How to count in Spanish
Enter a number and read it spelled out in Spanish.
Language overview
Spanish (español, also known as Castillan, or castellano) is a romance language (more specifically in the Ibero-Romance group) from the indo-european family. Official language in 21 countries, including Spain, Mexico, Colombia and Argentine, it counts about 330 million speakers (of which 40 million in Spain alone).
Spanish numbering rules
- Digits and numbers from zero to fifteen are specific words, namely cero [0], uno [1], dos [2], tres [3], cuatro [4], cinco [5], seis [6], siete [7], ocho [8], nueve [9], diez [10], once [11], doce [12], trece [13], catorce [14], quince [15]. Sixteen to twenty-nine are regular numbers, i.e. named after the ten (or the twenty) and the digit. Diez y seis [10 and 6] is phonetically shortened with an apocope as dieciséis. The same applies up to twenty-nine: diecisiete [10 and 7], dieciocho [10 and 8]… veintinueve [20 and 9].
- The tens have specific names based on the digits roots except for ten and twenty: diez [10], veinte [20], treinta [30], cuarenta [40], cinquenta [50], sesenta [60], setenta [70], ochenta [80] and noventa [90].
- The same applies for the hundreds where one word is created by removing the space between the multiplier and the hundred word: cien [100] (plural cientos), but doscientos [200], trescientos [300], cuatrocientos [400], quinientos [500], seiscientos [600], setecientos [700], ochocientos [800], novecientos [900].
- Tens and units are linked with y (and), as in treinta y cinco [35].
- The Spanish language uses the long scale for big numbers where every new word greater than a million is one million times bigger than the previous term. Thus, um billón is 1012 (equivalent to the US trillion), and the US billion (109) is called mil millones, or one thousand million. The only exception is the Spanish spoken in Puerto Rico where the short scale is in use (every new word greater than a million is one thousand times bigger than the previous term). In Puerto Rico, um billón is 109 (equivalent to the US billion).
Books
- In English
- Spanish Grammar [
,
], Christopher Kendris, Barron’s Educational Series (2001) - A Comprehensive Spanish Grammar [
,
], Jacques De Bruyne, Wiley-Blackwell (1996) - In French
- Grammaire de l’espagnol [
,
], Beatriz Job, Marie-Claude Dana, Nathan (1999) - Bescherelle Grammaire Espagnole [
], Hatier (1998) - Parlons espagnol : langue et culture [
], Gilbert Fabre, L’Harmattan (1997)
Numbers list
| 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 30 – treinta 40 – cuarenta 50 – cinquenta 60 – sesenta 70 – setenta 80 – ochenta 90 – noventa | 100 – cien 1,000 – mil one million – un millón one billion – mil millones one trillion – un billón |
Links
- Cardinal numbers (in Spanish)
Other supported languages
Supported languages by families
As the other currently supported languages are too numerous to list extensively here, please select a language from the following select box, or from the full list of supported languages.