Spanish Numbers

Q: How do you count to 100 in Spanish?

Learn 0 to 15 (cero to quince), then 16 to 29 as one word (dieciséis, veintiuno). From 30 on, it's the ten, y, and the unit: treinta y uno, cuarenta y dos. The tens are treinta, cuarenta, cincuenta, sesenta, setenta, ochenta, and noventa, and 100 is cien.

Q: When do you use cien and when ciento?

Use cien for exactly 100 (cien libros) and before mil and millones (cien mil). Use ciento for 101 to 199: ciento uno, ciento cincuenta. Percentages use por ciento: el diez por ciento.

Q: How do you say 1,000 in Spanish?

Mil, without un: mil euros. For more than one thousand, mil doesn't change: dos mil, diez mil.

Q: Is a billion "un billón" in Spanish?

No. A billion (1,000,000,000) is mil millones. Un billón is a million millions, what English calls a trillion.

Adapted from The Animated Book of Spanish, an interactive Spanish grammar book.

Spanish numbers follow a few simple patterns once you know the basics. Start with zero to ten, the numbers everything else is built from.

cero
uno
dos
tres
cuatro
cinco
seis
siete
ocho
nueve
diez

On this page

11 to 15

Like eleven and twelve in English, these have their own names, so you just learn them.

once
doce
trece
catorce
quince

16 to 29: one word

From 16 on, numbers are built from pieces. Up to 29, the pieces merge into a single word: diez y seis became dieciséis.

tendiez

andy

sixseis

sixteendieciséis

dieciséis
diecisiete
dieciocho
diecinueve
veinte
veintiuno
veintidós
veintitrés
veinticuatro
veinticinco
veintiséis
veintisiete
veintiocho
veintinueve

30 to 99: three words

The tens have their own names. After 30, you say the ten, then y (and), then the unit, as three separate words.

treinta
cuarenta
cincuenta
sesenta
setenta
ochenta
noventa

thirtytreinta

andy

fivecinco

thirty-fivetreinta y cinco

Mi abuela tiene ochenta y dos años.
My grandmother is eighty-two.
Somos cuarenta y cinco en la clase.
There are forty-five of us in the class.
Cuesta treinta y nueve euros.
It costs thirty-nine euros.

Hundreds

The hundreds are one word each. Most are just the number plus ‑cientos, but the three shaded ones are irregular: quinientos, setecientos, and novecientos.

cien
doscientos
trescientos
cuatrocientos
quinientos
seiscientos
setecientos
ochocientos
novecientos

Cien or ciento?

One hundred has two forms, and a few quirks of its own.

1
Exactly 100: cien
- cien
On its own, or right before a noun.
- Tengo cien libros.
  I have a hundred books.
- Había más de cien personas.
  There were more than a hundred people.
2
101 to 199: ciento
- ciento uno
- ciento cincuenta
Ciento, then the rest of the number, with no y in between.
- Página ciento cinco.
  Page one hundred five.
- Cuesta ciento cincuenta euros.
  It costs a hundred and fifty euros.
3
Before mil and millones: cien
- cien mil
- cien millones
Cien stays short before bigger numbers.
- La ciudad tiene cien mil habitantes.
  The city has a hundred thousand people.
- Ganó cien millones de dólares.
  She won a hundred million dollars.
4
Percentages: por ciento
- por ciento
- cien por cien
Percent is por ciento. For “100%,” you’ll hear both cien por cien and cien por ciento.
- El diez por ciento de los estudiantes.
  Ten percent of the students.
- Estoy cien por cien seguro.
  I’m a hundred percent sure.
5
Hundreds of: cientos de
- cientos de
For a vague large number, use cientos de. And never put un before cien.
- Hay cientos de restaurantes en el centro.
  There are hundreds of restaurants downtown.
- Te lo he dicho cien veces.
  I’ve told you a hundred times.

Thousands and millions

Mil means a thousand on its own, without un, and it never changes: dos mil, diez mil. Millón is different: it's a noun, so it takes un, has a plural, and needs de before a noun.

mil
dos mil
diez mil
cien mil
un millón
dos millones

Mi coche costó mil euros.
My car cost a thousand euros.
El estadio tiene cincuenta mil asientos.
The stadium has fifty thousand seats.
Madrid tiene más de tres millones de habitantes.
Madrid has more than three million people.

One word or several?

Putting it all together, here's when a number is one word and when it's several:

Which Spanish numbers are written as one word and which as several
Numbers	Written as	Example
0 to 29	one word	veintitrés
31 to 99	three words, with y	treinta y tres
100 to 900	one word	trescientos
101 to 999	separate words, no y	trescientos tres
1000 and up	separate words	tres mil trescientos

Notice that y only ever goes between the tens and the units, never after ciento or mil.

Years

Spanish reads a year as one full number, not in pairs like English (nineteen ninety-eight). So 1998 is mil novecientos noventa y ocho, and 2026 is dos mil veintiséis.

Nací en mil novecientos noventa y ocho.
I was born in 1998.
Estamos en dos mil veintiséis.
It’s 2026.
Me encanta la música de los años ochenta.
I love music from the eighties.

Uno, un, una

Uno is for counting. Before a masculine noun, it shortens to un, and before a feminine noun, it becomes una, even inside bigger numbers.

Tengo un hermano y una hermana.
I have one brother and one sister.
Mi hijo cumple veintiún años.
My son is turning twenty-one.
Vinieron treinta y una personas.
Thirty-one people came.

First, second, third: ordinal numbers

Ordinal numbers work like adjectives: they agree with the noun (la primera vez), and primero and tercero shorten before a masculine noun (el primer día). They're written with a small º or ª.

primerofirst
segundosecond
tercerothird
cuartofourth
quintofifth
sextosixth
séptimoseventh
octavoeighth
novenoninth
décimotenth

Common mistakes English speakers make

Using ciento for exactly 100
Incorrect:Tengo ciento libros.
Correct:Tengo cien libros.
Exactly 100 is cien. Ciento is only for 101 to 199.
Saying un mil
Incorrect:Cuesta un mil euros.
Correct:Cuesta mil euros.
Mil never takes un.
Forgetting de after millón
Incorrect:Hay dos millones personas.
Correct:Hay dos millones de personas.
Millón is a noun, so it needs de before another noun.
Using a masculine hundred with a feminine noun
Incorrect:Vinieron doscientos personas.
Correct:Vinieron doscientas personas.
From 200 to 900, the hundreds agree with the noun.
Writing 16 to 29 as three words
Sounds unnatural:Tengo veinte y dos años.
Correct:Tengo veintidós años.
The three-word form is old-fashioned. Today, 16 to 29 are written as one word.

Questions about Spanish numbers

How do you count to 100 in Spanish?

Learn 0 to 15 (cero to quince), then 16 to 29 as one word (dieciséis, veintiuno). From 30 on, it's the ten, y, and the unit: treinta y uno, cuarenta y dos. The tens are treinta, cuarenta, cincuenta, sesenta, setenta, ochenta, and noventa, and 100 is cien.

When do you use cien and when ciento?

Use cien for exactly 100 (cien libros) and before mil and millones (cien mil). Use ciento for 101 to 199: ciento uno, ciento cincuenta. Percentages use por ciento: el diez por ciento.

How do you say 1,000 in Spanish?

Mil, without un: mil euros. For more than one thousand, mil doesn't change: dos mil, diez mil.

Is a billion "un billón" in Spanish?

No. A billion (1,000,000,000) is mil millones. Un billón is a million millions, what English calls a trillion.

Why is 16 one word but 31 is three?

Numbers from 16 to 29 used to be written as three words too (diez y seis), but they merged over time into one: dieciséis, veintiuno. From 31 on, they stay separate: treinta y uno.

Next upTime and datesTelling time, the days of the week, months, seasons, and saying the date.

11 to 15

16 to 29: one word

30 to 99: three words

Hundreds

Cien or ciento?

Exactly 100: cien

101 to 199: ciento

Before mil and millones: cien

Percentages: por ciento

Hundreds of: cientos de

Thousands and millions

One word or several?

Years

Uno, un, una

First, second, third: ordinal numbers

Common mistakes English speakers make

Using ciento for exactly 100

Saying un mil

Forgetting de after millón

Using a masculine hundred with a feminine noun

Writing 16 to 29 as three words

Questions about Spanish numbers

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