Do you know how to count in Spanish? If not, better get to it. Numbers are an essential category of vocabulary, and there are a whole lot of situations you are going to need them in your daily life.
Today, I will guide you through Spanish Numbers, from the very basics up to more advanced concepts.
Essential Spanish Numbers from 1 to 20.
| 0 – cero 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 – dieciséis 17 – diecisiete 18 – dieciocho 19 – diecinueve 20 – veinte |
As you can see, they are not overly complicated, and there even is a certain pattern to them. Plus, I am sure you remember at least some of them from school or have picked them up from movies or songs.
Just keep in mind one thing: “uno” changes to “una” in feminine form.
🇪🇸 Un árbol – “árbol” is a masculine noun in Spanish
One tree / a tree
🇪🇸 Una flor – “flor” is a feminine noun in Spanish.
One flower / a flower
All the other numbers remain unchanged, no matter if they are linked with a masculine or a feminine noun.
🇪🇸 Ocho árboles
🇬🇧 Eight trees
🇪🇸 Ocho flores
🇬🇧 Eight flowers
3 Common Questions Words Related to Numbers and Quantities
Just those 21 numbers from the table above are already very useful for daily conversations.
Let me show you some typical questions that involve numbers in Spanish.
1. “Tener” – to Have
The principal meaning of the verb “tener” – to have is to describe possessions. And as you know, we can have multiple possessions, hence the obvious context to use numbers.
Check out the mini-dialogues below:
🇪🇸
A: ¿Tienes hijos?
B: Si, tengo dos hijos. Un niño y una niña.
🇬🇧
A: Do you have children?
B: Yes, I have two children. A boy and a girl.
🇪🇸
A: ¿Tienen muchos empleados enfermos?
B: En este momento tenemos ocho personas con licencia.
🇬🇧
A: Do you have many sick employees?
B: At the moment, we have eight people on sick leave.
🇪🇸
A: ¿Tuviste muchos clientes ayer?
B: Lamentablemente sólo entraron diez personas. Creo que vamos a tener que cerrar la tienda.
🇬🇧
A: Did you have many clients yesterday?
B: Unfortunately, only ten people came. I think we will have to close down the store.
2. “Hay” – There Is / There Are
This structure, which native English speakers find a little tricky at first, is also convenient when talking about Spanish numbers.
🇪🇸
A: ¿Hay alguien en la oficina?
B: Si, hay cinco personas.
🇬🇧
A: Is there anybody in the office?
B: Yes, there are five people.
🇪🇸
A: ¿Hay mesas disponibles?
B: Sí señor, hay cuatro mesas disponibles, pero solo en la sección de los fumadores.
🇬🇧
A: Are there any tables available?
B: Yes, sir, there are four tables available, but only in the smoking section.
🇪🇸
A: ¿Hay muchos niños en la fiesta?
B: No, por ahora solo han llegado tres.
🇬🇧
A: Are there many children at the party?
B: No, only three have come until now.
3. “¿Cuánto?”/ “¿Cuántos” – How Much / How Many
To finish with, the most natural of all number-related questions:
Again, make sure to adjust the Spanish form of the question to the gender of the noun you are asking about:
🇪🇸 Test Your Spanish Knowledge 🇪🇸
🇪🇸 ¿Cuánto tiempo? – “time” is masculine and singular
🇬🇧 How much time?
🇪🇸 ¿Cuánta agua? – “agua” is feminine and singular
🇬🇧 How much water?
🇪🇸 ¿Cuántos escritorios? – “escritorios” is masculine and plural
🇬🇧 How many desks?
🇪🇸 ¿Cuántas ventanas? – “ventanas” is feminine and plural
🇬🇧 How many windows?
Would you like to see how to use these phrases in full questions?
🇪🇸
A: ¿Cuánto tiempo tenemos antes de abordar?
B: Tenemos casi dos horas, así que podemos tomarnos un café y comer algo.
🇬🇧
A: How much time do we have before boarding?
B: We have almost two hours, so we can have coffee and eat something.
🇪🇸
A: ¿Cuánta leche hay en la nevera / el refrigerador?
B: Hay una caja abierta y una cerrada. Mañana compraré más.
🇬🇧
A: How much milk is there in the fridge?
B: There is one open carton and another one full (closed). I’ll buy some more tomorrow.
🇪🇸
A: ¿Cuántos clientes nuevos has conseguido este año?
B: Sólo cuatro, pero son empresas muy grandes y de mucho potencial.
🇬🇧
A: How many new clients have you got this year?
B: Only four, but these are big companies with a lot of potential.
🇪🇸
A: ¿Cuántas botellas de agua quieres que compre?
B: Compra cinco sin gas y dos con gas, por favor.
🇬🇧
A: How many bottles of water do you want me to buy?
B: Buy five still and two sparkling, please.
Large Numbers in Spanish
Time for big guns. Since you already know how to count to 20, there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t learn more complex numbers in Spanish—especially considering that there is a certain pattern to them.
There are just 3 things I’d like you to pay attention to:
- numbers from 20 to 29 are written as one word, while those from 30 to 100 are composed of two separate words.
- The numbers that grow by a hundred are combinations of the exact number referring to how many hundreds there are plus the word “cientos.” The only exception is 500 – instead of saying “cincocientos” ❌, we say “quinientos.”✔️
- One with nine zeros, known in the US as one billion, is called “mil millones” (literally: a thousand million) in Spanish. “Un billón” needs 12 zeros in this language!
| 20 – veinte 21 – veintiuno 22 – veintidós 23 – veintitrés 24 – veinticuatro 25 – veinticinco 26 – veintiséis 27 – veintisiete 28 – veintiocho 29 – veintinueve | 30 – treinta 31 – treinta y uno 32 – treinta y dos 33 – treinta y tres 34 – treinta y cuatro 35 – treinta y cinco 36 – treinta y seis 37 – treinta y siete 38 – treinta y ocho 39 – treinta y nueve | 40 – cuarenta 41 – cuarenta y uno 42 – cuarenta y dos 43 – cuarenta y tres 44 – cuarenta y cuatro 45 – cuarenta y cinco 46 – cuarenta y seis 47 – cuarenta y siete 48 – cuarenta y ocho 49 – cuarenta y nueve |
| 50 – cincuenta 51 – cincuenta y uno 52 – cincuenta y dos 53 – cincuenta y tres 54 – cincuenta y cuatro 55 – cincuenta y cinco 56 – cincuenta y seis 57 – cincuenta y siete 58 – cincuenta y ocho 59 – cincuenta y nueve | 60 – sesenta 61 – sesenta y uno 62 – sesenta y dos 63 – sesenta y tres 64 – sesenta y cuatro 65 – sesenta y cinco 66 – sesenta y seis 67 – sesenta y siete 68 – sesenta y ocho 69 – sesenta y nueve | 70 – setenta 71 – setenta y uno 72 – setenta y dos 73 – setenta y tres 74 – setenta y cuatro 75 – setenta y cinco 76 – setenta y seis 77 – setenta y siete 78 – setenta y ocho 79 – setenta y nueve |
| 80 – ochenta 81 – ochenta y uno 82 – ochenta y dos 83 – ochenta y tres 84 – ochenta y cuatro 85 – ochenta y cinco 86 – ochenta y seis 87 – ochenta y siete 88 – ochenta y ocho 89 – ochenta y nueve | 90 – noventa 91 – noventa y uno 92 – noventa y dos 93 – noventa y tres 94 – noventa y cuatro 95 – noventa y cinco 96 – noventa y seis 97 – noventa y siete 98 – noventa y ocho 99 – noventa y nueve | 100 – cien 200 – doscientos 300 – trescientos 400 – cuatrocientos 500 – quinientos 600 – seiscientos 700 – setecientos 800 – ochocientos 900 – novecientos |
| 1000 – mil 2000 – dos mil 3000 – tres mil 4000 – cuatro mil 5000 – cinco mil 6000 – séis mil 7000 – siete mil 8000 – ocho mil 9000 – nueve mil | 10,000 – diez mil 100,000 – cien mil 1,000,000 – un millón 10,000,000 – diez millones 100,000,000 – cien millones 1,000,000,000 – mil millones (US. one billion) 10,000,000,000 – diez mil millones (US. ten billion) 100,000,000,000 – cien mil millones (US. hundred billion) 1,000,000,000,000 – un billón (US. one trillion) |
🇪🇸 En mi curso hay treinta y dos alumnos.
🇬🇧 There are 32 students (pupils) in my class.
🇪🇸 Santiago de Chile tiene siete millones de habitantes.
🇬🇧 Santiago de Chile has seven million inhabitants.
🇪🇸 Hemos invitado a ciento veinte personas a nuestra boda.
🇬🇧 We have invited a hundred and twenty people to our wedding party.
🇪🇸 Esta empresa tiene diez mil empleados en todo el mundo.
🇬🇧 This company has ten thousand employees all over the world.
🇪🇸 En el último terremoto murieron quinientas cincuenta personas.
🇬🇧 Five hundred and fifty people died in the last earthquake.
🇪🇸 El incendio forestal consumió dos mil hectáreas.
🇬🇧 The fire consumed two thousand hectares of forest.
How to Approximate Numbers in Spanish
You can boast about being able to say any given number in Spanish, but as a matter of fact, in our daily life, we tend to use approximations.
Here’s how you can approximate Spanish numbers:
“Casi” – Almost
🇪🇸 Mi abuela tiene casi noventa años, pero parece de sesenta.
🇬🇧 My grandmother is almost ninety years old, but she looks as if she was sixty.
🇪🇸 El año pasado nuestras ventas subieron casi un cuarenta por ciento.
🇬🇧 Last year our sales increased by almost forty percent.
🇪🇸 ¿Sabías que Tokio tiene casi treinta y ocho millones de personas?
🇬🇧 Did you know that Tokyo has almost thirty-eight million people?
“Más de” – Over
🇪🇸 Esta casa es enorme. Tiene más de 400 metros cuadrados.
🇬🇧 This house is enormous. It has over four hundred square meters.
🇪🇸 Tengo que esperar más de noventa días para obtener mi visa.
🇬🇧 I have to wait over ninety days to get my visa.
🇪🇸 Son más de doscientas millas entre Nueva York y Washington DC.
🇬🇧 There are over two hundred miles between New York and Washington DC.
“Alrededor de” / “Cerca de” – Around, about
🇪🇸 Colombia tiene una población de alrededor de cincuenta millones de personas.
🇬🇧 Colombia’s population is around fifty million people.
🇪🇸 Ayer hubo cerca de diez mil manifestantes frente al palacio presidencial.
🇬🇧 Around ten thousand protesters gathered in front of the presidential palace yesterday.
🇪🇸 Solo quedan alrededor de doscientos cincuenta Gorilas del Río Cross en el mundo.
🇬🇧 There are only about two hundred and fifty Cross River Gorillas left in the world.
“Unos” / “Unas” – Some
🇪🇸 La conferencia tuvo unos cuatrocientos participantes.
🇬🇧 The conference had some four hundred participants.
🇪🇸 Unos dos mil niños le han enviado una carta al Viejito Pascuero.
🇬🇧 Some two thousand children have sent a letter to Santa.
🇪🇸 Me probé unos veinte vestidos de novia y no me ha gustado ninguno.
🇬🇧 I’ve tried on some twenty wedding gowns, and I haven’t liked any of them.
Spanish Ordinal Numbers
If you need a break, take it now because what’s coming will probably make your head spin.
Are you back with me? Great, let’s keep going:
All the numbers that we have seen up to now are called cardinal numbers (números cardinales).
They respond to the question: ¿Cuántos? / ¿Cuántas? – How many?
However, there is another category of numbers called ordinal. To find them out, you’d have to ask the question: ¿Cuál? – Which one?
🇪🇸 ¿Cuál vestido te gustó más? El primero.
🇬🇧 Which dress did you like the most? The first one.
Below you will find a complete table of Spanish Ordinal Numbers.
| 1st – primer / primero 2nd – segundo 3rd – tercer / tercero 4th – cuarto 5th – quinto 6th – sexto 7th – séptimo 8th – octavo 9th – noveno | 10th – décimo 11th – undécimo 12th – duodécimo 13th – decimotercero 14th – décimocuarto 15th – decimoquinto 16th – decimosexto 17th – decimoséptimo 18th – decimooctavo 19th – decimonoveno |
| 20th – vigécimo 21st – vigésimo primero 22nd – vigésimo segundo 23th – vigésimo tercero Etc. | 30th – trigécimo 31st – trigésimo primero 32nd – trigésimo segundo 33th – trigésimo tercero Etc. |
| 40th – cuadragésimo 41st – cuadragésimo primero 42nd – cuadragésimo segundo 43th – cuadragésimo tercero Etc. | 50th – quincuagésimo 51st – quincuagésimo primero 52nd – quincuagésimo segundo 53th – quincuagésimo tercero Etc. |
| 60th – sexagécimo 61st – sexagécimo primero 62nd – sexagécimo segundo 63th – sexagécimo tercero Etc. | 70th – septuagécimo 71st – septuagésimo primero 72nd – septuagésimo segundo 73th – septuagésimo tercero Etc. |
| 80th – octogécimo 81st – octogésimo primero 82nd – octogésimo segundo 83th – octogésimo tercero Etc. | 90th – nonagécimo 81st – nonagésimo primero 82nd – nonagécimo segundo 83th – nonagésimo tercero Etc. |
| 100th – centécimo 101th – centésimo primero 110th – centécimo décimo Etc. | 200th – duecentesimo 300th- tricentésimo 400th- cuadringentésimo 500th – quingentécimo 600th – sexcentécimo 700th – septingécimo 800th – octingentécimo 900th – noningentécimo 1000th – millonésimo |
Ordinal numbers in Spanish follow the same grammar rules as adjectives. That is why you should always remember to check the gender when using them.
- 🇪🇸 Mi primer beso – “beso” is masculine and singular. When used with a noun, “primero” changes to “primer.”.
🇬🇧 My first kiss
- 🇪🇸 Mi primera bicicleta – “bicicleta” is feminine and singular
🇬🇧 My first bicycle
- 🇪🇸 Mis primeros amigos – “amigos” is masculine and plural
🇬🇧 My first friends
- 🇪🇸 Mis primeras palabras – “palabras” is feminine and plural
🇬🇧 My first words
The sentences you’ll find below will show you the practical use of ordinal numbers in Spanish:
🇪🇸 Mañana es el quinto aniversario de nuestra boda.
🇬🇧 It’s our fifth wedding anniversary tomorrow.
🇪🇸 Martín terminó segundo en la carrera.
🇬🇧 Martin ended up second in the race.
🇪🇸 Vivo en el decimoquinto piso.
🇬🇧 I live on the fifteenth floor.
🇪🇸 Es la tercera vez que intento aprobar el examen de física.
🇬🇧 It is the third time I am trying to pass the physics test.
🇪🇸 El cuarto hijo de Lucía se llamará Ana.
🇬🇧 Lucía’s fourth child will be named Ana.
🇪🇸 Vamos a celebrar el centésimo cumpleaños de mi bisabuela con una gran fiesta.
🇬🇧 We are going to throw a big party to celebrate my great-grandmother’s hundredth birthday.
Fractions and Decimals in Spanish
What?
Oh, don’t worry, I am not trying to teach you maths.
I am merely showing you that numbers have exceptionally extensive use.
Besides, if you ever get to need Spanish in a business-related context, those fractions and decimals might come in quite handy.
Just a few examples then:
🇪🇸 una fracción
🇬🇧 a fraction
½ – mitad
⅓ – un tercio
¾ – tres cuartos
⅖ – dos quintos
⅞ – siete octavos
🇪🇸 un decimal
🇬🇧 a decimal
0,1 – un décimo
0,3 – tres décimos
0,7 – cero coma siete / cero punto siete
1,4 – uno coma cuatro / uno punto cuatro
3,75 – tres coma setenta y cinco / tres punto setenta y cinco
10,2 – diez coma dos / diez punto dos
Have you noticed that in Spanish, the comma is used to separate the decimals?
Dot, on the other hand, simplifies the written form of big numbers, e.g.
| English | Spanish |
| 0.56 | 0,56 |
| 12,000,000 | 12.000.000 |
What is it that you say?
You think it all sounds too scholarly?
Trust me, these same fractions and decimals can be used in a real-life context as well.
Here’s how:
🇪🇸 Una mitad de la pizza es con carne y la otra mitad es vegetariana.
🇬🇧 One half of the pizza is with meat, and the other half is vegetarian.
🇪🇸 Un tercio de la población votó a favor del presidente.
🇬🇧 One-third of the population voted in favor of the president.
🇪🇸 Nuestras ventas han subido solo un cinco coma dos por ciento.
🇬🇧 Our sales have only increased by 5.2%
🇪🇸 Este medicamento contiene cero punto setenta y cinco miligramos de morfina.
🇬🇧 This drug contains 0.75 milligrams of morphine.
🇪🇸 El precio del petróleo es tres punto uno dólares por barril.
🇬🇧 The oil price is 3.1 dollars per barrel.
Spanish Numbers – Practical Use
I realize you are all for practical examples, so here’s a real treat, I hope.
What you’ll find below are situations when numbers become prices, years, dates, hours, minutes, etc.
Prices
🇪🇸
A: ¿Cuánto cuesta un kilo de manzanas?
B: Mil trescientos pesos, señora.
🇬🇧
A: How much does a kilogram of apples cost?
B: A thousand and three hundred pesos, madam.
🇪🇸
A: ¿Cuánto sale un pasaje aéreo a Medellín?
B: Cuatrocientos veinte dólares.
🇬🇧
A: How much is a plane ticket to Medellín?
B: Four hundred and twenty dollars.
🇪🇸
A: ¿Cuánto cuesta arrendar un departamento en Santiago Centro?
B: Depende. Los precios van desde doscientos a quinientos mil pesos chilenos al mes.
🇬🇧
A: How much does it cost to rent an apartment in downtown Santiago?
B: It depends. Prices go from two hundred to five hundred Chilean pesos per month.
If you’d like to practice this kind of vocabulary some more, check out how to do your shopping in Spanish.
Years
🇪🇸 Nací en el mil novecientos ochenta y dos.
🇬🇧 I was born in 1982.
🇪🇸 Nos casamos en dos mil quince.
🇬🇧 We got married in 2015.
🇪🇸 Trabajé en esa empresa entre dos mil doce y dos mil dieciocho.
🇬🇧 I worked in that company between 2012 and 2018.
🇪🇸 He estado viviendo en México desde 1996.
🇬🇧 We got married in 2015.
🇪🇸 Trabajé en esa empresa entre dos mil doce y dos mil dieciocho.
🇬🇧 I worked in that company between 2012 and 2018.
🇪🇸 América fue descubierta en mil cuatrocientos noventa y dos.
🇬🇧 America was discovered in 1492.
It is just a few examples, I know.
However, for those of you who wish to develop this context further, I have prepared a complete post about Years in Spanish.
Dates
First of all, please note that unlike English, dates in Spanish use cardinal numbers.
The only exception is number 1:
🇪🇸 Primero de mayo de mil setecientos ochenta y nueve.
🇬🇧 May 1st, 1789
🇪🇸 Hoy es lunes, doce de diciembre ✔️. (not duodécimo de diciembre ❌)
🇬🇧 Today is Monday, December the 12th.
🇪🇸 El dieciocho de febrero estoy de cumpleaños.
🇬🇧 My birthday falls on February 18th.
🇪🇸 Viajo a Buenos Aires el treinta y uno de diciembre.
🇬🇧 I’m traveling to Buenos Aires on December 31st.
🇪🇸 Me equivoqué de fecha. Hoy es el quince y no el dieciséis.
🇬🇧 I got the date wrong. Today is the 15th and not the 16th.
If dates in Spanish is something you need to practice some more, perhaps my post dedicated exclusively to that topic could help.
Age
Of course, we use numbers to talk about how old we are all the time!
🇪🇸 Tengo cuarenta y cinco años.
🇬🇧 I am 45 years old.
🇪🇸 Mi abuelo vivió hasta los ciento y dos años.
🇬🇧 My grandfather lived until 102.
🇪🇸 Juan tiene unos sesenta y tantos años.
🇬🇧 Juan is in his sixties.
🇪🇸 Solo vendemos alcohol a mayores de dieciocho años.
🇬🇧 We only sell alcohol to people over 18.
🇪🇸 He estado viviendo solo desde que cumplí veintidós años.
🇬🇧 I’ve been living on my own since I turned 22.
🇪🇸 Esta casona tiene más de trescientos años.
🇬🇧 This manor house is over 300 years old.
🇪🇸 Mi hija entró a primero básico a los 7 años.
🇬🇧 My daughter started 1st grade at the age of 7.
Time
Time is another common practical use of numbers in Spanish.
🇪🇸 Son las nueve veinte.
🇬🇧 It’s 9:20.
🇪🇸 Mi vuelo sale a la una.
🇬🇧 My flight leaves at 1.
🇪🇸 En la mañana hubo tanto tráfico que llegué a la oficina a las ocho cincuenta.
🇬🇧 There was so much traffic in the morning that I only arrived at the office at 8:50.
🇪🇸 El supermercado está abierto desde las ocho de la mañana hasta las diez de la noche.
🇬🇧 The supermarket is open from 8 AM to 10 PM.
🇪🇸 Faltan ocho para las doce.
🇬🇧 It’s eight to twelve.
Measures and distance
Last but not least, you’ll need to use numbers to explain how long, how wide, how tall, or how far something is.
Mind you, Spanish speaking countries use the metric system. Time to convert your inches to centimeters, pounds to kilograms, and miles to kilometers!
🇪🇸
A: ¿Cuánto mide esta pared?
B: Mide dos metros y medio de alto y cuatro metros veinte de largo.
🇬🇧
A: How big is this wall?
B: It is two meters and a half tall and four meters twenty long.
🇪🇸
A: ¿Qué tan alto eres?
B: Mido un metro setenta y ocho.
🇬🇧
A: How tall are you?
B: I’m one-meter seventy-eight.
🇪🇸
A: ¿Qué tan lejos queda Valparaíso de Santiago?
B: Queda a unos ciento cincuenta kilómetros al oeste.
🇬🇧
A: How far is Valparaiso from Santiago?
B: It’s about a hundred fifty kilometers west.
🇪🇸
A: ¿Sabes si es muy profunda esta piscina?
B: Si, tiene tres metros de profundidad.
🇬🇧
A: Do you know if this pool is very deep?
B: Yes, it is 3 meters deep.
🇪🇸
A: ¿Cuánto pesa esta maleta?
B: Veintidós kilos, señor. No tiene sobrepeso.
🇬🇧
A: ¿What’s the weight of this suitcase?
B: 22 kilograms, sir. It is not overweight.
