The evolutionary development of natural language has led to the fact that the figurative expressions “few” and “many” have been replaced by quite specific meanings of a particular thing. Each language includes an important part of speech - numerals. Spanish numerals belong to one of two large groups: quantitative or ordinal. There is also a division into integer and fractional numerals, as well as doubling numbers, triples, and so on.
Cardinal numbers
These numbers indicate the number of something or someone, for example, seven gnomes, three musketeers, one king, and so on. Quantitative Spanish numerals from zero to ten are listed below:
- cero - zero;
- uno, una - one;
- dos - two;
- tres - three;
- cuatro - four;
- cinco - five;
- seis - six;
- siete - seven;
- ocho - eight;
- nueve - nine;
- diez - ten.
The remaining numerals are formed by adding the corresponding tens to the above values. For example, dieciséis - 16, veintiocho - 28, sesenta y tres - 63. Hundreds are formed as follows: ciento - 100, doscientos - 200, novecientos - 900, the exception is only 500 - quinientos.
Note the singular: one is uno, one is una. When after this numeral is a masculine noun, it is truncated to the indefinite article un. For example: Hay un cuchillo y una tasa de te sobre la mesa - There is one knife on the table and one cup of tea.
Also, a quantitative numeral is inclined by birth, for example, seiscientos muchachos y quinientas muchachas - six hundred boys and five hundred girls.
Ordinal numerals - derivatives of quantitative
Ordinary Spanish numerals are used to indicate numbers in order, for example, the first person on earth, the sixth world chess champion and so on. The rules for the formation of these numerals are subject to strict standards, but there are some exceptions. Here are the main ordinal numbers in Spanish :
- primero, primo - the first;
- segundo - the second;
- tercero, tercio - the third;
- cuarto - the fourth;
- quinto - the fifth;
- sexto - the sixth;
- séptimo - the seventh;
- octavo - the eighth;
- noveno, nono - ninth;
- décimo is the tenth.
Ordinary numerals of a higher order are practically not used in the Spanish language, because instead of them quantitative numerals are used. In the Russian language, something similar happens, for example, two thousand and five students - two thousand and five students.
As well as quantitative, ordinal Spanish numerals are inclined by gender and number, for the masculine gender the endings o and os are used, and for the female a and as. For example, en marzo empiezan florecer primeras flores - in March the first flowers bloom, Gabriel llegó segundo - Gabriel arrived second.
In sentences in which ordinal numbers stand before nouns, a definite article is put before these numerals. For example, Martín es el décimo alumno de esta escuela aldeana - Martin is the tenth student in this village school.
The use of ordinal numbers in Spanish
Unlike quantitative, which indicate the number of objects, ordinal numbers in Spanish are used to indicate numbers in order. We give the following examples:
- Primer cosmonauta de historia humana es Yuriy Gagarin - Yuri Gagarin is the first astronaut in the history of mankind.
- Perro es el primer animal que fue domesticado - The dog became the first domesticated animal.
- Séptimo día de cualquier semana es domingo - Sunday is the seventh day of every week.
- Décima legión es la legión romana mas famosa - the tenth Roman legion is the most famous.
The difference between Russian and Spanish
Unlike Russian, which uses ordinal numbers to indicate a specific date, in Spanish only the first day of the month is represented as an ordinal number. Any other day of the month is designated as a quantitative numeral, before which a definite article is put. For instance:
- Otoño empieza el primero de septiembre - autumn begins on the first of September.
- Día internacional de la mujer es el ocho de marzo is the international women's day on the eighth of March.
- El veintitrés de febrero celebran el Día del Defensor de la Patria - February 23rd celebrates Defender of the Fatherland Day.
It should be remembered that ordinal numbers are not used with dates in Spanish, instead of them numerals are always used. Thus, the Spanish phrase "en el año mil novecientos ochenta y nueve" will be translated as "in the nineteen eighty-ninth year."
When specifying time intervals, quantitative numbers are also used, preceded by a certain feminine article, and the word "hour" is omitted, for example, son las cuatro y medio de la tarde - now it is half past four in the evening.
Thus, if the ordinal number of any items exceeds 10, then in the vast majority of cases, quantitative numbers are used with a certain article. The article indicates that this quantitative numeral carries the meaning of ordinal.
Article and ordinal numbers
With quantitative Spanish numerals, the definite article is used to give them specificity. It is also used when indicating the age of someone or something. With ordinal numbers, the article is not used when it comes to kings, kings, counts and so on, for example:
- Pedro Primero fue gran Emperador de Rusia - Peter the Great was the great emperor of Russia.
- Napoleón Primero Bonaparte fue un militar y gobernante francés, general republicano durante la Revolución - Napoleon First Bonaparte was a French military leader and republican general during the revolution.
- Catalina Segunda de Rusia fue emperatriz de Rusia durante 34 años - Catherine the Second was the Russian Empress for 34 years.
- Inocencio Décimo fue el papa No. 236 de la Iglesia católica entre 1644 y 1655 - Inocentius the Tenth was the 236th pope of the Catholic Church between 1644 and 1655.
- Luis Catorce de Francia fue rey de Francia y de Navarra desde 1643 hasta su muerte - Louis The Fourteenth reigned in France and Navarre from 1643 until the day of his death.