1.1: Números y acentos

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Numbers (los números)

Cardinal Numbers

Cardinal numbers are the numbers we use to count (i.e., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.).

The spelling of uno changes depending on the gender of the noun it modifies. Uno is spelled un before a masculine noun and una before a feminine noun.

Ejemplo(s):

--un ejemplo (m.)

an example

--una pregunta (f.)

a question
1. Mil (1,000) is not pluralized when it is part of a specific number. Millón is pluralized.
  
  Ejemplo(s):
  
  --veinte mil, cien mil…
  
  twenty thousand, one hundred thousand
  
  --dos mil dólares ($2,000)
  
  two thousand dollars
  
  --dos millones de dólares ($2,000,000)
  
  two million dollars
2. Mil may be used in the plural in more general statements.
  
  Ejemplo(s):
  
  --Miles de personas visitan 'El Parque de la Amistad' en Tijuana.
  
  Thousands of people visit 'El Parque de la Amistad' in Tijuana.
Numbers 16 to 29 are commonly written as one word or as two words connected by "y" (and). An accent is added to the one-word spelling of 16, 22, 23 and 26.

Ejemplo(s):

16 = dieciséis

17 = diecisiete

21 = veintiuno

22 = veintidós

23 = veintitrés

26 = veintiséis

Cien is used for the number 100 and before all nouns.
To say 101, 102-199, the form ciento is used.

Ejemplo(s):

--ciento uno, ciento dos, ciento noventa y nueve.

When plural (200-999) an -os or -as is added depending on the gender of the noun.

Spanish	English
Cien	100 or one hundred
Cien dólares	100 dollars
Cien páginas	100 pages
Ciento un dólares	101 dollars
Doscientos dólares	200 dollars
Doscientas páginas	200 pages

Spanish uses “.” (points) and “,” (commas) differently than English does. Points are used where one would expect a comma in English and vice versa.

Spanish	English
1.000 (mil)	1,000 (one thousand)
1.000.000 (un millón)	1,000,000 (one million)
86,5%	86.5%
“ochenta y seis con 5 por ciento”	“eighty six point five percent”

Numbers 0 - 2.000.000

0	cero	10	diez	20	veinte	30	treinta
1	uno	11	once	21	veintiuno	31	treinta y uno
2	dos	12	doce	22	veintidós	32	treinta y dos
3	tres	13	trece	23	veintitrés	33	treinta y tres
4	cuatro	14	catorce	24	veinticuatro	34	treinta y cuatro
5	cinco	15	quince	25	veinticinco	35	treinta y cinco
6	seis	16	dieciséis	26	veintiséis	36	treinta y seis
7	siete	17	diecisiete	27	veintisiete	37	treinta y siete
8	ocho	18	dieciocho	28	veintiocho	38	treinta y ocho
9	nueve	19	diecinueve	29	veintinueve	39	treinta y nueve

10	diez	100	cien	1.000	mil	10.000	diez mil
20	veinte	200	doscientos	2.000	dos mil	20.000	veinte mil
30	treinta	300	trescientos	3.000	tres mil	30.000	treinta mil
40	cuarenta	400	cuatrocientos	4.000	cuatro mil	40.000	cuarenta mil
50	cincuenta	500	quinientos	5.000	cinco mil	50.000	cincuenta mil
60	sesenta	600	seiscientos	6.000	seis mil	60.000	sesenta mil
70	setenta	700	setecientos	7.000	siete mil	70.000	setenta mil
80	ochenta	800	ochocientos	8.000	ocho mil	80.000	ochenta mil
90	noventa	900	novecientos	9.000	nueve mil	90.000	noventa mil

1.000.000	un millón
2.000.000	dos millones

Ordinal Numbers

Ordinal numbers are adjectives that we use to rank things, name streets, etc. (i.e. 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, etc.). The last letter of ordinal numbers is variable so that it agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies (like all adjectives). However, the "o" is dropped before masculine nouns for 1^st and 3^rd (primer párrafo, tercer párrafo). Ordinal numbers are rarely used beyond 10 in Spanish.

Número		Ordinal	Spanish	English
			El problema (m.) La solución (f.)	The problem The solution
1^st	1º	Primero	el primer problema la primera solución	the first problem the first solution
2^nd	2º	Segundo	el segundo problema la segunda solución	the second problem the second solution
3^rd	3º	Tercero	el tercer problema la tercera solución	the third problem the third solution
4^th	4º	Cuarto	el cuarto problema la cuarta solución	the fourth problem the fourth solution
5^th	5º	Quinto	el quinto problema la quinta solución	the fifth problem the fifth solution
6^th	6º	Sexto	el sexto problema la sexta solución	the sixth problem the sixth solution
7^th	7º	Séptimo	el séptimo problema la séptima solución	the seventh problem the seventh solution
8^th	8º	Octavo	el octavo problema la octava solución	the eighth problem the eighth solution
9^th	9º	Noveno	el noveno problema la novena solución	the ninth problem the ninth solution
10th	10º	Décimo	el décimo problema la décima solución	the tenth problem the tenth solution

Accent Rules (las reglas de acentuación)

In this section we are going to learn about why words need written accent marks in Spanish. These are sometimes referred to as “tildes” in Spanish. It is important to note that there is big difference between written accents, which tell us where the stress should fall in a word, and natural stress patterns. Where and why written accents are used in Spanish is a source of confusion to learners of Spanish until they accept that they are indeed meaningful (accents aren’t just random marks over words that need to be memorized) and ...they learn the three rules that follow:

For Spanish words that end in a vowel, the letter “n” or the letter “s”, the natural stress falls on the second-to-last (penultimate) syllable.
For Spanish words that end in any other letter that is not a vowel, “n” or “s”, the natural stress falls on the last syllable.
When a word contains the combination of “i” + another vowel or “u” + another vowel, these two vowel sounds blend to create one sound/syllable (known as a diphthong).
- ciu-dad
- des-trui-do
- cie-lo
- pei-ne
- ai-re
- ac-ción
- a-gua
- bue-no
- cui-da-do
- au-tor
- con-ti-nua-ción

A Spanish word requires a written accent mark if it breaks any one of these three rules for natural stress. Note that a written accent mark over an “i” or a “u” breaks up a diphthong—it separates the two vowels into separate syllables.

Listen to the following words that require written accent marks and then decide why the accent mark is required. Which rule does the word break?

Audio	Click to Guess	Rule
ma-má	ma-má
sim-pá-ti-co	sim-pá-ti-co
Ma-rí-a	Ma-rí-a
ca-fé	ca-fé
cés-ped	cés-ped
ma-íz	ma-íz
en-ten-dió	en-ten-dió
di-fí-cil	di-fí-cil
rí-e	rí-e
Can-cún	Can-cún
ál-bum	ál-bum
tí-o	tí-o
ac-ción	ac-ción
a-zú-car	a-zú-car
re-ú-ne	re-ú-ne
in-te-rés	in-te-rés
Gon-zá-lez	Gon-zá-lez
dú-o	dú-o
pa-pá	pa-pá
co-mí-a-mos	co-mí-a-mos
trái-ga-me-los	trái-ga-me-los
ángel	ángel
cabezón	cabezón

Listen to these pair of words and try to decide why one needs a written accent while the other does not:

Written Accents—Single Syllable Words and Grammatical Distinctions

The following is a list of pairs of one-syllable words that require a written accent mark to let the reader know which word is being used. These words are always pronounced the same way regardless of the written accent mark.

dé - Déme el examen (usted command of the verb dar)
de - El hijo de mi amigo (preposition “de”)
él - ¿Lo quiere él? (3rd person singular pronoun, he)
el - El libro de español (definite article, the)
más - Yo soy más guapa que ella. (more)
mas - No quiero, mas he de hacerlo. (mas without the accent means “pero”)
mí - el libro es para mí (object of a preposition, me)
mi - éste es mi libro (possessive pronoun, my)
sé - Yo sé la respuesta. (“yo” form of the verb saber)
se - Se come bien en este restaurante. (pronoun)
sí - La respuesta es Sí. (yes)
si - Si no viene hoy, viene mañana. (if)
té - me gusta el té más que el café (tea)
te - ¿A ti, te gusta el té? (2nd person object pronoun)
tú - Tú eres la luz de mi vida. (2nd person subject pronoun, you)
tu - ¿Cuál es tu coche? (2nd person possessive pronoun, your)
sólo - El drogadicto sólo piensa en su adicción. (only)
solo/a - Prefiero estar solo cuando estudio. (alone)
aún - Me han dicho que aún no se sabe si va a regresar o no. (todavía)
aun - Continuaba trabajando aun cuando era viejo. (even)

Written Accents and Question Words

All interrogative words require written accents to distinguish them from the same words that function as conjunctions (without accents). This is true for direct and indirect questions.

Direct Questions

¿Qué tienes en la mano?
¿Cómo resuelves este tipo de problema?
¿Dónde queda tu casa?
¿Por qué no me quieres prestar diez dólares?

Indirect Questions

No sé qué tienes en la mano.
Parece que no me quieres explicar cómo resuelves este tipo de problema.
Antes de que te busquemos, necesitamos saber dónde queda tu casa.
No tengo idea de por qué no me quieres prestar diez dólares.

These words also require a written accent when they are used as exclamatives.

¡Qué barbaridad!
¡Cómo te quiero!
¡Cuánto quisiera acompañarte al concierto!

In other uses of these words—when they are not interrogatives or exclamatives—there is not a written accent. Here are a few examples in bold:

Ejemplo(s):: --Yo sé que mis padres me quieren.; I know that my parents love me.; --Tengo un perro que nunca hace lo que le digo.; I have a dog that never does what I tell him.; --Mario trabaja sólo cuando y donde quiere porque es flojo.; Mario works only when and where he wants because he is lazy

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Numbers 0 - 2.000.000

Direct Questions

Indirect Questions

These words also require a written accent when they are used as exclamatives.