7	sette
8	otto
9	nove
10	dieci

Figure	Italian
11	undici
12	dodici
13	tredici
14	quattordici
15	quindici
16	sedici
17	diciassette
18	diciotto
19	diciannove
20	venti

Two kinds of teen

From 11 to 16 the unit comes first and -dici second: un-dici, do-dici, quattor-dici, se-dici. From 17 the order turns round and dici- comes first: dicias-sette, dici-otto, dician-nove. Treccani’s etymologies show where each half comes from.

Figure	Italian	Latin source (Treccani)	Built as
11	undici	ŭndĕcim	unus + decem
12	dodici	duōdĕcim	duo + decem
13	tredici	trēdĕcim	tres + decem
14	quattordici	quat(t)uordĕcim	quattuor + decem
15	quindici	quīndĕcim	quinque + decem
16	sedici	sēdĕcim	sex + decem
17	diciassette	dĕcem ac sĕptem	ten and seven
18	diciotto	dĕcem ŏcto	ten eight
19	diciannove	dĕcem ac nŏvem	ten and nine

What pupils write wrongsettedici for 17 (the 11 to 16 pattern carried on), diciasette with one s, and quatordici with one t. They are common on first sheets, so the worksheet generator weights its draw toward 11 and 16 to 19 in any range that includes them.

venti, and what comes after

20 is venti, and from 21 the rules take over: the ten and the unit join into one word, the ten loses its final vowel before uno and otto (ventuno, ventotto), and a final tre takes an accent (ventitré). The 1 to 100 page has the full chart, and the generator makes a 1 to 20 sheet with its key in a second file.

Questions teachers ask

What are the numbers 1 to 20 in Italian?

uno, due, tre, quattro, cinque, sei, sette, otto, nove, dieci, undici, dodici, tredici, quattordici, quindici, sedici, diciassette, diciotto, diciannove, venti. Each is one word, and none of 11 to 19 can be worked out from 1 to 10 by a rule a beginner could apply, so they are learned as vocabulary.

Why is 17 diciassette and not settedici?

Because Italian inherited the two halves of the teens from two different Latin patterns. 11 to 16 descend from the Latin compounds undecim to sedecim, unit first. 17 to 19 descend from phrases with the ten first, decem ac septem ("ten and seven"), decem octo and decem ac novem, which Treccani gives as the etymology of diciassette, diciotto and diciannove.

Is it diciotto or dicciotto?

diciotto, with a single c. The double consonant is the t: dici-otto. The same goes for diciassette and diciannove, which double the s and the n, not the c.

Two kinds of teen

venti, and what comes after

Questions teachers ask

Sources