Surely you can get as far as un, dos, tres, whether you’ve heard it from Ricky Martin or any other Latin American singer. But how far can you count in Spanish, and can you form ordinal numbers? Learn Spanish numbers and you’ll gain a useful skill that will help you with shopping and ordering, talking about dates and age, telling the time or understanding schedules and idiomatic phrases. Forming numbers is straightforward in Spanish, so let’s get right to it!
How to count in Spanish
There’s no way around it, you have to learn a set of unique number words if you want to count in Spanish. Up to fifteen, each number is a distinct word, with zero being a term of its own, of course. Memorize those and you can apply some basic rules to form a majority of Spanish numbers.
0
zero
cero
1
one
uno
2
two
dos
3
three
tres
4
four
cuatro
5
five
cinco
6
six
seis
7
seven
siete
8
eight
ocho
9
nine
nueve
10
ten
diez
11
eleven
once
12
twelve
doce
13
thirteen
trece
14
fourteen
catorce
15
fifteen
quince
To complete the numbers up to twenty, you form the word out of “diez” for ten, “y” for and, plus the last digit, like “seis” for six. However, notice the spelling:
The joining of words and the spelling with “i” for and continues between 20 and 30. After that, you continue to form the numbers with and, however you spell it as three separate words. Knowing that, it’s straightforward to count to one hundred in Spanish.
21
twenty one
veinte
22
twenty two
veintiuno
23
twenty three
veintidós
24
twenty four
veintitrés
25
twenty five
veinticinco
26
twenty six
veintiseis
27
twenty seven
veintisiete
28
twenty eight
veintiocho
29
twenty nine
veintinueve
30
thirty
treinta
31, 32, (...)
thirty one, thirty two
treinta y tres, treinta y dos
40
fourty
cuarenta
50
fifty
cincuenta
60
sixty
sesenta
70
seventy
setenta
80
eighty
ochente
90
ninety
noventa
100
one hundred
cien
Listen carefully: there is only a difference of one letter between sixty and seventy, or “sesenta” and “setenta”, which can be difficult to spot with native speakers!
For numbers beyond one hundred, you have to remember a new rule: you don’t connect the word for one hundred with “y” for and with the rest of the number. However, the tens and ones are still connected with an “y” as in the table above. For example, one hundred fifty five (155) is “ciento cincuenta y cinco”. Note the epenthesis “o”, which makes the word flow better.The word “cien” for hundred is a count noun, so as soon as you reach two hundred, you have to pluralize it as “doscientos” (the suffix “s” indicated the plural). Up to “mil”, or one thousand, there are only three irregular numbers: 500, 700, and 900:
100
(one) hundred
cien
101, 102, 103 (...)
one hundred one, two, three (...)
ciento uno, dos, trees (...)
175
one hundred seventy five
ciento setenta y cinco
200
two hundred
doscientos
300
three hundred
trescientos
400
four hundred
cuatrocientos
500
five hundred
quinientos (irregular)
600
six hundred
seiscientos
700
seven hundred
setecientos (irregular)
800
eight hundred
ochocientos
900
nine hundred
novecientos (irregular)
1,000
(one) thousand
mil
Even larger numbers can become quite a mouthful to say, but they remain fairly easy to form. As in English, multiples of a thousand just take a digit in front. Likewise, thousand is an uncount noun: it’s “dos mil” for two thousand, not “dos miles”. Yet the word can take a plural, in case you want to say “thousands and thousands”, for example, which is “miles y miles”.
2,000
two thousand
dos mil
3,000, 4,000, 5,000 (...)
one, two, three thousand (...)
uno, dos, tres mil (...)
7,777
seven thousand seven hundred seventy seven
siete mil setecientos setenta y siete
10,000
ten thousand
diez mil
20,000
twenty
veinte mil
100,000
(one) hundred thousand
cien mil
500,000
five hundred thousand
quinientos mil
783,382
seven hundred thousand three hundred eighty two
setecientos mil trescientos ochenta y dos
1,000,000
(one) million
un millón
2,000,000, 3,000,000 (...)
two, three million (...)
dos, tres millones (...)
As you can see in the table above, “millón” (a million) is again a count noun with the plural “millones”. Note that in combination with a noun, you have to use “de” (of) to refer to what you’re counting. So “two million dollars” becomes “dos millones de dolares” (two millions of dollars).Also note that the decimal separator and the thousand delimiter are reversed in Spanish, so you’d write two million as “2.000.000” and “one and a half” as “1.5”.
Unlike English, which uses the short scale numbering system, Spanish like many languages, uses the long scale system, which means that “billón” or “trillón” don’t match up with the English billion and trillion–these words are false friends!
106
million
un millón
109
billion
un millardo / mil millones
1012
trillion
un billón
1015
quadrillion
mil billones
1018
quintillion
un trillón
1021
sextillion
mil trillones
How to learn ordinal numbers in Spanish
The last challenge is to name the order of things in Spanish. For this we’ll have a look at the ordinal numbers. Again, the first ten you’ll just have to learn by heart.
first
primero
second
segundo
third
tercero
fourth
cuarto
fifth
quinto
sixth
sexto
seventh
séptimo
eighth
octavo
ninth
noveno
tenth
décimo
For ordinal numbers beyond that, you have to learn the multiples of ten first, then you can form combinations.
twentieth
vigésimo
thirtieth
trigésimo
fortieth
cuadragésimo
fiftieth
quincuagésimo
sixtieth
sexagésimo
seventieth
septuagésimo
eightieth
octogésimo
ninetieth
nonagésimo
hundredth
centésimo
thousandth
milésimo
The twenty second then becomes “vigésimo segundo”, while “quincuagésimo quinto” is the fifty fifth.
There are a few things to remember when forming and using numbers in Spanish:
Don’t forget that the number one has to agree with the gender of the noun if you count something: it’s “un libro” (one book, which is masculine), but “una persona” (one person, feminine). One by itself is “uno”, as in “tengo uno” (I have one).
“Un” is also the indefinite article: “one book” and “a book” is the same in Spanish, “un libro”.
If you have exactly one hundred of something, you use “cien” (100). “Ciento” is used to form a larger number, such as “ciento uno” (101).
Unlike other numbers, the ordinal numbers have to agree with the gender as well. It’s “el cuarto libro” (the fourth book), but “la segunda persona” (the second person). “Primero” and “tercero” drop the “o” before a singular masculine noun: “el primer hijo” (the first son).
You can use ordinal numbers to form fractions, as in “un cuarto” (a quarter) or “un octavo” (an eight). Again, these will have to agree with the gender of any noun you place after. However, half is expressed as “medio” o “media”, as in “media naranja” (half an orange).
If you'd like to put the theory into practise, visit the Lingoda website and sign up for your free 7-day trial with our native Spanish speaking teachers.
Jakob Straub
Jakob is a freelance writer in Barcelona, Spain, and his favorite books have pages all empty. As an expert storyteller, he publishes creative fiction in English and German and helps other authors shape their manuscripts into compelling stories. Thanks to an expertise in a wide range of topics such as writing, literature and productivity to marketing, travel, and technology, he produces engaging content for his clients. Apart from the escape that books offer, Jakob enjoys traveling digital nomad style and stays active with climbing and hiking. Find out more about him on his website or on Goodreads.