11 in French
onze
Updated June 2026
The number that refuses elision
NUMERAL
11
FRENCH
onze
IPA
/ɔ̃z/
Real sentence examples
“Il est onze heures du matin.”
“Le onze novembre est un jour férié en France.”
“Le onze de France entre sur le terrain.”
Pronunciation and morphology notes
Onze comes from Latin "undecim", not "dix-un". Its defining quirk is that it blocks elision and liaison: you say "le onze" (never "l'onze") and "le onze novembre" with no liaison, exactly as if it began with an aspirate h. It is one of the rare vowel-initial French words that refuses elision. "Le onze" also nicknames a football team (eleven players).
Related numbers
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