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Let's start with the basics. I'll show you the first 100 numbers in Spanish, then
I'll break things down and explain some tricks for remembering them.
31 41 51 61 71 81 91
1 11 21
treinta y cuarenta y cincuenta y sesenta y setenta y ochenta y noventa y
uno once veintiuno
uno uno uno uno uno uno uno
32 42 52 62 72 82 92
2 12 22
treinta y cuarenta y cincuenta y sesenta y setenta y ochenta y noventa y
dos doce veintidós
dos dos dos dos dos dos dos
33 43 53 63 73 83 93
3 13 23
treinta y cuarenta y cincuenta y sesenta y setenta y ochenta y noventa y
tres trece veintitrés
tres tres tres tres tres tres tres
34 44 54 64 74 84 94
4 14 24
treinta y cuarenta y cincuenta y sesenta y setenta y ochenta y noventa y
cuatro catorce veinticuatro
cuatro cuatro cuatro cuatro cuatro cuatro cuatro
35 45 55 65 75 85 95
5 15 25
treinta y cuarenta y cincuenta y sesenta y setenta y ochenta y noventa y
cinco quince veinticinco
cinco cinco cinco cinco cinco cinco cinco
36 46 56 66 76 86 96
6 16 26
treinta y cuarenta y cincuenta y sesenta y setenta y ochenta y noventa y
seis dieciseis veintiseis
seis seis seis seis seis seis seis
37 47 57 67 77 87 97
7 17 27
treinta y cuarenta y cincuenta y sesenta y setenta y ochenta y noventa y
siete diecisiete veintisiete
siete siete siete siete siete siete siete
38 48 58 68 78 88 98
8 18 28
treinta y cuarenta y cincuenta y sesenta y setenta y ochenta y noventa y
ocho dieciocho veintiocho
ocho ocho ocho ocho ocho ocho ocho
39 49 59 69 79 89 99
9 19 29
treinta y cuarenta y cincuenta y sesenta y setenta y ochenta y noventa y
nueve diecinueve veintinueve
nueve nueve nueve nueve nueve nueve nueve
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
diez veinte treinta cuarenta cincuenta sesenta setenta ochenta noventa cien
A lot to take in? Take another look and try to spot the patterns. I recommend
you follow these steps to get all the numbers into your head:
1. Learn the numbers for 1-15. There's no real pattern, you just have to learn
them: uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez, once,
doce, trece, catorce, quince.
2. Learn the numbers for the multiples of ten: veinte, treinta, cuarenta,
cincuenta, sesenta, setenta, ochenta, noventa. A few tips to help you
remember:
o Other than veinte, they all end in -enta
o Other than veinte (again), they all have a clear relationship with the
related smaller number: cuatro <-> cuarenta, ocho <-> ochenta, etc.
Once you've memorized the above, you can fill in the gaps with a simple
formula:
For numbers from 16-19, take the rightmost digit and say “diez + y + (digit)”.
E.g. 17 = “diez + y + siete” = “diez y siete”, which contracts to diecisiete. This
is much like how in English 16 is “six-ten” i.e. “sixteen”.
For numbers above twenty, simply take the “tens” number (veinte, treinta,
etc.) and the “ones” number (uno, dos, tres, etc.) and stick “y” (“and”) in the
middle. E.g. 31 = “thirty and one” = treinta y uno. 98 = “ninety and eight”
= noventa y ocho.
The only extra thing to be aware of is that numbers from 21-29 get contracted
into a single word – so instead of “veinte y cuatro”, it's “veinticuatro”.
Finally, don’t forget that:
When you think about it, those two phrases mean the same thing; the only
difference is in emphasis.
However, it's important to note that the word uno changes to match the
gender of the noun it describes. Before a feminine noun, it becomes una.
Before a masculine noun, you drop the o and just use un.
Some examples:
Un libro – a book/one book. Drop the “o” from “uno” because it's followed by a
masculine noun.
Una mesa – a table/one table. Change “uno” to “una” because it's followed by
a feminine noun.
Tengo uno – “I have one”. “Uno” is unchanged because it's not followed by a
noun.
“¿Hay preguntas?” “Solo una.” – “Any questions?” “Only one”. In this case you
use unabecause you're referring to a pregunta (question), which is a feminine
word.
Spanish for 100: Cien or Ciento?
The number 100 can be translated into Spanish as either cien or ciento.
What's the difference?
For numbers from 200 to 999, you must first learn the multiples of 100. Don’t
worry, they’re really straightforward:
200 = doscientos
300 = trescientos
400 = cuatrocientos
500 = quinientos
600 = seiscientos
700 = setecientos
800 = ochocientos
900 = novecientos
These are simple enough – just note that 500 (quinientos), 700 (setecientos)
and 900 (novecientos) are slightly irregular.
These eight numbers have masculine and feminine forms, and so must agree
with the noun:
Note that 1,000 is mil, not un mil – whereas for un millón, you can't leave out
the un.
The only time you'll see un mil is in numbers like cuarenta y un mil (41,000).
You obviously need to put an un in this number to distinguish it from cuaranta
mil (40,000). When you're just talking about 1,000 with nothing the “ten-
thousands” column, write mil, with no un.
Forming new numbers with mil and un millón is fairly straightforward, and is
best illustrated by example:
1,000 = mil
1,001 = mil uno (not “mil y uno”!)
1,500 = mil quinientos
1,686 = mil seiscientos ochenta y seis
2,001 = dos mil
20,000 = veinte mil
33,000 = treinta y tres mil
100,000 = cien mil
483,382 = cuatrocientos ochenta y tres mil trescientos ochenta y dos
1,000,000 = un millón
3,000,000 = tres millones
6,492,000 = seis millones cuatrocientos noventa y dos mil
8,841,932 = ocho millones ochocientos cuarenta y un mil novecientos treinta y
dos (Yikes! What a mouthful.)
Finally, note that when you're using un millón or millones with a noun, you
must use de. So, for example, “one million books” is un millón de libros.
Literally, you're saying “one million of books*”.
We also indicate the decimal point with a dot, so “one half” can be written as
“0.5”.
(For the sake of consistency, I'm going to stick with the English-like
conventions for the rest of this article. But make sure to do things the other
way around when writing Spanish.)
Billions and Trillions in Spanish (They’re Not
What You Think)
What do you think the Spanish words billón and trillón mean? Did you guess
“billion” and “trillion”? Sadly, things aren't that simple.
Not everyone does it like this! Our way is called the “short scale” numbering
system, but many countries around the world – including most Spanish-
speaking countries – use the “long scale” system.
In this system, a “billion” (or its cognate) is one million millions, and a “trillion”
is one million billions. Rather than multiplying by a thousand each time, you
multiply by a million.
So Spanish words like billón don't “match up” with their English counterparts
like you might expect:
Try not to make the opposite mistake when you speak Spanish. Say un millón
y medio, not un y medio millón.
English Español
first primero
second segundo
third tercero
fourth cuarto
fifth quinto
sixth sexto
seventh séptimo
eighth octavo
ninth noveno
tenth décimo
Ordinal numbers are adjectives that must agree with the noun – although,
unlike most Spanish adjectives, they go before the noun, not after:
English Español
twentieth vigésimo
thirtieth trigésimo
fortieth cuadragésimo
fiftieth quincuagésimo
sixtieth sexagésimo
seventieth septuagésimo
eightieth octogésimo
ninetieth nonagésimo
Then fill in the gaps by combining numbers from the above two tables:
For numbers from “11th” to “19th”, it’s more common to write them as one
word than two: