Learn to count in Spanish, Lesson 4

Hello! Welcome to Your Daily Pinch of Spanish. Today we continue the series on how to say the numbers in Spanish, picking up from the number thirty and taking it up to ninety!

It's really simple.

Let's get right to it, now. As always, the pronunciation is in the parenthesis:

30- (treh-een-tah) treinta

40- (coo-ah-ren-tah) cuarenta

50- (seen-coo-en-tah) cincuenta

60- (seh-sen-tah) sesenta

70- (seh-ten-tah) setenta

80- (oh-chen-tah) ochenta

90- (noh-ven-tah) noventa

To count, the numbers from thirty to ninety all have a common construction. We'll count from thirty to thirty-five, and then from forty to forty-five to illustrate this:

30- (treh-een-tah) Treinta

31- (treh-een-tah ee oo-noh) Treinta y uno

32- (treh-een-tah ee dohs) Treinta y dos

33- (treh-een-tah ee tres) Treinta y tres

34- (treh-een-tah ee coo-ah-troh) Treinta y cuatro

35- (treh-een-tah ee seen-coh) Treinta y cinco

Now from forty:

40- (coo-ah-ren-tah) Cuarenta

41- (coo-ah-ren-tah ee oo-noh) Cuarenta y uno

42- (coo-ha-ren-tah ee dohs) Cuarenta y dos

43- (coo-ah-ren-tah ee tres) Cuarenta y tres

44- (coo-ah-ren-tah ee coo-ah-troh) Cuarenta y cuatro

45- (coo-ah-ren-tah ee seen-coh) Cuarenta y cinco

Did you notice? Simple add 'y' and the number. It's the same no matter if you're counting in the fifties or eighties. I should also mention that these numbers have an alternate spelling, and that is to write it together in one word, like for example treintaitrés instead of trenta y tres. You simply change the 'y' with an 'i' and write it together in one word. I give you both because you'll see it written both ways. The correct way to write the numbers from thirty to ninety, though, is to write them separate, like noventa y ocho (98). It became accepted with time to write it all in one word, especially the numbers in the thirties, as a simplification; the pronunciation is the same, regardless of how it is written. To write these numbers in one word, you will have to add an accent to the numbers 2, 3, and 6. Like for example, treintaitrés, ochentaiséis, noventaidós.

This is it for the numbers today, I hope you can understand well and that you find this little lesson helpful! Any doubts, you can reach me in Twitter or Facebook, or simply comment and I'll try to answer your doubt. :)