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How to Say ‘About twenty people’ in French

Une vingtaine de personnes

ewn van-TEN duh pair-SUN

[ewn van-TEN duh pair-SUN]

💬 Usage Tip: Adding -aine to a number turns it into a rough count: une dizaine "about ten", une quinzaine "about fifteen", une trentaine "about thirty". It always takes de before the noun.

Phrase Breakdown

Une vingtaine

ewn van-TEN

About twenty

'-aine' means 'about' with numbers. Say 'un vin-tèn'. The 'g' is silent.

Example

Il a une vingtaine d'années.

He's about twenty years old.

Words in this phrase

Une

[ewn]

a / an

An indefinite article used before feminine singular nouns.

Example

Une rencontre comme celle-ci peut ouvrir des portes.

A meeting like this can open doors.

vingtaine

[van-TEN]

about twenty

Feminine noun meaning approximately twenty of something.

Example

Il y a une vingtaine de personnes.

There are about twenty people.

de personnes

duh pair-SUN

people

'De' follows a quantity word. Say 'deu pèr-son'.

Example

Beaucoup de personnes sont venues.

Many people came.

Words in this phrase

[duh]

Expressing the relationship between part and a whole.

Example

Un verre de lait.

A glass of milk.

personnes

[pair-SUN]

people

Plural of 'personne', used for counting guests.

Example

Une table pour six personnes.

A table for six people.

Guides for French learners

Ordering in French: Cafés, Bakeries and Restaurants (with Menu Vocabulary)How to order in French at a café, a bakery and a restaurant: the phrases, the questions staff ask, and the menu and food vocabulary to understand the answers.Hello in French: Greetings, Good Evening and How to Answer "How Are You?"How to say hello in French, when to switch to good evening, how to ask how are you and what to answer, with tu vs vous and native audio.

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