Spanish 1.3. Cardinal Numbers

Let us learn the cardinal numbers and counting in Spanish. Here, we will learn how to count from 1 to 10 and beyond.

uno, una	1	veintiuno	21	doscientos/-as	200
dos	2	veintidós	22	trescientos/-as	300
tres	3	veintitrés	23	cuatrocientos/-as	400
cuatro	4	treinta	30	quinientos/-as	500
cinco	5	treinta y uno	31	seiscientos/-as	600
seis	6	treinta y dos	32	setecientos/-as	700
siete	7	treinta y tres	33	ochocientos/-as	800
ocho	8	cuarenta	40	novecientos/-as	900
nueve	9	cuarenta y uno	41	mil	1.000
diez	10	cuarenta y dos	42	dos mil	2.000
once	11	cincuenta	50	tres mil	3.000
doce	12	cincuenta y uno	51	diez mil	10.000
trece	13	cincuenta y dos	52	cien mil	100.000
catorce	14	sesenta	60	cien mil uno	100.001
quince	15	setenta	70	cien mil diez	100.010
dieciséis	16	ochenta	80	un millón	1.000.000
diecisiete	17	noventa	90	dos millones	2.000.000
dieciocho	18	cien	100	diez millones	10.000.000
diecinueve	19	ciento uno	101	mil millones	1.000.000.000
veinte	20	ciento dos	102	dos mil millones	2.000.000.000

The Number “0”

The number “0” in Spanish is “cero,” pronounced as “se-ro.”

“Un” vs. “Uno”

Before a masculine noun, “uno” becomes “un,” e.g., “un perro” (a dog), “un carro” (a car).

You will encounter a similar dropping of the final “o” with a few other words in Spanish, such as “bueno” (good), “malo” (bad), and “alguno” (some), e.g., “Este restaurante es bueno” (This restaurant is good), “Este es un buen restaurante” (This is a good restaurant).

Tens

Cardinal numbers 16-19 in Spanish are formed by contracting the combination of the tens and the units (diez + y + “seis, siete, … etc.”) into (dieciséis, diecisiete, … etc.), and converting “z” in “diez” into “c,” and “y” into “i.”

The conjunction “y” meaning “and” is used between tens and units, either explicitly as in “treinta y cuatro” (34) or in contracted form as in “veintitrés” (23), i.e., “veinte + y + tres.”

The conjunction “y” is not used between hundreds and tens or between thousands and hundreds, e.g., “cuatrocientos cincuenta y uno”(451), “mil novecientos” (1900).

Hundreds

The multiples of hundred (200-900) are formed by combining (dos, tres, … etc.) and “cientos” to form (doscientos, trescientos, … etc.), except for “quinientos” (500).

The multiples of hundred (200-900) can have a masculine “-os” or a feminine “-as” ending depending on the nouns they describe, e.g., “doscientos libros” (200 books), “doscientas manzanas”(200 apples).

The word “cien” does not have a “-to” or “-tos” ending when referring to the number 100 or thousand multiples of the number 100, e.g., “cien” (100), “cien mil” (100.000), “cien millones” (100.000.000).

Otherwise, if preceded or followed by a number, “ciento” or “cientos” must be used instead. For example, “ciento uno” (101), “trescientos” (300), etc.

Most, but not all, Spanish-speaking countries use a comma to separate decimals and a period to separate thousands in Spanish. For instance, the number 2.155,25 in Spanish is equivalent to 2,155.25 in English.

Thousands, Millions, and Beyond

In plural form, “mil” remains the same, e.g., “tres mil” (3.000), whereas “millón” becomes “millones.” For example, “ocho millones” (8.000.000), “cien millones” (100.000.000).

When describing items in millions, one must add “de” after “millón” or “millones.” For example, “un millón de estudiantes” (a million students), “dos millones de habitantes” (two million inhabitants).

To say a billion in Spanish, we use “mil millones,” that is, a thousand million. The word “billón,” in Spanish, is a trillion in English.

Notice that in Spanish, we cannot use the English way of expressing years, as in “nineteen eighty-three” (1983); that is, saying “diecinueve, ochenta y tres” is incorrect. The correct way is to say “mil novecientos ochenta y tres.”

Next: Subject Personal Pronouns

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