The Numbers in Spanish

Spanish Vocabulary
In Spanish there are two types of numbers:
Nmeros cardinales - Cardinal Numbers
- 1 (uno), 2 (dos) etc. which are used for counting and showing the quantity of something
Nmeros ordinales - Ordinal Numbers
- 1 (primero), 2 (segundo) etc. which are used to give the order or sequence of numbers

Cardinal Numbers in Spanish

Cardinal numbers are used in Spanish for:
Counting things:
Tengo tres hermanas. (I have three sisters)
Marzo tiene treinta y un das. (March has 31 days)
Saying how old someone is:

Notice how in Spanish you use the verb TENER when you are giving your age.
Tengo veintids aos. (I am 22 years old)
Mi hermano tiene veintiocho aos. (My brother is 28 years old)
Giving a date in Spanish
Unlike in English were ordinal numbers are used, in Spanish you use cardinal numbers when giving a date EXCEPT
when we talk about the first day of the month (see ordinal numbers further below).
Mi cumpleaos es el veintisiete de enero (27)
El da nacional de Chile es el dieciocho de septiembre (18)
Giving a telephone number in Spanish:
Mi nmero de telfono es dos - siete - ocho - nueve - cero - uno - tres - cinco.
(My phone number is 2789-0135)
When you are giving telephone numbers in Spanish you have two options. First is to say each number one by one
(dos - dos - seis - tres - cuatro - ocho - uno - cinco; 2-2-6-3-4-8-1-5) or you can group the numbers in pairs
(veintids, sesenta y tres, cuarenta y ocho, quince; 22 63 48 15)
Speaking about a specific year:

 Ella naci en mil novecientos ochenta y seis

(She was born in 1986).
Amrica fue descubierta en el ao mil cuatrocientos noventa y dos
(America was discovered in 1492).
Notice how in Spanish you don't divide the year into two parts like in English. You say the year as one long number.
Ejemplo: Mil novecientos setenta y dos (1972); Dos mil ocho (2008).

List of Cardinal Numbers in Spanish

1 - uno
2 - dos
3 - tres
4 - cuatro
5 - cinco
6 - seis
7 - siete
8 - ocho

 9 - nueve
10 - diez
11 - once
12 - doce
13 - trece
14 - catorce
15 - quince
16 - diecisis
17 - diecisiete
18 - dieciocho
19 - diecinueve
20 - veinte
21 - veintiuno

 22 - veintids
23 - veintitrs
24 - veinticuatro
25 - veinticinco
26 - veintisis
30 - treinta
33 - treinta y tres
40 - cuarenta
44 - cuarenta y cuatro
50 - cincuenta
55 - cincuenta y cinco
60 - sesenta
66 - sesenta y seis

 70 - setenta
77 - setenta y siete
80 - ochenta
88 - ochenta y ocho
90 - noventa
99 - noventa y nueve
100 - cien*
101 - ciento uno
125 - ciento veinticinco
200 - doscientos
300 - trescientos
400 - cuatrocientos
500 - quinientos

 600 - seiscientos
700 - setecientos
800 - ochocientos
900 - novecientos
1000 - mil
10.000 - diez mil
100.000 - cien mil
1.000.000 - un milln
10.000.000 - diez millones
123.456.789 - ciento veintitrs millones, cuatrocientos cincuenta y seis mil, setecientos ochenta y nueve.

The difference between Cien and Ciento

A) We use cien when we refer to the exact number 100. Cien = 100
Cien libros

 Cien das
Cien pesos
Cien soldados
B) We use ciento when we refer to numbers that include 100 in it (101, 102, etc.)
101 = ciento uno
142 = ciento cuarenta y dos
170 = ciento setenta
Remember that "y" (and) is used between the tens and the units, not after the hundreds as in English.
139 = ciento treinta y nueve (correcto)
139 = ciento y treinta nueve (incorrecto)

Ordinal Numbers in Spanish

Ordinal numbers must agree with the nouns they refer to in both number and gender when they are used as
adjectives:
el segundo auto (the second car)
la segunda casa (the second house)
When primero (1) and tercero (3) are placed before a singular masculine noun, the final -o is dropped:
el primer candidato (the first candidate)
el tercer trimestre (the third trimester)
Cardinal numbers over 10 are not commonly used and there is usually a way to avoid saying them.
For example with "It's his 21st birthday" you will normally hear "El cumple veintin aos" (He turned 21)

We use ordinal numbers in Spanish to:

Give the first day of the month:
Mi cumpleaos es el primero de agosto.

The rest of the days use cardinal numbers (see the section above on cardinal numbers).
Put things in a sequence or show their order:
Chile est segundo en las eliminatorias de la copa mundial.
Llegu tercero en la carrera. (I finished third in the race)
Say on which floor something is in a building:
La oficina est en el dcimo piso. (The office is on the 10th floor)
Say the version of something:
Esta es la quincuagsima versin del festival del Tango de Buenos Aires. (50th)

List of Ordinal Numbers in Spanish

1 - primero
2 - segundo
3 - tercero
4 - cuarto

 5 - quinto
6 - sexto
7 - sptimo
8 - octavo
9 - noveno
10 - dcimo
11 - decimoprimero / undcimo
12 - decimosegundo / duodcimo
13 - decimotercero
14 - decimocuarto
15 - decimoquinto
16 - decimosexto
17 - decimosptimo

 18 - decimoctavo
19 - decimonoveno
20 - vigsimo
21 - vigsimo primero
22 - vigsimo segundo
23 - vigsimo tercero
30 - trigsimo
40 - cuadragsimo
50 - quincuagsimo
60 - sexagsimo
70 - septuagsimo
80 - octogsimo
90 - nonagsimo

 100 - centsimo
101 - centsimo primero
200 - ducentsimo
300 - tricentsimo
400 - cuadringentsimo
500- quingentsimo
600- sexcentsimo
700- septingentsimo
800- octingentsimo
900 - noningentsimo
1000 - milsimo
1000000 - millonsimo

Large Numbers in Spanish

Large numbers are generally divided into groups of threes (thousands) to make them easier to read. However they
must be separated with points (or dots) and not commas.
7000000 (siete millones) is written as 7.000.000 (notice the dots instead of the commas)
9.876.543 = nueve millones, ochocientos setenta y seis mil, quinientos cuarenta y tres.

Fractions and Decimales in Spanish

We use nmeros fraccionarios (fractions) and decimales (decimals) to talk about numbers that are less than one
or to show how something is divided.
1/2 - un medio
1/3 - un tercio
2/3 - dos tercios
1/4 - un cuarto
3/4 - tres cuartos
1/5 - un quinto
2/5 - dos quintos
1/6 - un sexto

 5/6 - cinco sextos

1/7 - un sptimo
1/8 - un octavo
1/10 - un dcimo
7/10 - siete dcimo
1/20 - un veinteavo
47/100 - cuarenta y siete centsimos
1/100 - un centsimo
1/1.000 - un milsimo
With larger numbers we use "y" to separate the whole numbers from the fractions.
For example: 2 3/5 = dos y tres quintos.
If we want to show a number with decimals, we need to show those decimal numbers after a comma.
Whole number + , (comma) + decimals.
For example: 3 1/2 (tres y medio) = 3,5 (tres coma cinco)

If the number after the comma has more than one digit, then we say each of those numbers individually.
For example: 3.456,789 = tres mil cuatrocientos cincuenta y seis coma setecientos ochenta y nueve.
1.234.567,891 (in Spanish) = 1,234,567.891 (in English)
When we talk about dollars and cents, they are joined by the preposition con (with) or the conjunction y(and).
For example: $21,95 = veintin dlares con noventa y cinco centavos OR veintin dlares y noventa y cinco
centavos