Whatever your motivations for studying Spanish, learning numbers will be extremely beneficial to you.    If you are planning to travel abroad it will be useful for you to be able to give your passport number in Spanish, haggle prices with merchants, and provide addresses to taxi drivers.  You might even want to skip some rope with the neighborhood kids and if you can count their hops in Spanish, you will score major points on the coolness scale.  For most situations, knowing the numbers from one to one hundred will serve you well.  Here is a quick reference guide of Spanish numbers.  Notice that the numbers from 16 to 29 are spelled with one word, and after 30 they are two separate words.

1 uno 11 once 21 veintiuno
2 dos 12 doce 22 veintidós
3 tres 13 trece 30 treinta, treinta y uno
4 cuatro 14 catorce 40 cuarenta, cuarenta y uno
5 cinco 15 quince 50 cincuenta, cincuenta y uno
6 seis 16 dieciseís 60 sesenta, sesenta y uno
7 siete 17 diecisiete 70 setenta, setenta y uno
8 ocho 18 dieciocho 80 ochenta, ochenta y uno
9 nueve 19 diecinueve 90 noventa, noventa y uno
10 diez 20 veinte 100 cien

If you have an opportunity to practice your Spanish with a partner, you can practice a few real life situations and questions that will give you the opportunity to work on your familiarity with Spanish numbers.  One partner can ask a question and the other should give the correct number to answer the question.  Switch when you feel that you have mastered your half of the conversation.

¿Cuántos años tienes?- How old are you?

¿Cuál es tu número de pasaporte?- What is your passport number?

¿Cuál es tu número de teléfono?- What is your telephone number?

¿Cuánto cuesta una Coca Cola?- How much does a Coca Cola cost?

¿Qué es la dirreción de su hotel?- What is the address of your hotel?

When you learn your numbers well and your level of Spanish is high enough to converse with the locals in whatever country you visit, you will find that many Spanish speakers are not terribly concerned with accuracy when dealing with numbers.  Many American tourists are accustomed to being precise when answering any question that has to do with numbers.  If you travel to Central or South America and have a conversation about age with a new acquaintance, it is likely they will give you an estimate of their age.  If the topic of their age comes up again in conversation, you may hear a different answer than you did the first time.  Of course most people do know how old they are, they just aren’t too concerned with accurate numbers, thinking about what year they were born and what year we are in now.  In Western culture we sometimes lie about our age to be coy.  In many Spanish speaking cultures it is simply not that important.

You may find this lack of emphasis on numerical details in other questions that you ask.  For instance, if you ask a Spanish speaking bus driver about the price of gas in his home town, he may have absolutely no idea, even though he just filled up his tank.  Of course you will find many different personalities in any country you visit, and some people are more concerned with accuracy when it comes to numbers.  Cultural differences like this are fun to discover if you relax and enjoy the contrast between your home country and the place you are visiting.  Your biggest travel mistake would be to try to change the tendencies of the people you meet and explain to them why it is important to accurately answer questions.  Just chill out and enjoy your Spanish conversations, even if you are not able to get all the information that you would like to know.

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