Numbers

A0–A2Foundations 8 min

Numbers from 0 to a million, the ordinals primero to décimo, and the agreement of uno and the hundreds. From 31 on, y joins the tens and the unit, written as separate words: treinta y uno, noventa y nueve

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CheatsheetA0–A2

Point	Rule	Example	English
0–15	each has its own word	once / quince	eleven / fifteen
16–29	one word: dieci- or veinti- and the unit	dieciséis / veintidós	sixteen / twenty-two
31–99	the tens, y, the unit: three words	treinta y uno / cuarenta y cinco	thirty-one / forty-five
100	cien alone or before a noun, ciento before another number	cien euros / ciento veinte	a hundred euros / a hundred and twenty
1000	mil takes no un and stays the same after any number	mil / tres mil	a thousand / three thousand
A1Hundreds	from 200, they agree with the noun	doscientas personas	two hundred people
A1millón	a noun: millones in the plural, de before what it counts	dos millones de personas	two million people
A1uno	un before a masculine noun, una before a feminine one	veintiún años / veintiuna casas	twenty-one years / twenty-one houses
A1Ordinals	primero to décimo; they agree with the noun and go before it	la segunda calle	the second street
A2primer / tercer	primero and tercero drop -o before a masculine singular noun	el primer día / el tercer piso	the first day / the third floor
Trap	500, 700 and 900 change their first part	quinientos / setecientos / novecientos	five hundred / seven hundred / nine hundred
Trap	no y after the hundreds	ciento veinte / doscientos cinco	a hundred and twenty / two hundred and five

0 to 15A0

Number	Word	English
0	cero	zero
1	uno	one
2	dos	two
3	tres	three
4	cuatro	four
5	cinco	five
6	seis	six
7	siete	seven
8	ocho	eight
9	nueve	nine
10	diez	ten
11	once	eleven
12	doce	twelve
13	trece	thirteen
14	catorce	fourteen
15	quince	fifteen

Each number from 0 to 15 has a word of its own.
Phone numbers are often said in groups of two digits: 45 67 89 → cuarenta y cinco, sesenta y siete, ochenta y nueve

16 to 29A0

Number	Word	English
16	dieciséis	sixteen
17	diecisiete	seventeen
18	dieciocho	eighteen
19	diecinueve	nineteen
20	veinte	twenty
21	veintiuno	twenty-one
22	veintidós	twenty-two
23	veintitrés	twenty-three
26	veintiséis	twenty-six
29	veintinueve	twenty-nine

16 to 19 join dieci- to the unit, and 21 to 29 join veinti-, in one word.
dieciséis / veintidós / veintitrés / veintiséis carry a written accent.

30 to 99A0

Number	Word	English
30	treinta	thirty
31	treinta y uno	thirty-one
40	cuarenta	forty
45	cuarenta y cinco	forty-five
50	cincuenta	fifty
60	sesenta	sixty
70	setenta	seventy
80	ochenta	eighty
90	noventa	ninety
99	noventa y nueve	ninety-nine

From 31, the tens and the unit are separate words joined by y.

Hundreds, thousands, millionsA0–A1

Number	Words	English
100	cien	a hundred
101	ciento uno	a hundred and one
200	doscientos	two hundred
300	trescientos	three hundred
400	cuatrocientos	four hundred
500	quinientos	five hundred
600	seiscientos	six hundred
700	setecientos	seven hundred
800	ochocientos	eight hundred
900	novecientos	nine hundred
1000	mil	a thousand
2000	dos mil	two thousand
10 000	diez mil	ten thousand
1 000 000	un millón	a million
2 000 000	dos millones	two million

cien is 100 alone or before a noun; ciento goes before another number: cien euros / ciento veinte — a hundred euros / a hundred and twenty
The hundreds take no y after them: ciento veinte / doscientos cinco — a hundred and twenty / two hundred and five
mil takes no un and keeps its form after any number.
A1From 200, the hundreds agree with the noun they count: doscientos libros / doscientas personas — two hundred books / two hundred people
A1millón is a noun: its plural is millones, and de goes before what it counts: Hay tres millones de personas. — There are three million people.
Long numbers group their digits in threes with a space: 10 000.
A1Decimals take a comma or a point: both are correct, each country has its own custom, and the sign is read aloud as written: 2,5 → dos coma cinco / 2.5 → dos punto cinco

Uno, un, unaA1

uno becomes un before a masculine noun and una before a feminine one: un libro / una mesa — one book / one table
The same holds inside longer numbers: veintiún años / treinta y una casas — twenty-one years / thirty-one houses

OrdinalsA1–A2

Number	Masculine	Feminine	English
1.º, 1.ª	primero	primera	first
2.º, 2.ª	segundo	segunda	second
3.º, 3.ª	tercero	tercera	third
4.º, 4.ª	cuarto	cuarta	fourth
5.º, 5.ª	quinto	quinta	fifth
6.º, 6.ª	sexto	sexta	sixth
7.º, 7.ª	séptimo	séptima	seventh
8.º, 8.ª	octavo	octava	eighth
9.º, 9.ª	noveno	novena	ninth
10.º, 10.ª	décimo	décima	tenth

Ordinals agree with the noun and usually go before it: Es la segunda calle a la derecha. — It's the second street on the right.
A2primero and tercero drop the -o before a masculine singular noun: el primer día / el tercer piso — the first day / the third floor
Above tenth, everyday Spanish uses the plain numbers after the noun: Vivo en el piso quince. — I live on the fifteenth floor.

Typical errorsA0–A2

✗	✓	Rule
ciento euros	cien euros	100 before a noun is cien
cincocientos	quinientos	500 is quinientos
un mil	mil	mil takes no un
ciento y veinte	ciento veinte	no y after the hundreds, unlike and in English
A1veintiuno años	veintiún años	uno becomes un before a masculine noun
A1doscientos personas	doscientas personas	the hundreds agree with the noun
A1un millón personas	un millón de personas	millón takes de before a noun
A2el primero día	el primer día	primero drops -o before a masculine singular noun

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