Let’s Revise Spanish
Numbers:
Now, you’re all clever enough to know the basic numbers in Spanish but: here are some interesting facts and helpful pointers so that they aren’t just ‘almost’ right… but so that they’re perfect!
Remember:
1= uno and any numbers ending in –uno lose the ‘o’ if they come before a masculine noun: un chico y una chica
6 = spell it with an accent séis
100 = ‘cien’ when you’re counting or using it before a noun:
cien manzanas 100 apples
but = ‘ciento’ when it means 100 and …:
ciento ochenta tres 183
200 = (and all the other hundreds afterwards) they change depending on whether the noun is masculine or feminine:
doscientos coches 200 cars
quinientas casas 500 houses
1000 = ‘mil’ and it doesn’t change…
mil, dos mil, tres mil…
…unless it’s ‘thousands of…’ miles de moscas – thousands of flies
1,000,000 = millón
2,000,000 = dos millones
(1 has an accent, any more than 1 doesn’t!)
And what about when you want to say 1st, 2nd, 3rd?
Primer(o)/a
Segundo/a
Tercer(o)/a
Cuarto/a
Quinto/a
Sexto/a
Séptimo/a
Octavo/a
Noveno/a
Décimo/a
But remember to agree them with the noun – if you need reminding then look at the ‘Let’s revise: adjectives’ article.