Numbers 0-20

Numbers are everywhere in daily life, and Spanish numbers are surprisingly straightforward once you learn the patterns. Whether you're asking for prices, giving your phone number, or talking about quantities, these first twenty numbers will be essential building blocks for your Spanish conversations.

Numbers 0-10: The Foundation

Let's start with the basic numbers that form the foundation of the Spanish counting system. Cero means zero, and it's used just like in English. Uno is one, dos (dohs) is two, and tres (trehs) is three - notice that "tres" has a soft "s" sound at the end, not a "z" sound like in English.

Cuatro means four, cinco is five, and seis is six. Pay attention to "seis" - it sounds like the English word "say" followed by "ees." Siete (see-EH-teh) means seven, ocho is eight, and nueve (new-EH-veh) is nine. Finally, diez (dee-EHS) means ten and is pronounced with a soft "s" sound at the end.

These first ten numbers are crucial because they appear in many compound numbers later on. Practice saying them out loud until they feel natural - you'll be using them constantly!

Numbers 11-20: Two Different Patterns

The numbers from 11-20 follow two different patterns that make them easier to learn once you understand the system.

Numbers 11-15 have their own unique forms that you'll need to memorize: once is eleven, doce is twelve, trece is thirteen, catorce (kah-TOR-seh) is fourteen, and quince is fifteen. Notice how most of these end in the "-ce" sound? That's your clue that they're special forms.

Numbers 16-19 follow a compound pattern that's much more logical. Dieciséis literally means "ten and six" for sixteen, diecisiete is "ten and seven" for seventeen, dieciocho is "ten and eight" for eighteen, and diecinueve (dee-eh-see-new-EH-veh) is "ten and nine" for nineteen. You can see the pattern: "dieci-" (ten) plus the number from 6-9.

Finally, veinte means twenty and is another unique form to memorize.

The Special Case of "Uno"

Here's where Spanish gets interesting! The number uno changes depending on what it's describing, just like "a" and "an" in English change based on the following sound. When uno comes before a masculine noun, it becomes un - so you'd say un libro or un café (one coffee). When it comes before a feminine noun, it becomes una - so you'd say una mesa (one table) or una casa (one house).

Don't worry about memorizing which nouns are masculine or feminine yet - we'll cover that in detail later. For now, just remember that uno likes to match the gender of whatever it's describing. You'll often hear people say things like "un momento, por favor" or "una pregunta" (one question).

Using Numbers in Daily Life

Now let's see how these numbers work in real situations. When ordering food or drinks, you might say dos cafés, por favor or tres tacos (three tacos). When giving phone numbers, Spanish speakers usually say each digit individually, so a phone number like 555-0123 would be "cinco cinco cinco cero uno dos tres."

For ages, you can say Tengo veinte años - literally "I have twenty years." This is how Spanish expresses age, and it might sound strange at first, but it's perfectly natural in Spanish.

Here are some practical examples you might use:

Restaurant conversation:

• Ana: Dos cafés, por favor.
• Camarero: ¿Algo más?
• Ana: Sí, tres churros también.

Phone number exchange:

• Miguel: Mi número es seis uno ocho cinco cinco cinco uno dos tres cuatro.
• Sofia: ¿Puedes repetir, por favor?
• Miguel: Claro. Seis uno ocho... cinco cinco cinco... uno dos tres cuatro.

Age conversation:

• Elena: ¿Cuántos años tienes?
• Roberto: Tengo diecinueve años. ¿Y tú?
• Elena: Yo tengo veinte.

Practice

Words to Remember

Spanish	English
cero	zero
uno	one
dos	two
tres	three
cuatro	four
cinco	five
seis	six
siete	seven
ocho	eight
nueve	nine
diez	ten
once	eleven
doce	twelve
trece	thirteen
catorce	fourteen
quince	fifteen
dieciséis	sixteen
diecisiete	seventeen
dieciocho	eighteen
diecinueve	nineteen
veinte	twenty

Conversation

At a restaurant

Camarero: Buenas tardes. ¿Cuántas personas? Good afternoon. How many people?

María: Cuatro, por favor. Four, please.

Camarero: La mesa siete. Table seven.

At the bakery

Diego: Hola, dos cafés y tres churros. Hi, two coffees and three churros.

Carmen: ¿Algo más? Anything else?

Diego: Sí, una agua, por favor. Yes, one water, please.

Sharing a phone number

Lucía: ¿Me das tu número? Can you give me your number?

Pablo: Claro. Seis, uno, ocho, cinco, cinco, cinco, uno, dos, tres, cuatro. Sure. Six, one, eight, five, five, five, one, two, three, four.

Lucía: Vale, gracias. OK, thanks.