Calling French Phone Numbers

I always had trouble wrapping my mind around dialing French phone numbers until I was actually living in France. So I created this quick guide to help anyone else who seems to be confused about how to call a French phone number using their cellphone or landline.

Whether you’re dialing from within France or from abroad, this guide can help. Calling France is all the same and does not depend on your country of origin.

French phone numbers are composed of 10-digits and French speakers tend to give out their phone number in 2-digit intervals.

The phone number 06 86 57 90 14 would be said verbally as:
– zero, six (06),
– quatre-vingt-six (86),
– cinquante-sept (57),
– quatre-vingt-dix (90),
– quatorze (14)

If the number given only has 9-digits then the leading 0 was omitted. So (6 21 34 76 53) would be missing the “0” in front of the six.

Also, keep in mind that not all French phone numbers start with “06,” I’ll explain that later. And knowing French numbers is vital to this whole process. You can check out this article for a list of them all. With this general information under your belt, let’s discuss how to dial a French phone number.

Step-by-Step method to dialing a French phone number:

There are three different methods you can use when calling a French phone number. The easiest way to dial a French number on your phone is to enter in the number with the plus sign (+) if you have the ability.

1. If you want to dial the number “06 86 57 90 14” and you are using are using a French telephone provider then simply type in 06 86 57 90 14 into your phone and that should work.

 

2. If you want to dial the number “06 86 57 90 14” from a foreign phone provider and you can enter a plus sign, then the phone number would look like: +33 6 86 57 90 14 (no leading zero is needed before the six). On an iPhone, holding down the “0” button will allow the plus sign (+) to appear.

 

3. If you cannot enter a plus sign into your cellphone OR you’re calling from a land line, then you’ll type in the phone number using France’s country code (033). You will also delete the additional zero in front of the six (or your area code provided). So in our example, this would be: 033 6 86 57 90 14 (no leading zero needed before the six).

 

Additional, tips when dialing a French phone number:

The first two digits of a French number is the area code (see below):

France’s Country Calling Code: +33
The typical area code of a French number:
01 Île-de-France
02 Northwest France
03 Northeast France
04 Southeast France
05 Southwest France
06 and 07 Mobile PhoneNumbers
08 Freephone (numéro vert) and shared-cost services.
09 Non-geographic number

I hope this guide helped clarify how to dial a French phone number, whether you’re using a smart phone or a landline. Any questions or comments can be made below.

 

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