THE SPANISH NUMBERS

Hello Learners!

Welcome back to FluentlyFast. Today we'll be exploring the realm of numbers. Numbers in Spanish are sane, unlike in French, which is brilliant for us learners. Basically, the topic of numbers has 4 children- cardinal, ordinal, multiplicative and fractional numbers.

Let's speak in Spanish

• Numbers- Numerales or números

• Ordinals- Numerales oridnales

• Cardinals- Numerales cardinales

• Multiplicatives- Numerales multiplicativos

• Fractions- Numerales fraccionarios

• Roman numbers- Los números romanos

• Normal numbers- Los números normales or números arábigos

Common Blunder

'Números' and 'Numerales'

'Número' stands for number whereas 'Numeral' numeral.

The number is an abstract concept that represents the amount of elements that a certain set contains, while numeral is the symbol with which we represent these concepts in order to communicate. Basically, number is an idea, the numeral is how we write it.

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Cardinal Numbers

• These numbers are used when we need to count something like one, three hundred, thousand, etc.

• They appear before a noun to signify the quantity attatched to the noun. For eg., 'Una fresa fresca' (one fresh strawberry) or 'Tres coches' (three cars) for a non tongue twister.

• Cardinals can appear after a noun to signify its position and functions as an ordinal number. For eg., 'Capítulo dos' (second chapter) or 'La posición uno es tomada por Maria' (the first position is taken by Maria).

Ordinal Numbers

• Ordinal numbers show succession, order and position.

• They can appear before or after a noun.

• For eg., 'Llegó primero en la competencia' (he came first in the competition) or 'Hacer este segundo' (do this second)

Fractional Numbers

• They express the part or quantity of something that you can have or divide.

• For quick learning, we observe that after 11 all numbers receive the termination 'avo/s'.

• These numbers can be used as both nouns and adjectives.

• For eg., 'tres cuartos de la cesta está llena' (3/4th of the basket is full).

Multiplicative Numbers

• This must be the easiest of all because it does not have an elaborate definition. It is used when you wish to express a number multiplied by another.

• For eg., 'Tengo el triple de chocolates que tú' (I have thrice as many chocolates as you).