Spanish Numbers Counting to a Million and Beyond

Spanish numbers can be confusing for persons new to the language. Numbers made up of more than one part are often formed differently than they are in English, and some Spanish numbers change according to the gender of the nouns they apply to. List of Spanish Numbers Following are the basic Spanish numbers and patterns in which they are formed. Those in bold italics are forms that change according to gender, while the non-italic forms are fixed. 1. uno2. dos3. tres4. cuatro5. cinco6. seis7. siete8. ocho9. nueve10. diez11. once12. doce13. trece14. catorce15. quince16. diecisà ©is17. diecisiete18. dieciocho19. diecinueve20. veinte21. veintiuno22. veintidà ³s23. veintitrà ©s24. veinticuatro25. veinticinco26. veintisà ©is27. veintisiete28. veintiocho29. veintinueve30. treinta31. treinta y uno32. treinta y dos33. treinta y tres40. cuarenta41. cuarenta y uno42. cuarenta y dos50. cincuenta60. sesenta70. setenta80. ochenta90. noventa100. ciento (cien)101. ciento uno102. ciento dos103. ciento tres110. ciento diez199. ciento noventa y nueve200. doscientos201. doscientos uno202. doscientos dos203. doscientos tres251. doscientos cincuenta y uno252. doscientos cincuenta y dos300. trescientos400. cuatrocientos500. quinientos600. seiscientos700. setecientos800. ochocientos900. novecientos1.000. mil2.000. dos mil3.000. tres mil3.333. tres mil trescientos treinta y tres1.000.000. un millà ³n1.000.000.000. mil millones The numbers above are sometimes called the cardinal numbers (nà ºmeros cardinales) to distinguith them from ordinal numbers (nà ºmeros ordinales) such as first and second. Shortening Uno and Ciento Uno and numbers ending in -uno are shortened to un when they immediately precede a masculine noun. When standing alone (that is, being 100 exactly) ciento is shortened to cien before preceding a noun of either gender; the longer form is used within longer numbers (except when preceding mil). un là ¡piz (one pencil)una pluma (one pen)cincuenta y un là ¡pices (51 pencils)cincuenta y una plumas (51 pens)cien là ¡pices (100 pencils)cien plumas (100 pens)ciento tres là ¡pices (103 pencils)ciento tres plumas (103 pens)cien mil là ¡pices (100,000 pencils)cien mil plumas (100,000 pens) Gender of Numbers Most numbers dont change with gender, but some do: When a number ends in -uno (one), the form -un is used before masculine nouns, and -una before feminine nouns. The uno form is used only in counting. Accent marks are used where needed to maintain the correct pronunciation. The hundreds of portions of numbers change in gender even when other parts of the number intervene before the noun. un coche (one car)una casa (one house)veintià ºn coches (21 cars)veintiuna casas (21 houses)doscientos coches (200 cars)doscientas casas (200 houses)doscientos dos coches (202 cars)doscientas dos casas (202 houses) Punctuation of Numbers In most of the Spanish-speaking world, periods and commas within numbers are reversed from what they are in U.S. English. Thus in Spain 1.234,56 would be the way of writing mil doscientos treinta y cuatro coma cincuentqa  y seis, or what would be written in the United States as 1,234.56. In Mexico, Puerto Rico and parts of Central America, numbers usually are punctuated as they are in the United States. Spelling of Numbers The numbers 16 through 19 and 21 through 29 used to be spelled as diez y seis, diez y siete, diez y ocho ... veinte y uno, veinte y dos, etc. Youll still see that spelling sometimes (the pronunciation is the same), but the modern spelling is preferred. Note that y (and) is not used to separate hundreds from the remainder of the number; thus one hundred and sixty-one is not ciento y sesenta y uno but ciento sesenta y uno. Note also that mil is not made plural in numbers above 1,999. Thus 2,000 is dos mil, not dos miles. Also, 1,000 is simply mil, not un mil. Pronunciation of Years The years in Spanish are pronounced the same as other cardinal numbers are. Thus, for example, the year 2040 would be pronounced as dos mil cuarenta. The English custom of pronouncing the centuries separately (in English we typically say twenty forty instead of two thousand forty) is not followed. Millions and More Numbers larger than the millions can get problematic in both English and Spanish. Traditionally, a billion has been a thousand million in U.S. English but a million-million in British English and Spanish has followed the British standard, with a trillion being a thousand billions in either case. Thus 1,000,000,000,000 would be a billion in British English but a trillion in U.S. English. Precise Spanish, following the British understanding, uses mil millones for 1,000,000,000 and billà ³n for 1,000,000,000,000, while trillà ³n is 1,000,000,000,000,000. But U.S. English has influenced Spanish, especially in Latin America, creating some confusion. The Royal Spanish Academy has suggested the use of millardo for 1,000,000,000, although the term has not gained widespread use except in reference to economic issues.