Hundreds in Spanish
In Spanish, the word for hundred is cien when standing alone or at the end of a number, and ciento when used in combination with other numbers (e.g., ciento uno for 101). The hundreds from 200 to 900 use unique words: doscientos (200), trescientos (300), cuatrocientos (400), quinientos (500), seiscientos (600), setecientos (700), ochocientos (800), and novecientos (900). These words agree in gender and number when they modify feminine or plural nouns (e.g., doscientas casas).
Thousands in Spanish
The word for thousand is mil, which is invariable and does not change for plural. Unlike in English, Spanish does not use an "s" to mark the plural of thousands (e.g., dos mil means 2,000, not dos miles). For numbers over a thousand, Spanish combines mil with hundreds and other numbers directly (e.g., mil doscientos for 1,200, dos mil quinientos for 2,500).
Writing Large Numbers
When writing large numbers, Spanish uses a period as the thousands separator and a comma for the decimal point, opposite to English usage. For example, one thousand two hundred thirty-four and fifty-six hundredths is written as 1.234,56. It’s important to remember this difference to avoid misunderstandings in contexts like currency or data.
Combining Numbers
To combine hundreds and thousands in Spanish, you start with thousands, followed by hundreds and smaller numbers without connecting words. For example, 1,234 is mil doscientos treinta y cuatro, literally “thousand two hundred thirty and four.” The conjunction y (and) is used between tens and units (e.g., treinta y cuatro for 34) but not between hundreds and tens or thousands.
Practice Examples
Here are some examples illustrating hundreds and thousands in Spanish:
| Number | Spanish |
|---|---|
| 100 | cien |
| 101 | ciento uno |
| 200 | doscientos |
| 345 | trescientos cuarenta y cinco |
| 1,000 | mil |
| 1,234 | mil doscientos treinta y cuatro |
| 2,500 | dos mil quinientos |
| 10,000 | diez mil |
These examples will help you get familiar with expressing hundreds and thousands in Spanish numbers.
