Numbers, telling the time, and dates in Spanish
Spanish numbers are regular after 30: treinta y uno, treinta y dos. Only uno and the hundreds agree with gender. Time uses ser plus the feminine article — son las tres — and dates run day-month-year with no ordinal, so 3/4 is the third of April, not the fourth of March.
Draft copy. Every claim needs a native-speaker check before publishing — the byline is what makes this citable, so it has to be earned.
0 to 30, which you memorise
| 0 cero | 8 ocho | 16 dieciséis | 24 veinticuatro |
| 1 uno | 9 nueve | 17 diecisiete | 25 veinticinco |
| 2 dos | 10 diez | 18 dieciocho | 26 veintiséis |
| 3 tres | 11 once | 19 diecinueve | 27 veintisiete |
| 4 cuatro | 12 doce | 20 veinte | 28 veintiocho |
| 5 cinco | 13 trece | 21 veintiuno | 29 veintinueve |
| 6 seis | 14 catorce | 22 veintidós | 30 treinta |
| 7 siete | 15 quince | 23 veintitrés |
16 to 29 are written as one word. 31 onwards are three.
31 upwards, which is mechanical
tens + y + units, and that pattern never breaks.
- 31 treinta y uno · 45 cuarenta y cinco · 78 setenta y ocho
- Tens: cuarenta, cincuenta, sesenta, setenta, ochenta, noventa
Hundreds: cien on its own, ciento with anything after it.
- 100 cien · 101 ciento uno · 150 ciento cincuenta
- 200 doscientos · 300 trescientos · 500 quinientos · 700 setecientos · 900 novecientos
Those three are the irregulars. Everything else is X-cientos.
Thousands: mil, and it never pluralises as a number. 1000 mil, 2000 dos mil, 2026 dos mil veintiséis. Say the year as a plain number, not in pairs — never veinte veintiséis.
Million: un millón, and this one does take de: un millón de soles.
The two places gender shows up
Numbers do not agree — except these.
uno → un / una before a noun. Un sol. Una hora. Veintiún soles. (The accent appears because the word shortened.)
The hundreds agree fully. Doscientos soles. Doscientas personas.
That is the whole list. Tres, cuatro, cincuenta never change.
Telling the time
ser, and the article is feminine because hora is.
- ¿Qué hora es?
- Es la una. — singular, because it is one.
- Son las dos / las tres / las diez. — plural for everything else.
Minutes:
- Son las tres y diez. — past.
- Son las tres y media. — half past.
- Son las tres y cuarto. — quarter past.
- Son las cuatro menos diez. — ten to four.
- Son las tres con veinte. — also heard in Peru, and simpler: just add the number.
At a time uses a: ¿A qué hora? — A las ocho. That is the form you need most, because it is how you agree to meet anyone.
Day parts: de la mañana (until midday), de la tarde (until about 7), de la noche. Son las ocho de la noche.
Dates
day – month – year, with a cardinal number and de between the parts.
- el 5 de mayo — no ordinal, no quinto.
- el 1 de enero — the one exception: el primero de enero is the norm in Peru for the first.
- Hoy es martes 12 de agosto de 2026.
Months and days are lowercase: enero, lunes. Capitalising them is a recognisable English habit.
3/4 means the third of April. Not the fourth of March.
That reversal is worth pausing on: it is the only thing on this page that can cost you a plane ticket or a doctor’s appointment.
Prices in Peru
The currency is the sol (plural soles), written S/. Céntimos are the coins.
- S/ 15 — quince soles
- S/ 15.50 — quince cincuenta, or quince soles con cincuenta
- una luca — one sol, informal. See luca.
And the one you will use: ¿Cuánto me cobra? — how much do you charge me. Full script in Spanish for taking a taxi in Lima.
Practise
Say these aloud:
- 47 · 2. 500 · 3. 215 women · 4. 2026 · 5. 3:45pm · 6. the 1st of March
→ 1 cuarenta y siete · 2 quinientos · 3 doscientas quince mujeres · 4 dos mil veintiséis · 5 son las cuatro menos cuarto de la tarde · 6 el primero de marzo.
Next
→ Hay, and saying where things are
Topics Money and bargainingGetting around
Numbers, the clock, and the date
The three irregular hundreds, the two places gender shows up, es la against son las, and the date order that can cost you an appointment.
-
1500 in Spanish is:
Answer
quinientos — *Quinientos* is one of the three irregular hundreds, along with *setecientos* (700) and *novecientos* (900). Everything else is predictably X-cientos.
-
2Which one of these is 900?
Answer
novecientos — *Novecientos* — the *nueve* loses its ue, exactly like *setecientos* loses the ie of *siete*. These two and *quinientos* are the whole irregular list.
-
3215 women:
Answer
doscientas quince mujeres — The hundreds agree with the noun, so *doscientas* before *mujeres*. *Quince* never changes — only *uno* and the hundreds do.
-
4It is one o'clock. You say:
Answer
Es la una. — *Es la una* — singular, because it is one. Everything else is plural: *son las dos*, *son las diez*.
-
5It is three o'clock. You say:
Answer
Son las tres. — *Son las tres.* Time uses *ser*, never *estar*, and the article is feminine because *hora* is.
-
6You are agreeing to meet at eight. Which is right?
Answer
A las ocho. — *A las ocho* — *a* is how you say *at* a time, and *¿a qué hora?* is the question it answers. *Son las ocho* tells the time instead of arranging it.
-
7A form in Lima says *3/4/2026*. That date is:
Answer
the third of April — Spanish runs day–month–year, so 3/4 is *el 3 de abril*. This is the one thing on the page that can cost you a flight or a doctor's appointment.
-
8How do you write the first of January?
Answer
el primero de enero — Dates take a cardinal number — *el 5 de mayo*, not *el quinto* — with the first as the exception: *el primero de enero* is the norm in Peru. Months stay lowercase.