Yes, 97 is quatre-vingt-dix-sept. I know your pain! When I have to say numbers in French, I need such a long time to think what the correct way to say it is. The annoying thing about numbers is that when they recite a telephone number, they say it in twos. So for example, 12345678 will be read as douze, trente-quatre, cinquante-six, soixante-dix-hut. Golly D:

As you probably know, French evolved from Latin, which was the language of the Romans who conquered Europe in the Antiquity. French also has roots in the Celtic languages (the Celts inhabited the region we today call France at the time of the Roman conquest). The Romans counted by tens (10, 20, 30, 40...) while the Celts counted by twenties (20, 40, 60, 80...). The Celts would refer to 50 as « deux vingt et dix » (two twenties and ten). 30 was « vingt et dix » (twenty and ten), and « deux vingts » (two twenties) would be understood as 40. This way of counting remained vivid until late in France. It cohabited with the Roman, ten-based system. This strange mixture produced the awkward end result that is responsible for your headache.

Try always counting in French for your regular tasks or when you exercise e.g push ups, you'll know your numbers in no time!

It can be confusing, but it is all logical. You just have to do the math and memorize the way it is said. It is just like learning numbers in any language. :) And yes, 97 is quatre-vingt-dix-sept. :)

It's out now http://www.italki.com/article/408/numbers-in-french#.VQvec46sX3o