60 (sixty) in Italian is sessanta. You use it when counting objects, giving an age, describing a duration, or naming an identifying number. Its spelling has a double ss, and the stress falls on the middle syllable. Once you know sessanta, the other numbers in the sixties follow a useful pattern, with a small spelling change before one and eight.
Quick answer:
60 = sessanta, pronounced approximately “sehs-SAHN-tah.” “Sixty minutes” is sessanta minuti, and “sixty years old” is commonly sessant’anni.
How Do You Say 60 in Italian?
Say sessanta. Write it as one word, with a double ss after the first vowel and no written accent mark. The number sits between cinquantanove, fifty-nine, and sessantuno, sixty-one.
Example: Ci sono sessanta persone. — There are sixty people.
Place sessanta before the noun when giving a quantity: sessanta libri, “sixty books,” and sessanta pagine, “sixty pages.” The noun is normally plural, while the number stays the same with masculine and feminine nouns.
You can also answer with the number alone when the object is already clear. If someone asks Quante pagine ci sono?, “How many pages are there?”, Sessanta is enough as a short answer. A full sentence would be Ci sono sessanta pagine.
Useful Forms Related to Sixty
1. Sessanta — Sixty
Sessanta is the cardinal number for a quantity. It works with people, objects, measurements, and many other countable units. Sessanta euro means “sixty euros,” and sessanta chilometri means “sixty kilometers.”
The noun euro stays unchanged in the plural in Italian, so sessanta euro does not add an -s or an Italian plural ending. Other nouns, such as libro, change normally: sessanta libri.
2. Sessantesimo — Sixtieth
Sessantesimo means “sixtieth,” a position in a sequence. Il sessantesimo giorno is “the sixtieth day.” The feminine form is sessantesima, as in la sessantesima pagina, “the sixtieth page.”
Do not use the ordinal when simply counting sixty items. Sessanta pagine is “sixty pages,” while la sessantesima pagina identifies the page in the sixtieth position. The difference is quantity versus order.
3. Sessant’Anni — Sixty Years
Sessant’anni is a common way to write “sixty years,” with the final vowel of sessanta elided before anni. Ha sessant’anni means “He or she is sixty years old.” Italian uses avere, “to have,” for a person’s age.
The apostrophe marks the elision. It does not change the number’s value or create an ordinal. In speech, the two parts connect smoothly. You may also encounter the unelided form sessanta anni; the contracted expression is useful to recognize and practice.
4. Sessanta as an Identifying Number
A cardinal number can identify a bus route, a room, or a page. La pagina sessanta is “page sixty.” The noun pagina is singular because you are naming one page, rather than counting sixty pages.
Compare leggere sessanta pagine, “to read sixty pages,” with leggere la pagina sessanta, “to read page sixty.” The order of the number and noun, together with the article, helps show which meaning is intended.
60 in Italian: Quick Comparison
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| Italian expression | English meaning | Main use |
|---|---|---|
| sessanta | sixty | The cardinal number |
| sessanta minuti | sixty minutes | A duration |
| sessanta persone | sixty people | A quantity |
| sessant’anni | sixty years / years old | Age or a period of years |
| la pagina sessanta | page sixty | An identifying number |
| sessantesimo / sessantesima | sixtieth | Position in a sequence |
| sessanta euro | sixty euros | An amount of money |
| sessantuno | sixty-one | The next number after sixty |
How to Pronounce Sessanta
Sessanta has three syllables, with stress on the middle one: ses-SAN-ta. An English approximation is sehs-SAHN-tah. Keep the final a clear, rather than reducing it to a weak English unstressed vowel.
The double ss is held longer than a single consonant. Let the hissing sound last briefly before continuing into the stressed syllable. The first and second written s are not separate syllables; the spelling represents a longer consonant sound at the boundary.
Compare sedici, sixteen, with sessanta, sixty. Their consonants and rhythm are different. Listening to the complete word is more useful than assuming that the first few letters tell you the number. Practice them separately if you confuse the English values sixteen and sixty.
Counting from Sixty to Sixty-Nine
If the basic number words are new, review ten and the first Italian numbers before practicing the sixties. Italian normally writes these compound numbers as one word. Before uno, one, and otto, eight, the final a of sessanta drops. This produces sessantuno and sessantotto.
- 60 — sessanta
- 61 — sessantuno
- 62 — sessantadue
- 63 — sessantatré
- 64 — sessantaquattro
- 65 — sessantacinque
- 66 — sessantasei
- 67 — sessantasette
- 68 — sessantotto
- 69 — sessantanove
Keep the written acute accent in sessantatré. The final tre part is stressed in a compound number ending this way. This does not mean you should add an accent to sessanta itself.
After practicing the sequence, try reading individual values out of order. This helps you recall a number directly instead of having to start at sixty and count upward every time. Adding a noun such as minuti makes the practice more useful.
Using Sixty with Nouns
The cardinal number sessanta does not change for grammatical gender. Say sessanta libri with a masculine plural noun and sessanta sedie with a feminine plural noun. The noun changes to its plural form, while the number remains the same.
For a duration expressed in Italian minutes, Il viaggio dura sessanta minuti means “The journey takes sixty minutes.” For age, Mia madre ha sessant’anni means “My mother is sixty years old.” The noun and verb together tell you whether the number is a period of time or an age.
Do not add di between every number and noun. Sessanta persone is “sixty people.” To select sixty from a particular larger group, sessanta di queste persone means “sixty of these people.” The added phrase introduces a relationship to a known set.
For “about sixty,” use circa sessanta: Ci sono circa sessanta persone means “There are about sixty people.” Circa indicates that the quantity is approximate, which is useful when an exact count is not available.
Example Sentences
These sentences show sixty with a duration, a quantity, and an age. Notice the plural nouns and the use of avere for someone’s age.
Use: Minuti gives the unit of duration. The number sessanta stays unchanged.
Use: Circa makes the quantity approximate. Persone is feminine plural, but sessanta has no feminine ending.
Use: Italian uses avere for age. The apostrophe marks the connection between sessanta and anni.
Common Mistakes
Keep the double ss in sessanta and do not add a written accent to the base number. For sixty-one and sixty-eight, remember the dropped vowel: sessantuno and sessantotto. For sixty-three, keep the final accent in sessantatré.
Do not change sessanta to match a feminine noun, and do not use essere by copying English “is sixty years old.” Say Ha sessant’anni. Finally, distinguish a quantity of sixty pages from the identifying phrase “page sixty” and the ordinal “sixtieth.”
Frequently Asked Questions About 60 (Sixty) in Italian
Tap a question below to see the answer.
How do you say 60 in Italian?
Say sessanta. It is one word, with a double ss and no written accent mark.
How do you pronounce sessanta?
Stress the middle syllable: ses-SAN-ta. Keep the double ss longer than a single consonant and pronounce the final a clearly.
What is sixty-one in Italian?
It is sessantuno. The final a of sessanta drops before uno. A similar change gives sessantotto for sixty-eight.
How do I say sixty years old?
Use avere sessant’anni. For example, Ha sessant’anni means “He or she is sixty years old.”
What is sixtieth in Italian?
Use sessantesimo with a masculine noun and sessantesima with a feminine noun. It describes a position rather than a quantity.
Does sessanta change before feminine nouns?
No. The cardinal number stays the same: sessanta libri and sessanta sedie. The noun is plural, but sessanta does not acquire a feminine ending.
Summary
60 (sixty) in Italian is sessanta. Remember the double ss, the middle-syllable stress, and the clear final vowel. The number works unchanged with masculine and feminine nouns.
Practice sessanta minuti, sessanta persone, and sessant’anni. Learn the nearby forms sessantuno, sessantatré, and sessantotto to recognize the important spelling patterns within the sixties.
