French numbers build a foundation for telling time, shopping, and counting. From zero through ten, the vocabulary is: zéro, un (with the feminine form une), deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf, and dix. The pronunciation of these numbers has some quirks worth noting: the final -q of cinq is pronounced only when the word stands alone, the -x of six and dix becomes silent before a consonant, the -p- of sept is silent (it sounds roughly like "set"), and the -f of neuf is pronounced as a v sound when followed by ans or heures.
Beyond ten, French uses base-ten terms with their own patterns. Vingt (20) normally has a silent final -t, but it is pronounced in compounds like vingt et un (21). Other round numbers include trente (30) and cinquante (50). For larger quantities, cent means 100 and mille means 1000. Cent takes a plural -s only when no other number follows it — so deux cents but deux cent dix. Mille, by contrast, never takes a plural -s.
French has dedicated words for relative days. Aujourd'hui means "today" (as in Aujourd'hui, c'est lundi, "Today is Monday"), demain means "tomorrow," and hier means "yesterday." To reach one day further out, après-demain means "the day after tomorrow," and avant-hier means "the day before yesterday." The farewell À demain! uses the preposition à to mean roughly "until tomorrow." When asking the time, the formula is Quelle heure est-il?, and the response begins with Il est followed by the hour — for example, Il est trois heures. In practical situations such as schedules, transportation, and appointments, French speakers frequently rely on the 24-hour clock rather than splitting time into AM and PM.