Recursio
Lesson 74. Dates and big numbers
10 words in this lesson
Tap 🔊 and repeat out loud. These words come back in the dialogue and the exercises below.
el 3 de mayo; cien → mil; years
Hundreds
| 100 | cien |
| 101–199 | ciento uno, ciento veinte… |
| 200 | doscientos / doscientas |
| 300 | trescientos |
| 400 | cuatrocientos |
| 500 | quinientos |
| 600 | seiscientos |
| 700 | setecientos |
| 800 | ochocientos |
| 900 | novecientos |
Cien is exactly a hundred: cien euros. In numbers 101–199, use ciento: ciento uno, ciento veinte euros. Before mil, keep cien: cien mil.
Don’t add y between the hundred and the next part: ciento veinte. The familiar y between tens and units from 31 remains: ciento treinta y dos.
From 200 on, the hundreds agree in gender: doscientos libros, doscientas personas. Special forms: quinientos, setecientos, novecientos.
Thousands and a million
Mil doesn’t change: mil, dos mil, diez mil — no un before mil. With exact multiples of a million before a noun, add de: un millón de personas, dos millones de personas.
Years
Years are read as ordinary numbers: 2004 — dos mil cuatro, 1990 — mil novecientos noventa (not “nineteen ninety”). Nací en 2004.
Dates
el + number + de + month: Hoy es el 3 de mayo. Months are lowercase (see the list in lesson 24). For the first: el primero de mayo or el uno de mayo — both are used.
The question: ¿Qué fecha es hoy?
El siglo is “century”; it’s often written in Roman numerals: el siglo XXI (veintiuno).
¿Qué fecha es hoy? — What's the date today?
Hoy es el 3 de mayo. — Today is May 3rd.
Nací en 2004. — I was born in 2004.
En la fiesta hay doscientas personas. — There are two hundred people at the party.
Cuesta ciento veinte euros. — It costs a hundred and twenty euros.
Dialogue
Listen to each line and repeat it. Try to understand it before you look at the translation.
Nora Javier, ¿qué fecha es hoy? Javier, what's the date today?
Javier Hoy es el catorce de octubre. Today is October 14th.
Nora ¿Y cuándo vamos a Valencia? And when are we going to Valencia?
Javier Mira el calendario: el martes veintisiete. Look at the calendar: Tuesday the 27th.
Nora ¿Cuánto cuesta el tren? How much is the train?
Javier Unos sesenta euros. No es caro. About sixty euros. It's not expensive.
Nora Valencia es muy antigua, ¿verdad? Valencia is very old, isn't it?
Javier Sí, ¡tiene más de dos mil años! Yes, it's over two thousand years old!
Check yourself
Listen. What did you hear?
1. How do you ask “What's the date today?”
2. How do you say “Today is May 3rd”?
3. How do you say “two hundred people”?
4. Nora talks about herself. How does she say “I was born in 2004”?
Match each word with its translation
Build the question: “What's the date today?”
Build the sentence: “Today is the third of May”
What you can do now
- Ask the date: ¿Qué fecha es hoy?
- Say the date: Hoy es el 3 de mayo.
- Say a year: Nací en dos mil cuatro.
- Read big numbers: ciento veinte, doscientas, mil
Key phrases of the lesson:
¿Qué fecha es hoy?
Hoy es el 3 de mayo.
Nací en 2004.
Day 74 of 100. Next up: the following lesson.
Lesson 75. Module 15 review and test →The course is the first step. Next comes the Recursio app: short daily practice with spaced review.