Lesson 1.5 · Unit 1 · Communication: interpretive
Counting from zero to thirty
You will use numbers every day in Spanish: for ages, dates, times, phone numbers and prices. The numbers to 30 follow a simple pattern, and once you see it, learning the numbers to 100 in the next lesson takes little extra work. Say each one aloud as you read it. Counting out loud is the best practice you can do on your own.
- Zero to ten. cero, uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez. Learn these cold. The c in cero and cinco is an "s".
- Eleven to fifteen are single irregular words. once, doce, trece, catorce, quince. They do not follow a pattern, so memorize them as a group of five.
- Sixteen to nineteen are built from "ten and". dieciséis, diecisiete, dieciocho, diecinueve. Each is a single word made of diez plus the unit. Dieciséis carries an accent.
- Twenty is veinte. It stands alone. Twenty-one to twenty-nine are one word each, built on veinti-: veintiuno, veintidós, veintitrés, veinticuatro, veinticinco, veintiséis, veintisiete, veintiocho, veintinueve. The words for 22, 23 and 26 take an accent.
- Thirty is treinta. From 31 on, numbers become three words, as Lesson 1.6 shows.
- Uno changes before a noun. Uno shortens to un before a masculine noun and becomes una before a feminine one: un libro, una mesa, veintiún libros, veintiuna mesas. Used alone in counting, it is uno.
- Do arithmetic aloud. más or y (plus), menos (minus), por (times), dividido por (divided by), son (equals): Dos y dos son cuatro. Diez menos tres son siete. For a single result es also appears: Uno y uno es dos.
- Use them for age. Ask ¿Cuántos años tienes? and answer Tengo quince años. Spanish says "I have fifteen years", never "I am fifteen".
Where students lose marks: the accent and the age structure. Dieciseis is misspelled without the accent, and Soy quince años is an English structure forced into Spanish. Age uses tener, not ser. Also remember that veintiuno before a noun becomes veintiún.
The problem. Write these in Spanish words: 7, 14, 16, 22 and 21 books. Then write "Fifteen plus nine equals twenty-four" in Spanish.
Step one: 7. From the list to ten: siete.
Step two: 14. From the irregular group of five: catorce.
Step three: 16. Build it from "ten and six": dieciséis. One word, and the accent stays on the final syllable.
Step four: 22. It is veinti- plus dos, and the accent appears: veintidós.
Step five: 21 books. The base is veintiuno. Before the masculine noun libros it shortens to veintiún and gains an accent: veintiún libros.
Step six: choose the arithmetic words. "Plus" is y or más. "Equals" is son for a plural sum.
Step seven: write the numbers. 15 is quince and 9 is nueve. Twenty-four is veinticuatro, one word.
Step eight: assemble and check. Quince y nueve son veinticuatro. Every number is spelled in one word with the right accent, and the sum is correct, since 15 + 9 = 24.
Problems 1 to 5 are routine. Problems 6 to 10 are multi-step or ask for reasoning.
- Write 5 in Spanish.
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cinco
- Write 12 in Spanish.
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From the irregular group: doce
- Write 18 in Spanish.
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Ten and eight, one word: diez + ocho becomes dieciocho
- Write 25 in Spanish.
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Twenty-five is one word built on veinti-: veinticinco
- What is veintiséis in digits?
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Veinti- is 20 and séis is 6. 26
- Write the answer in Spanish: Siete y ocho son ___.
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7 + 8 = 15, and 15 is quince. Siete y ocho son quince.
- Write "I am sixteen years old" in Spanish and say why soy is wrong.
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Spanish expresses age with tener: "I have sixteen years". The number is dieciséis with its accent. Soy dieciséis años is an English structure. Tengo dieciséis años.
- Write "twenty-one pens" (bolígrafos, masculine) in Spanish.
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The noun is masculine, so veintiuno shortens, and the accent is added: veintiún bolígrafos
- Find the error: Dieciseis y tres son diecinueve.
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The sum is correct (16 + 3 = 19), but dieciséis needs its accent. Dieciséis y tres son diecinueve.
- Write and solve in Spanish words: thirty minus eleven.
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30 is treinta, 11 is once, and the result 19 is diecinueve. Treinta menos once son diecinueve.