Numbers in Spanish (1–100)
Counting to ten in Spanish is uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve and diez. Here’s the good news: once your child owns 1 to 15, the rest of the way to 100 is patterns, not memorization.
Below you’ll find the chart with pronunciation, the handful of rules that carry you all the way to a hundred, and the way we practice counting at home, plus a free printable chart for your kitchen wall.
One to ten, with pronunciation
| Number | Spanish | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | uno | OO-no |
| 2 | dos | DOS |
| 3 | tres | TRES |
| 4 | cuatro | KWA-tro |
| 5 | cinco | SEEN-ko |
| 6 | seis | SAYS |
| 7 | siete | SYE-te |
| 8 | ocho | O-cho |
| 9 | nueve | NWE-ve |
| 10 | diez | DYES |
Start here and go no further at first. A child who can count to ten out loud, while touching ten real things, has the whole foundation. Everything above ten is built from these words.
Eleven to fifteen: their own words
These five don’t follow a pattern yet, so they’re worth learning on their own. After fifteen, the patterns kick in and the work gets easier:
| Number | Spanish | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | once | ON-se |
| 12 | doce | DO-se |
| 13 | trece | TRE-se |
| 14 | catorce | ka-TOR-se |
| 15 | quince | KEEN-se |
16 to 29: squish together
16 to 19 join dieci with the unit: dieciséis, diecisiete, dieciocho, diecinueve. Twenty is veinte, and 21 to 29 squish into one word: veintiuno, veintidós.
31 and up: join with y
From thirty-one onward you join the tens and units with y (and): treinta y uno, cuarenta y dos, noventa y nueve. Learn the pattern once and every number in between falls out of it.
The soft c and z
In Argentine Spanish the soft c and z sound like s: cinco is SEEN-ko, diez is DYES. The lisped th sound belongs to Spain, not Argentina.
The tens, all the way to cien
Learn these eight and, with the y rule above, you can build any number from 1 to 100:
treinta
30
cuarenta
40
cincuenta
50
sesenta
60
setenta
70
ochenta
80
noventa
90
cien
100
How we practice them at home: count real things
You don’t need flashcards for numbers. You need things your child can touch. Count the stairs on the way up, the crackers on the plate, the fingers at bath time. When the number is attached to something real, it sticks. And there’s one question worth learning early:
—¿Cuántos años tenés?
—¡Tengo cinco años!
(“How old are you? I’m five!”) A note for parents: tenés is the Argentine vos form of you have. And in Spanish you HAVE years rather than being them, so your child literally says I have five years. It’s the first number question that feels personal, which is exactly why it sticks.
- 1
Print the chart and put it where you can see it. Visibility beats discipline.
- 2
Count real objects out loud every day. Stairs, snacks, fingers. Repetition is the curriculum.
- 3
Own 1 to 15 before reaching for the patterns. The rest of 100 falls out of those first fifteen.
- 4
Ask the age question at every birthday. ¿Cuántos años tenés? makes the count feel like it matters.
Get the free printable chart
One beautiful page: 1 to 100 with pronunciation, the patterns that make it easy, and the age question. Print it, tape it up, and the numbers teach themselves.
Download the Chart (Free PDF)Questions parents ask
How do you count to 10 in Spanish?
uno (OO-no), dos (DOS), tres (TRES), cuatro (KWA-tro), cinco (SEEN-ko), seis (SAYS), siete (SYE-te), ocho (O-cho), nueve (NWE-ve), diez (DYES). These ten are the foundation. Once your child owns them, the rest of the way to 100 is mostly patterns.
How do numbers work from 16 to 99?
They run on patterns, not memorization. 11 to 15 are their own words (once, doce, trece, catorce, quince). 16 to 19 join dieci with the unit: dieciséis, diecisiete, dieciocho, diecinueve. Twenty is veinte, and 21 to 29 squish together: veintiuno, veintidós. From 31 up you join the tens and units with y: treinta y uno, cuarenta y dos, noventa y nueve.
How do you say 100 in Spanish?
One hundred is cien. For 101 and up you switch to ciento: ciento uno, ciento dos, and so on.
How do you ask a child's age in Spanish?
Ask ¿Cuántos años tenés? and the answer is ¡Tengo cinco años! (tenés is the Argentine vos form of you have). Note that in Spanish you HAVE years rather than being them, so the child literally says I have five years.
What's the best way to practice numbers with kids?
Count real things. The stairs on the way up, the crackers on the plate, the fingers at bath time. Counting objects your child can touch beats flashcards every time, because the number is attached to something real. Add the age question at birthdays and the count feels like it matters.
Where the numbers show up next
A chart teaches recognition; a story makes the words stick. Numbers come alive when your child hears them counted inside a tale, and a steady sequence at home turns scattered words into real Spanish. Here’s where to go next.