Chapter III
Counting Numbers in
Spanish
ELAN21 – European language
Jan Edizon J. De Silva
Counting in Spanish from 1 to 1 Million (and Beyond!)
Counting in Spanish is a fun first step for beginners who are early
into their Spanish courses!
That overjoyed sense of achievement you feel once you’re able to
count seamlessly in Spanish is worth every minute of studying and
repetition. As your counting skills in Spanish strengthen, you’ll be
inspired to count to higher and higher numbers. That’s why we’ve
compiled a fully-stocked lesson that stretches your counting in Spanish
up to one hundred million—and beyond!
If you’re ready to go the extra mile, let’s explore how counting in
Spanish can take you to infinity.
Cardinal and Ordinal Numbers
Similar to English, Spanish has cardinal and ordinal
numbers. What’s the difference? Ordinal numbers help
define your place in a race, competition, and tier list, or
they denote street names and decide a specific order of
things.
El ganó el segundo lugar.
He won second place.
Ordinal Numbers 1-10
The most commonly used números ordinales in
Spanish are numbers 1-10. As you will soon see, the
numbers after 10 grow in complexity and length, which
has undoubtedly persuaded Spanish speakers to use the
cardinal numbers between 11 and a million much more
frequently. Let’s start with a list of the numbers 1-10 in
their ordinal form with a pronunciation cheat sheet!
English Spanish
First Primero
Second Segundo
Third Tercero
Fourth Cuarto
Fifth Quinto
Sixth Sexto
Seventh Séptimo
Eighth Octavo
Ninth Noveno
Tenth Décimo
Exercise
1. el ______________ (8th) carro
2. el ______________ (1st) de noviembre
3. el ______________ (10th) suéter
4. el ______________ (5th) hermano
5. el ______________ (9th) cuadro
1-100 in Spanish
# English Spanish
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
16 sixteen dieciséis
17 seventeen diecisiete
18 Eighteen dieciocho
19 nineteen diecinueve
20 twenty veinte
21 twenty-one veintiuno
22 twenty-two veintidós
23 twenty-three veintitrés
24 twenty-four veinticuatro
25 twenty-five veinticinco
26 twenty-six veintiséis
27 twenty-seven veintisiete
28 twenty-eight veintiocho
29 twenty-nine veintinueve
30 thirty treinta
40 forty cuarenta
50 fifty cincuenta
60 sixty sesenta
70 seventy setenta
80 eighty ochenta
90 ninety noventa
100 one hundred cien
30 – 90 plus “Y” then 1-9
Example:
31 thirty-one treinta y uno
69 sixty-nine sesenta y nueve
86 eighty-six ochenta y seis
Understanding these numbers will give you ideas on how to ask or answer a question that is in
Spanish
¿Cuanto cuesta? - How much does it cost?
Cuesta diecinueve pesos – It cost 19 pesos
¿Cual es tu numero de telefono? – what is your telephone number?
Mi numero es cero nueve dos seis… – My number is 0926…
¿Cuantos años tienes? – Tengo veinticuatro años
¿Cual es tu direccion…? – What is your address…?
Mi direccion es… - my address is…
Counting Spanish: Multiples of 100
# Number
100 cien (syehn)
100+ ciento (syehn-toh)
102 ciento dos
158 ciento cincuenta y ocho
200 docientos (doh-syehn-tohs)
300 trescientos (treh–syehn-tohs)
400 cuatrocientos (kwah-troh-syehn-tohs)
500 quinientos (kee-nyehn-tohs)
600 seiscientos (say-syehn-tohs)
700 setecientos (seh-teh-syehn-tohs)
800 ochocientos (oh-choh-syehn-tohs)
900 novecientos (noh-veh-syehn-tohs)
Count Multiples of 1000
# Number
1,000 mil (meel)
10,000 diez mil (dyehs meel)
100,000cien mil (syehn meel)
1,000,000 un millón (oon mee-yohn)
10,000,000 diez millones (dyehs mee-yoh-ness)
100,000,000 cien millones (syehn mee-yoh-ness)
1,000,000,000 mil millones (meel mee-yoh-ness)