French Phone Numbers - Lawless French Tips


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Numéros de téléphone

French phone numbers can be a little confusing at first, so here are some tips on understanding the different ways they may be recited and written, as well as how to use them.

Regular French phone numbers have 10 digits. They are usually written in pairs separated by spaces or periods.

Par exemple…

01 23 45 67 89
or
01.23.45.67.89

They are also recited in pairs: zéro un, vingt-trois, quarante-cinq, soixante-sept, quatre-vingt-neuf

The first two digits are a prefix which gives information about the type and location of the number, and the remaining eight digits are the phone number.

French phone prefixes | Indicatifs

01	Fixed phone	Île-de-France (Paris and surroundings)
02	Fixed phone	Northwest France
03	Fixed phone	Northeast France
04	Fixed phone	Southeast France
05	Fixed phone	Southwest France
06	Cell phone
07	Cell phone
08	Toll-free number
09	VOIP number

Within France, you always have to dial all 10 digits, even if you’re in the same region as the number you’re calling.

International calls | Appels internationaux

When calling from outside of France, you lose the 0 at the beginning of the number, but add a few additional digits:

The relevant international prefix*
France’s country code: 33

Depending on where you are when someone gives you their phone number, it might have 10 digits, like at the beginning of this lesson, or it might include the country code plus 9 digits, like this:

+33 1 23 45 67 89

The + stands in for whichever international prefix you need.

* International prefixes

011 calling from US, Canada, or the non-French Caribbean
0011 calling from Australia
00 calling from the French Caribbean and most other countries

So regardless of whether you’re given the number 01 23 45 67 89 or +33 1 23 45 67 89, what to dial depends on where you are when you make the call:

01 23 45 67 89	in France
011 33 1 23 45 67 89	in US, Canada, Caribbean
0011 33 1 23 45 67 89	in Australia
00 33 1 23 45 67 89	in French Caribbean or another country

Emergency numbers | Numéros d’urgence

A few very short numbers are available for emergency services:

15	SAMU	ambulance
17	police	police
18	sapeurs-pompiers	fire department
112	numéro d’urgence européen	emergency anywhere in EU
114	urgence : personnes sourdes et malentendantes	emergency: deaf/hard-of-hearing persons

USSD codes | Codes secrets

Mobile phone companies often have short numbers available for their customers, such as 110 for Orange customer service and 963 for SFR customer service.