Numbers 11–100
Numbers 11–100
Spanish numbers 11–15 are irregular standalone words, much like English's eleven and twelve — but Spanish keeps that irregular streak three numbers longer before becoming transparent, and its higher numbers actually build in the same order English does.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
Once–quince: five irregular words, like English's eleven/twelve — just three more of them
once (11), doce (12), trece (13), catorce (14), quince (15)
eleven, twelve (English's only two truly opaque numbers) vs. once–quince (Spanish's five)
English has exactly two numbers before twenty that don't visibly contain 'ten' — eleven and twelve — after which '-teen' makes the compounding obvious (thir-TEEN, four-TEEN). Spanish's once through quince don't visibly contain diez ('ten') either, but that irregular streak runs three numbers longer than English's before dieciséis (16) restores the transparent 'ten-plus-unit' pattern.
dieciséis onward: same order as English, just fused into one word
dieciséis (16 = diez + y + seis, 'ten and six')
sixteen = 'six' + 'teen' (ten) — same order as Spanish
From 16 onward, Spanish states the unit before affixing 'ten' conceptually — dieciséis, literally 'ten-and-six' — matching English's own '-teen' order (six-TEEN is also 'six' stated before 'ten'), just spelled as one fused word rather than a suffix. From 21 onward, veintiuno ('twenty-one') matches English's own tens-then-units order exactly — so once you're past fifteen, Spanish numbers map onto English's logic quite closely.
Tens words from 30 onward: y links them, just like English's hyphen
treinta y uno (31), cuarenta y dos (42)
thirty-one, forty-two — English also states tens first, then the unit
From 30 up, Spanish tens and units stay as separate words joined by y ('and') — treinta y uno, cuarenta y dos — matching English's own tens-first order (thirty-one, forty-two) almost exactly. The only real difference is the visible word y where English just uses a hyphen: 'thirty-one' vs. treinta y uno.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| Spanish | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| once | OHN-seh | eleven |
| doce | DOH-seh | twelve |
| quince | KEEN-seh | fifteen |
| dieciséis | dee-eh-see-SAYS | sixteen |
| veinte | VAYN-teh | twenty |
| veintiuno | vayn-tee-OO-noh | twenty-one |
| treinta | TRAYN-tah | thirty |
| cuarenta | kwah-REHN-tah | forty |
| cincuenta | seen-KWEHN-tah | fifty |
| sesenta | seh-SEHN-tah | sixty |
| setenta | seh-TEHN-tah | seventy |
| ochenta | oh-CHEHN-tah | eighty |
| noventa | noh-VEHN-tah | ninety |
| cien | see-EHN | one hundred |