Cardinal Numbers

Los números cardinales are words that tell you how many of something there are. They can be both nouns and adjectives.

Basic Cardinal Numbers in Spanish

Here are the cardinal numbers from 0 to 20 in Spanish, as well as the multiples of 10 from 10 to 100 in Spanish.

Twenties

The numbers from 21 to 29 use a combination of veinti- and a number from 1-9 (with no space in between).

31-99

Forming the numbers from 31 to 99 is a cinch. You just use a multiple of 10 plus the conjunction y and a number from 1 to 9. Here are some examples.

When to Use Cardinal Numbers

Besides being used to simply count, cardinal numbers are used in Spanish to tell the time and talk about dates and age.

Telling Time

To tell the time in Spanish, you use the verb ser, a feminine definite article (la or las), and a cardinal number.

Dates

To talk about dates, use the masculine singular definite article (el) and a cardinal number.

Age

To talk about age, use the verb tenerand a cardinal number.

Cardinal Numbers as Adjectives

As mentioned before, cardinal numbers can be both nouns and adjectives. When a cardinal number is used as an adjective, it doesn't change to match the gender or number of the noun it modifies except in the cases of uno and cien.

Uno

Uno becomes unwhen used to describe masculine nouns and unawhen used to describe feminine nouns. Numbers ending in uno (veintiuno, treinta y uno, etc.) also undergo these changes.

Cien

Cien changes to ciento in numbers above 100 and changes according to the gender of the noun.

Ordinal Numbers in Spanish

Los números ordinales, as the name suggests, are numbers that indicates the order of something that forms part of a series.

Spanish ordinal numbers actually do match the nouns they modify in both gender and number. Additionally, ordinal numbers usually come before nouns.

Check out these examples showing Spanish ordinal numbers in use.

Ordinal Numbers: Primero to Décimo

The ordinal numbers from primero to décimo should be memorized, as they have unique forms and are used to form most of the other ordinal numbers in Spanish.

Here are a list of the ordinal numbers in Spanish from primero (first) to décimo (tenth).

Ordinal Numbers: Decimoprimero to Decimonoveno

The "teen" ordinal numbers are normally written as a single word, and they are formed according to the following formula.

For example:

• thirteenth: décimo + tercero = decimotercero
• fifteenth: décimo + quinto = decimoquinto
• seventeenth: décimo + séptimo = decimoséptimo

Here are a list of the ordinal numbers in Spanish from decimoprimero(eleventh) to decimonoveno(nineteenth).

Spelling Variations

According to the Real Academia Española(Royal Spanish Academy), it is also acceptable to write the ordinal numbers from decimoprimero to decimonovenoas two separate words.

For example:

• eleventh = undécimoor décimo primero
• twelfth = duodécimoor décimo segundo
• thirteenth = decimoterceroor décimo tercero
• fourteenth = decimocuartoor décimo cuarto

When written as two separate words, both words must agree in gender with any noun they modify. When written as a single word, only the final word in these compounds agrees in gender with the noun.

Ordinal Numbers Divisible by Ten

Here are a list of the ordinal numbers divisible by 10 that fall between vigésimo(twentieth) and nonagésimo(ninetieth). These are used as the base from which to form all the ordinal numbers between vigésimo (twentieth) and nonagésimo noveno(ninety-ninth).

Use the formula below to form the ordinal numbers between vigésimo and nonagésimo noveno.

For example:

• twenty-first: vigésimo + primero = vigésimo primero
• thirty-sixth: trigésimo + sexto = trigésimo sexto
• ninety-ninth: nonagésimo + noveno = nonagésimo noveno

Ordinal Numbers Above 100

Below are the ordinal numbers divisible by 100 that fall between centésimo(hundredth) and milésimo(thousandth).

For ordinal numbers between 101 and 999, write out each successive ordinal number as a separate word.

For example:

• four hundred eighty-second: cuadringentésimo + octogésimo + segundo = cuadringentésimo octogésimo segundo
• one hundred seventy-seventh: centésimo + septuagésimo séptimo = centésimo septuagésimo séptimo

Abbreviations

Just like in English, Spanish ordinal numbers are often written in an abbreviated form. To abbreviate Spanish ordinal numbers, you can follow the formulas below.

Placement

In Spanish, ordinal numbers usually go before the nouns they modify. However, if the noun is a member of the royalty, a pope, or a street name, you may see the ordinal adjective come after. For example:

If cardinal and ordinal numbers appear together, the cardinal number goes before the ordinal number. For example: