Numbers in SpanishFrom 1 to 1000, and more

Cardinal numbers express quantity: they are used for counting, stating amounts, and giving specific numerical information.

Here are the cardinal numbers from 1 to 10:

• 1: uno
• 2: dos
• 3: tres
• 4: cuatro
• 5: cinco
• 6: seis
• 7: siete
• 8: ocho
• 9: nueve
• 10: diez

The tens from 10 to 100 are:

• 10: diez
• 20: veinte
• 30: treinta
• 40: cuarenta
• 50: cincuenta
• 60: sesenta
• 70: setenta
• 80: ochenta
• 90: noventa
• 100: cien

Use ciento for numbers from 101 to 199 and, more generally, for numbers above 100 when another number follows:

• 101: ciento uno
• 102: ciento dos
• 156: ciento cincuenta y seis

Use cien before a noun and in exact hundreds such as cien personas and cien mil. The hundreds have several irregular forms:

• 500: quinientos
• 700: setecientos
• 900: novecientos

Some larger numbers are:

Hay ciento dos personas. — There are 102 people.

Ordinal numbers indicate position or order in a sequence. They normally come before the noun and agree with it in gender and number.

Here are the ordinal numbers from first to tenth:

Apocopation: primero becomes primer, and tercero becomes tercer, before a masculine singular noun.

• El primer capítulo. — The first chapter.
• El tercer día. — The third day.
• La primera vez. — The first time.

More examples include:

• Quedó en segundo lugar. — He or she came in second place.
• Vivo en la tercera casa. — I live in the third house.
• Es el cuarto día. — It is the fourth day.
• La quinta avenida está cerca. — Fifth Avenue is nearby.
• El sexto sentido. — The sixth sense.
• La séptima maravilla. — The seventh wonder.
• Vivo en el octavo piso. — I live on the eighth floor.
• Está en noveno grado. — He or she is in ninth grade.
• Es la décima vez. — It is the tenth time.

Fractional numbers, or números fraccionarios, name a part of a whole. The denominator usually appears as a masculine noun: medio, tercio, cuarto, and so on. The numerator agrees in number: un tercio, but dos tercios.

Common fractions include:

• un medio: one half (1/2)
• un tercio: one third (1/3)
• un cuarto: one quarter (1/4)
• dos tercios: two thirds (2/3)
• tres cuartos: three quarters (3/4)

They commonly express a portion of a quantity with de:

• Compró medio kilo de queso. — He or she bought half a kilo of cheese.
• La receta requiere un cuarto de taza de azúcar. — The recipe requires a quarter cup of sugar.
• Bebí tres cuartos de la botella. — I drank three quarters of the bottle.
• Leímos dos tercios del libro. — We read two thirds of the book.

Spanish writes numbers from 21 to 29 as one word, beginning with veinti-. The forms are:

• 21: veintiuno
• 22: veintidós
• 23: veintitrés
• 24: veinticuatro
• 25: veinticinco
• 26: veintiséis
• 27: veintisiete
• 28: veintiocho
• 29: veintinueve

From 30 to 99, combine the tens, y, and the units. Write them as separate words: treinta y uno, cuarenta y dos, and so on. This pattern also applies to cincuenta, sesenta, setenta, ochenta, and noventa.

• Veintidós niños juegan en el parque. — Twenty-two children are playing in the park.
• Mi abuela tiene sesenta y cinco años. — My grandmother is 65 years old.
• Hay cuarenta y tres estudiantes en la clase. — There are 43 students in the class.
• El libro cuesta setenta y ocho pesos. — The book costs 78 pesos.

Before a feminine noun, uno changes to una: veintiuna personas and treinta y una páginas.

Collective number terms, or números colectivos, name a group or quantity as a single unit. They are nouns, so they normally occur with an article or another determiner.

Common collective terms include:

• docena: a dozen, or 12 units
• decena: a group of ten units
• centena: a hundred units
• millar: a thousand units
• quincena: a period of 15 days, or a fortnight

Examples:

• Compré una docena de huevos. — I bought a dozen eggs.
• La biblioteca tiene más de una centena de libros raros. — The library has more than a hundred rare books.
• Hay un millar de estrellas visibles en el cielo esta noche. — There are a thousand visible stars in the sky tonight.
• El equipo ha ganado una decena de premios este año. — The team has won ten awards this year.
• Tendré vacaciones durante la quincena del festival. — I will have a two-week vacation during the festival period.

Spanish dates normally follow the order day + de + month + de + year. In numeric form, the usual order is day/month/year, although punctuation and formats can vary by country.

• El 5 de octubre de 2021. — October 5, 2021.
• El 15 de octubre. — October 15.

For the first day of the month, both the cardinal form el 1 de octubre and the ordinal form el primero de octubre are used. In formal writing, 1.º de octubre may also appear. The ordinal is normally written out when spoken.

• El primero de octubre empieza el curso. — The course starts on October 1.
• La reunión es el 2 de noviembre de 2023. — The meeting is on November 2, 2023.

Months are lowercase in Spanish: enero, marzo, julio, and noviembre. Years are commonly read as cardinal numbers, for example, dos mil veintiuno.

Multiplicative numbers, or numerales multiplicativos, express how many times an amount is multiplied. They can function as adjectives or nouns and agree in gender and number when they modify a noun.

These forms are relatively formal; in everyday speech, speakers often use expressions such as tres veces más or el doble de.

When writing monetary amounts in Spanish, the decimal comma is standard in most Spanish-speaking contexts, and a period or a space may separate thousands. Currency symbols may appear before or after the amount depending on the country and style. In general Spanish usage, the currency code or symbol is often placed after the number with a space, while the symbol before the number is also common.

When an amount is read aloud, con can connect the whole units and the fractional units. The exact currency name depends on the amount: dólar and euro agree in number, while centavo names one hundredth of a monetary unit.

Cuesta mil doscientos treinta y cuatro dólares con cincuenta y seis centavos. — It costs 1,234.56 dollars.

In international or technical contexts, use the currency code to avoid ambiguity, for example, 1 234,56 EUR. Follow the local convention when writing a check, invoice, or official amount.

Spanish addresses commonly use cardinal numbers for street, building, and apartment numbers. The format varies by country and by whether the address is written in a Spanish or Latin American style.

• Street name and number: The number often follows the street name: Calle Mayor, 123. — 123 Calle Mayor. In some address formats, it may precede the name: 123 Calle Mayor. — 123 Calle Mayor.
• Floor: Use an ordinal abbreviation with the gender of the noun: 3.º piso. — third floor. and 2.ª planta. — second floor.
• Apartment: Use a cardinal number, usually after the floor: 3.º piso, apartamento 5. — third floor, apartment 5. or 2.ª planta, puerta 3. — second floor, apartment 3.

The abbreviations º and ª mark masculine and feminine ordinal forms; typographically, 3.º and 2.ª include a period.

Numbers in measurements are followed by a unit of measurement. The unit is normally singular after uno and plural after other numbers: un litro, but dos litros. The numeral uno agrees with a feminine unit, and the same applies to veintiuno and compound forms ending in uno.

• una tonelada. — one ton.
• dos litros. — two liters.
• cinco metros. — five meters.
• veintiuna libras. — twenty-one pounds.

Use a comma for the decimal separator in standard Spanish notation:

• 3,5 litros. — 3.5 liters.
• 2,75 metros. — 2.75 meters.

In scientific and technical writing, leave a space between the number and the unit, including with SI units: 15 kg (15 kilograms) and 100 ml (100 milliliters). In informal writing, forms without a space are also seen, but the spaced form is preferred in formal writing.

Fractions commonly appear in words and are followed by the unit or by de plus a noun:

• medio litro. — half a liter.
• tres cuartos de kilo. — three quarters of a kilogram.

Use clear punctuation and spacing so that the numerical value and its unit are unambiguous.