There are, in fact, two basic scenarios in which we can use this plural form of one. If we don’t need an exact number, we can use unos and unas for approximations. The last thing we need to discuss before moving on is the plural forms of the number one: unos and unas.Īs you saw a moment ago, when we have a large number ending in one, we need to stick with the singular form of one.Įnglish: There are fifty-one examples in the homework (51).Įspañol: Hay cincuenta y unos ejemplos en la tarea. ‘ un libro’, ‘ un artículo’ etc.) And if it is feminine, we don’t need to change forms. Next, here are some examples of the number one behaving like a pronoun:Įnglish: How many countries have you lived in?Īs you can see with this last example, when we want to say ‘one’ and this represents a masculine noun, we need to remember to say ‘ uno’.īut, if we have a noun in our sentence, we need to drop the ‘o’ (e.g. We can only distinguish between ‘one’ and ‘a’ or ‘an’ in Spanish through context. ‘ una idea‘ could translate as ‘one idea’ or ‘an idea’. Note there aren’t different words for ‘one’ and ‘a’ in Spanish, e.g. When we switch between these two options, similar to other Spanish words that describe quantity such as algún vs alguno, we need to decide between three forms.įirstly, here are a few examples of the number one behaving like an adjective:Įnglish: I have one brother and one sister.Įnglish: We only need one idea for the project.Įspañol: Solo necesitamos una idea para el proyecto. When we use Spanish numbers in a sentence, we can either use them like an adjective or a pronoun. So, what makes the Spanish number one so special? In addition, any number ending in one such as twenty-one (21), seventy-one (71), or two thousand four hundred and sixty-one (2,461) also has three forms. One is the most interesting number in Spanish because it has three forms, where most numbers have only one or two. E.g.: un trigésimo parte.Before we talk about all of the numbers in the Spanish language, we need to stop and talk about the number one (1). Beyond "twentieths" we simply use an ordinal number with the word parte. From "elevenths" to "twentieths" we use cardinal numbers with the suffix avo. if feminine)Įxpress Spanish fractions the following way:įrom "fourths" to "tenths" we simply use ordinal numbers. We can do something similar in Spanish 1º, 2º,ģº, etc. We often use a sort of shorthand abbreviation for ordinals in English 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.Ordinals are not typically used with dates use cardinal numbers instead: "Hoy es el quince de enero.".When an ordinal prefix ending in "- imo" is combined with " octavo" one of the o's is dropped to avoid repeating the same sound, e.g.This is only true of primero and tercero. The ordinals primero and tercero are shortened to primer and tercer when used with masculine nouns. With the noun they modify, therefore "-o" endings change to "-a" When used as adjectives, all of the ordinals agree in gender.(such as the order in which runners finish a race). While we use cardinal numbers to count things, we use "ordinal numbers" to put things in order " veintiuno punto siete." Ordinal Numbers "21.7" would be written "21,7" in Spanish and would be read The majority of Spanish-speaking countries do the opposite of English-speakingĬountries when it comes to decimal points and grouping thousands: commas are usedįor decimal points and periods are used to separate the groups of zeros. Strange looking decimal points in the right hand column above. For example 654,321 tables would be written outĪs " seiscient as cincuenta y cuatro mil trescient as veintiun a mesas." Decimal Points and Commas " -uno" and words ending in " -ientos" (all of the "hundreds"Įvery part of a number that can agree with the However, this only happens with numbers ending in As with other adjectives, we need to make our numbers agree in gender with
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