The way we write and pronounce numbers is quite different from English, but they are still as important to give or get some personal information. In this lesson, we will learn to write and pronounce Spanish numbers 1-20, “los números del uno al veinte“. You will find many examples of sentences with numbers in Spanish, common phrases with them and several interactive exercises to practice this topic. Let’s get started…
Writing and pronouncing Spanish numbers 1-10
LOS NÚMEROS or Spanish numbers can be divided in two main categories: cardinal and ordinal numbers. This lesson is about cardinal numbers, which are often used to share or get some personal information about ages, phone numbers and many other things. Spanish numbers 1-20 are all written differently, so we must memorize them because they are the basis for more complex numbers. UNO is a special case as it changes to UN when used before a masculine noun like CARRO (car), which means it would be correct to say “Un carro” (a car), but not “Uno carro”. The picture below uses sea animals (animales marinos) to show how to spell numbers from one to ten in Spanish.
| Uno – Una ballena Dos – Dos calamares Tres – Tres caballitos de mar Cuatro – Cuatro tortugas Cinco – Cinto cangrejos | Seis – Seis peces Siete – Siete peces Ocho – Ocho caracoles Nueve – Nueve pescados Diez – Diez pescaditos |
Interactive exercise No. 1
Look at these flashcards with objects and numbers 1 to 10 in Spanish, write their name in the box and check your answer.
Next, we will show you how to pronounce these numbers with a set of sample questions and sentences using Spanish numbers 1-10. Listen to their pronunciation and pay attention to the way subject pronouns and possessive adjectives are used in some of the sentences. In addition, these sentences include some common irregular verbs like TENER(to have) and HAY (there is/there are). Press PLAY to listen to the examples.
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UNO – Tengo una noticia importante para ti
ONE – I have important news for you
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DOS – Tú tienes dos hermanos
TWO – You have two brothers
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TRES – Yo tengo tres mascotas
THREE – I have three pets
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CUATRO – Nosotros tenemos cuatro estudiantes
FOUR – We have four students.
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| CINCO – Ella tiene cinco tareas nuevas FIVE – She has five students |
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SEIS – Mi hija tiene seis años de edad
SIX – My daughter is six years old
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SIETE – El siete es mi número favorito
SEVEN – Seven is my favorite number
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| OCHO – Hay ocho tazas aquí EIGHT- There are eight cups here |
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NUEVE – Hay nueve personas en la habitación.
NINE – There are nine people in the room.
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DIEZ – Solo tenemos diez minutos
TEN – We have ten minutes left.
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Interactive exercise No. 2
Look at these cards with numbers and classroom objects, identify the quantity and spelling of these numbers in Spanish, and then turn the card over to check your answers.
Making Sentences with Numbers in Spanish 11-20
The last group to complete our list of Spanish numbers 1-20 are those between 11 and 20, “los números del once al veinte”. They must be memorized too, but there is a simple pattern to follow for some numbers, particularly from 16 to 19.
For Spanish numbers from sixteen to nineteen, all you need to do is join the prefix DIECI- plus a SEIS, SIETE, OCHO or NUEVE. However, the number “dieciséis” is a special case because it needs a tilde over the “é”. The chart below shows how to pronounce and spell Spanish numbers 11-20, and shows how they can be used in meaningful sentences and questions. Again, we will be using the verbs TENER and HAY in these examples.
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ONCE – Él tiene once juguetes
He has eleven toys
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DOCE – El perro tiene doce años
The dog is twelve years old
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TRECE – Yo solo tengo trece dólares
I only have thirteen dollars
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CATORCE – Ellos tienen catorce nietos
They have fourteen grandchildren
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QUINCE – Yo compré quince libros.
I bought fifteen books
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DIECISEIS – ¿Ya tienes dieciséis años?
Are you sixteen now?
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DIECISIETE – Yo tengo diecisiete años.
I am seventeen years old.
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DIECIOCHO – Nuestra clase tiene dieciocho estudiantes
Our class has eighteen students
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DIECINUEVE – Hay diecinueve gatos en el refugio
There are nineteen cats in the shelter
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VEINTE – Ellos tienen veinte aves en el refugio
They have twenty birds in the shelter
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More sentences with Spanish numbers 1-20
Look at these illustrations with more sentences using the numbers in Spanish from 1 to 20.
Interactive exercise No. 3
Write the name of these numbers in Spanish 1-21 under the flashcard and then check your answers.
Popular expressions with numbers in Spanish
Pay attention to the following group of expressions with numbers in Spanish. These sayings or idioms are very popular in real conversations to speak in a more natural way, although their meaning cannot be taken literally sometimes, for example, instead of saying “Esto lo hago rápidamente” (I do this quickly), you could say “Esto lo hago en un dos por tres“, with no change in meaning.
Interactive exercise No. 4
Look at the picture, count the animals in the zoo, and then complete the sentences with the correct written form of the numbers in Spanish.
Resultados
¡Felicidades!
¡Lo sentimos! ¡Inténtalo nuevamente!
#1. Hay ____________ monos en el zoológico.
#2. Hay __________ pingüinos dentro del zoológico.
#3. Solamente hay ____________ jirafa dentro del zoológico.
#4. Hay ___________ leones en el centro del zoológico.
#5. Hay ____________ flamencos dentro del estanque.
#6. _________ de los osos panda está comiendo bambú.
#7. Hay _________ guacamaya sobre uno de los árboles.
#8. Hay _________ cebras dentro del zoológico.
#9. Hay un total de ____________ aves sumando los pingüinos, los flamencos y la guacamaya.
#10. Hay un total de ____________ mamíferos en el zoológico, sumando los pandas, leones, jirafas, monos y cebras.
Interactive exercise No. 5
This last interactive quiz will help you to practice writing numbers from one to twenty in Spanish. Fill in the blanks with the correct written forms of the numbers in parentheses. .
This is the end of this lesson. Hopefully, you will remember most Spanish numbers 1-20. If not, you can always come back to and review. In the next two lessons, we will learn numbers in Spanish from 21 to 100 and then numbers over 100. Before you leave, test yourself with this cool quiz. ¡Hasta pronto!
Related PDF Worksheets:
- Spanish Numbers 1-9 (PDF Worksheet)
- Numbers in Spanish from 1 to 20
- Numbers in Spanish from 20 to 100
- Spanish Numbers 1-20 – Word Search
- Numbers in Spanish 1 to 100 (Matching + sentences)
- Numbers over 100 in Spanish (Matching + sentences)
The audio for 1-5 is does not match the sentences.
Thanks a lot! FIXED 🙂
Yeah that is so nice