Spanish numbers are built from about thirty words. Learn 0 to 15 by heart. From 16 to 29 the numbers join into one word (dieciséis, ten-and-six). From 31 they are written as separate words joined by y (and): treinta y uno. Hundreds change ending for feminine nouns: doscientas personas.
Y (and) only ever appears between the tens and the units. There is no “and” after hundreds or thousands, unlike British English “five hundred and forty”.
0 to 30
Press any number to hear it. Notice the change at 16: from there to 29 each number is written as one word built from the ten plus the unit, and some carry an accent so the stress lands at the end.
Uno shortens to un before a masculine noun and becomes una before a feminine one: un libro, una casa, veintiún años (twenty-one years). Gender is explained in gender and articles.
Tens, hundreds and beyond
Tens
Hundreds
Three rules for big numbers
Mil never changesDos mil, diez mil, cien mil. There is no plural and no “un” before it.Millón takes deUn millón de euros, dos millones de personas. Millón is a noun, so it is plural and needs de before a noun.Hundreds agreeDoscientos libros (m.) but doscientas casas (f.). Only the hundreds change; mil and the tens do not.
Number builder
Move the sliders to build any number up to 9,999, or type one in. The Spanish appears with each part coloured to match its digit, so you can see how the words line up.
2547
dos milquinientoscuarentaysiete
Prices, dates, years and phone numbers
Each everyday use has its own small pattern. These are the ones you will need on the first day of a trip.
Price3,50 €
tresthreeeuroseurosconwithcincuenta.fifty
Why:Spanish writes a comma for the decimal point. Speakers say “with” for the cents; con is often left out.
Date14/2
elthecatorcefourteendeoffebreroFebruary
Why:Day first, then de and the month, with no capital. Ordinary numbers, not “fourteenth”.
Year2026
dostwomilthousandveintiséistwenty-six
Why:Years are said as a whole number, never split in two like English “twenty twenty-six”.
Phone number612 34 56 78
seissixdoce,twelvetreintathirtyyandcuatro…four
Why:Spaniards usually read phone numbers in pairs or groups, so 34 is “thirty-four”, not “three four”.
First, second, third: ordinal numbers
Ordinal numbers give position in a sequence (first, second) rather than quantity. In everyday Spanish they are used up to tenth; above that, people switch to ordinary numbers: el piso doce (the twelfth floor, literally “floor twelve”). Ordinals agree like adjectives: el primer día, la primera vez.
Primero and tercero drop their final -o before a masculine singular noun: el primer piso, el tercer día. Dates use ordinary numbers except for the first of the month, which many Latin American speakers call el primero.
Telling the time
Spanish uses ser for the time, with la or las because hora (hour) is feminine and understood. One o’clock is singular: es la una. Every other hour is plural: son las dos. Choose a time to hear it.
Es(it) islatheuna.one
es lah OO-nahWhy:One o’clock is singular, so es la una, not son.
Timetables, shops and airports use the 24-hour clock: a las dieciocho treinta (at 18:30). To say “at” a time, use a: a las nueve, at nine. Ser for time is covered in ser and estar.