French · Time, Numbers & Colors

"Twelve" in French: douze

douze

Say it: DOOZnumber/duz/

Twelve in French is douze. It is invariable as a number: douze euros, douze heures. Twelfth is douzième.

Buying bread

Je voudrais douze croissants, s'il te plaît.
I'd like twelve croissants, please.
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How to pronounce douze

Say it

DOOZ

/duz/

Douze: DOOZ. The ou is like "oo"; final e is soft. Liaison possible: douz-amis in careful speech.

"Twelve" in French: quick reference

FrenchEnglish
douzetwelve

Cardinal number.

douze heurestwelve o'clock / noon-ish in 12h talk

Also written 12 h.

une douzainea dozen

About twelve.

douzièmetwelfth

Ordinal.

How to use douze in real life

  1. 1Buying bread

    Je voudrais douze croissants, s'il te plaît.

    I'd like twelve croissants, please.

    Numbers before plural nouns.

  2. 2Meeting time

    On se voit à douze heures devant la gare.

    We'll meet at twelve in front of the station.

    Douze heures = noon on the 12-hour feel; often 12 h.

  3. 3Age

    Ma nièce a douze ans demain.

    My niece turns twelve tomorrow.

    Ans for age.

Mistakes English speakers make with douze

Incorrect: Douze heures (meaning midnight).

Correct: Minuit. / Zéro heure.

Douze heures is midday in common talk; midnight is minuit.

Incorrect: Le douzeème étage.

Correct: Le douzième étage.

Ordinal is douzième.

Good to know

France often writes times as 12 h 00 on clocks and tickets. Une douzaine de… is handy in markets: une douzaine d'œufs.

Try it in a ChatPal conversation

Ordering at the bakery

  1. ChatPal

    Tu en veux combien ? Douze ?

    How many do you want? Twelve?

  2. You

    Oui, douze pains au chocolat.

    Yes, twelve chocolate croissants.

  3. ChatPal

    C'est pour la réunion ?

    Is it for the meeting?

  4. You

    Exact. On est nombreux demain.

    Exactly. There are a lot of us tomorrow.

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"Twelve" in other languages

FAQ

Common questions about "Twelve" in French

How do you say twelve?

Douze.

Twelfth?

Douzième.

A dozen?

Une douzaine.

How do you pronounce douze?

DOOZ.

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