主题
BeginnerNumbers & Counting
How cardinal and ordinal numbers work in Spanish, English and Chinese.
对比语言
English and Spanish number systems are similar but differ in teens formation. Chinese has a completely logical system with no irregular teens or tens. All three require classifiers or agreement when counting nouns.
Overview
Numbers seem universal, but each language has quirks in formation, counting, and agreement.
- Spanish: Numbers 1-15 are unique. 16+ follow a pattern but have contractions. Numbers agree with nouns they precede. Ordinals are adjectives that agree.
- English: Teens are mostly regular (thir-teen, four-teen). Irregular teens: eleven, twelve. Ordinals mostly add -th. No agreement.
- Chinese: The most logical system. 11 = 10+1, 20 = 2×10, 100 = 1×100. No irregular forms. Uses 两 instead of 二 before classifiers. 万 is a separate unit (10,000).
Spanish
Cardinal numbers 1-20
| Number | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | uno / un / una | Shortened before noun |
| 2 | dos | Invariable |
| 3 | tres | Invariable |
| 4 | cuatro | Invariable |
| 5 | cinco | Invariable |
| 6 | seis | Invariable |
| 7 | siete | Invariable |
| 8 | ocho | Invariable |
| 9 | nueve | Invariable |
| 10 | diez | Invariable |
| 11 | once | Irregular |
| 12 | doce | Irregular |
| 13 | trece | Irregular |
| 14 | catorce | Irregular |
| 15 | quince | Irregular |
| 16 | dieciséis | diez + y + seis |
| 17 | diecisiete | diez + y + siete |
| 18 | dieciocho | diez + y + ocho |
| 19 | diecinueve | diez + y + nueve |
| 20 | veinte | Irregular |
21-100
| Number | Spanish | Pattern |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | veintiuno / veintiún | veinte + y + uno (contracts) |
| 22 | veintidós | veinte + y + dos |
| 30 | treinta | -enta |
| 31 | treinta y uno | treinta + y + uno |
| 40 | cuarenta | -enta |
| 50 | cincuenta | -enta |
| 60 | sesenta | -enta |
| 70 | setenta | -enta |
| 80 | ochenta | -enta |
| 90 | noventa | -enta |
| 100 | cien / ciento | cien alone; ciento before nouns |
Agreement of uno
Uno shortens before masculine nouns and changes to una before feminine:
- un libro (a book)
- una mesa (a table)
- veintiún años (twenty-one years — contracted)
- veintiuna personas (twenty-one people)
Hundreds and thousands
- doscientos, trescientos… novecientos (agree in gender: doscientas mesas)
- mil (invariable: mil libros)
- dos mil, tres mil…
- un millón / dos millones (takes de: dos millones de personas)
Ordinal numbers
| Ordinal | Spanish | Agreement |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | primero / primer / primera | primer before masc noun |
| 2nd | segundo / segunda | agrees |
| 3rd | tercero / tercer / tercera | tercer before masc noun |
| 4th | cuarto / cuarta | agrees |
| 5th | quinto / quinta | agrees |
| 6th | sexto / sexta | agrees |
| 7th | séptimo / séptima | agrees |
| 8th | octavo / octava | agrees |
| 9th | noveno / novena | agrees |
| 10th | décimo / décima | agrees |
Note: Ordinals are adjectives and agree. They shorten before masculine singular nouns (primer día, tercer libro).
English
Cardinal numbers 1-20
| Number | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | one | |
| 2 | two | |
| 3 | three | |
| 4 | four | |
| 5 | five | |
| 6 | six | |
| 7 | seven | |
| 8 | eight | |
| 9 | nine | |
| 10 | ten | |
| 11 | eleven | Irregular |
| 12 | twelve | Irregular |
| 13 | thirteen | three + teen |
| 14 | fourteen | four + teen |
| 15 | fifteen | five + teen (irregular vowel) |
| 16 | sixteen | six + teen |
| 17 | seventeen | seven + teen |
| 18 | eighteen | eight + teen |
| 19 | nineteen | nine + teen |
| 20 | twenty | Irregular |
Tens 20-100
| Number | English | Pattern |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | twenty | irregular |
| 30 | thirty | three + ty |
| 40 | forty | four + ty (spelling change!) |
| 50 | fifty | five + ty (spelling change) |
| 60 | sixty | six + ty |
| 70 | seventy | seven + ty |
| 80 | eighty | eight + ty (spelling change) |
| 90 | ninety | nine + ty (spelling change) |
| 100 | one hundred / a hundred |
Note: No agreement in English. Two books, twenty-one tables.
Large numbers
| Number | English |
|---|---|
| 1,000 | one thousand |
| 10,000 | ten thousand |
| 100,000 | one hundred thousand |
| 1,000,000 | one million |
| 1,000,000,000 | one billion |
American vs British: Both use billion = 1,000,000,000 now.
Ordinals
| Ordinal | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | first | irregular |
| 2nd | second | irregular |
| 3rd | third | irregular |
| 4th | fourth | four + th |
| 5th | fifth | five + th (spelling change) |
| 6th | sixth | six + th |
| 7th | seventh | seven + th |
| 8th | eighth | eight + h (spelling change) |
| 9th | ninth | nine + th (spelling change) |
| 10th | tenth | ten + th |
| 11th | eleventh | eleven + th |
| 12th | twelfth | twelve + th (spelling change) |
| 20th | twentieth | twenty + eth |
| 21st | twenty-first | hyphen + ordinal |
Fractions and decimals
| Type | Example |
|---|---|
| Fractions | one half, one third, two fifths |
| Decimals | zero point five / point five (0.5) |
| Percentages | fifty percent (50%) |
Chinese
Cardinal numbers 1-10
| Number | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 一 | yī |
| 2 | 二 / 两 | èr / liǎng |
| 3 | 三 | sān |
| 4 | 四 | sì |
| 5 | 五 | wǔ |
| 6 | 六 | liù |
| 7 | 七 | qī |
| 8 | 八 | bā |
| 9 | 九 | jiǔ |
| 10 | 十 | shí |
Teens and tens (completely regular)
| Number | Chinese | Literal |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | 十一 | ten-one |
| 12 | 十二 | ten-two |
| 20 | 二十 | two-ten |
| 21 | 二十一 | two-ten-one |
| 35 | 三十五 | three-ten-five |
| 99 | 九十九 | nine-ten-nine |
Larger numbers
| Number | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 一百 | yì bǎi |
| 1,000 | 一千 | yì qiān |
| 10,000 | 一万 | yí wàn |
| 100,000 | 十万 | shí wàn |
| 1,000,000 | 一百万 | yì bǎi wàn |
| 100,000,000 | 一亿 | yì yì |
Important: Chinese uses 万 as a unit (10,000), so 20,000 is 两万 (2 × 10,000), not “twenty thousand.”
二 vs 两
| Context | Use |
|---|---|
| Counting 1, 2, 3… | 二 |
| Math, phone numbers, dates | 二 |
| Before classifiers (两个, 两本) | 两 |
| Before 百, 千, 万, 亿 (两百, 两千) | 两 |
| As an ordinal (第二) | 二 |
- 二加二等于四。(2 + 2 = 4)
- 两个人。(Two people.)
- 两百块钱。(Two hundred yuan.)
Ordinal numbers
Chinese ordinals use 第 before the number:
- 第一 (first)
- 第二 (second)
- 第三 (third)
- 第十 (tenth)
- 第二十一 (twenty-first)
Fractions and decimals
| Type | Chinese | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Half | 半 | 半个小时 (half an hour) |
| One third | 三分之一 | 1/3 |
| Two fifths | 五分之二 | 2/5 |
| Decimals | 零点五 | 0.5 |
| Percentage | 百分之五十 | 50% |
Comparison at a glance
| Feature | Spanish | English | Chinese |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teens (11-19) | Irregular (11-15), then regular | Irregular (11, 12), then regular | Completely regular (10+1) |
| Tens formation | -enta ending | -ty ending | number + 十 |
| Number agreement | Yes (uno shortens, ordinals agree) | No | No |
| Classifier needed | No | No | Yes |
| Separate 10,000 unit | No | No | Yes (万) |
| Ordinals | primero/segundo… | first/second… | 第 + number |
| 2 forms | No | No | Yes (二 vs 两) |
| Large number system | mil, millón | thousand, million | 万, 亿 |
Examples in context
Twenty-one books
- ES: veintiún libros
- EN: twenty-one books
- ZH: 二十一本书
First place
- ES: el primer lugar
- EN: first place
- ZH: 第一名
Two people
- ES: dos personas
- EN: two people
- ZH: 两个人
20,000
- ES: veinte mil
- EN: twenty thousand
- ZH: 两万
Common mistakes
-
English speakers learning Chinese: Using 二 before classifiers: 二个人 → 两个人
-
Chinese speakers learning Spanish: Not shortening uno: uno libro → un libro
-
English speakers learning Spanish: Forgetting agreement in ordinals: el primera vez → la primera vez
-
English speakers learning Chinese: Translating 20,000 as 二十千 → 两万
Related topics
- Classifiers: How counting requires measure words in Chinese
- Articles: How numbers interact with articles
- Word Order: How numbers fit into noun phrases
- Adjectives: How ordinals function as adjectives
例句
1-10 basic
uno, dos, tres... diez
11-19 (teens)
irregular (once, doce, trece...)
20, 30, 40...
veinte, treinta, cuarenta...
100
cien / ciento
1,000
mil
10,000
diez mil
Ordinal (1st)
primero / primer (before masc noun)
Counting nouns
number + noun (agrees in gender/number)
例句
1-10 basic
one, two, three... ten
11-19 (teens)
ten + number (eleven, twelve, thirteen...)
20, 30, 40...
twenty, thirty, forty...
100
one hundred / a hundred
1,000
one thousand
10,000
ten thousand
Ordinal (1st)
first
Counting nouns
number + plural noun
例句
1-10 basic
一, 二, 三... 十
11-19 (teens)
十 + number (十一, 十二...)
20, 30, 40...
二 + 十, 三 + 十, 四 + 十...
100
一百
1,000
一千
10,000
一万 (separate unit)
Ordinal (1st)
第一
Counting nouns
number + classifier + noun
快速对比
| 语法概念 | 西班牙语 | 英语 | 中文 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-10 basic | uno, dos, tres... diez | one, two, three... ten | 一, 二, 三... 十 |
| 11-19 (teens) | irregular (once, doce, trece...) | ten + number (eleven, twelve, thirteen...) | 十 + number (十一, 十二...) |
| 20, 30, 40... | veinte, treinta, cuarenta... | twenty, thirty, forty... | 二 + 十, 三 + 十, 四 + 十... |
| 100 | cien / ciento | one hundred / a hundred | 一百 |
| 1,000 | mil | one thousand | 一千 |
| 10,000 | diez mil | ten thousand | 一万 (separate unit) |
| Ordinal (1st) | primero / primer (before masc noun) | first | 第一 |
| Counting nouns | number + noun (agrees in gender/number) | number + plural noun | number + classifier + noun |
请至少选择一种语言以查看对比内容
并列对比
| 语法概念 | 西班牙语 | 英语 | 中文 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-10 basic | uno, dos, tres... diez | one, two, three... ten | 一, 二, 三... 十 |
| 11-19 (teens) | irregular (once, doce, trece...) | ten + number (eleven, twelve, thirteen...) | 十 + number (十一, 十二...) |
| 20, 30, 40... | veinte, treinta, cuarenta... | twenty, thirty, forty... | 二 + 十, 三 + 十, 四 + 十... |
| 100 | cien / ciento | one hundred / a hundred | 一百 |
| 1,000 | mil | one thousand | 一千 |
| 10,000 | diez mil | ten thousand | 一万 (separate unit) |
| Ordinal (1st) | primero / primer (before masc noun) | first | 第一 |
| Counting nouns | number + noun (agrees in gender/number) | number + plural noun | number + classifier + noun |
请至少选择一种语言以查看对比内容
语境例句
1-10 basic
西班牙语
uno, dos, tres... diez
英语
one, two, three... ten
中文
一, 二, 三... 十
11-19 (teens)
西班牙语
irregular (once, doce, trece...)
英语
ten + number (eleven, twelve, thirteen...)
中文
十 + number (十一, 十二...)
20, 30, 40...
西班牙语
veinte, treinta, cuarenta...
英语
twenty, thirty, forty...
中文
二 + 十, 三 + 十, 四 + 十...
100
西班牙语
cien / ciento
英语
one hundred / a hundred
中文
一百
1,000
西班牙语
mil
英语
one thousand
中文
一千
10,000
西班牙语
diez mil
英语
ten thousand
中文
一万 (separate unit)
Ordinal (1st)
西班牙语
primero / primer (before masc noun)
英语
first
中文
第一
Counting nouns
西班牙语
number + noun (agrees in gender/number)
英语
number + plural noun
中文
number + classifier + noun
请至少选择一种语言以查看对比内容
要点总结
Spanish: Numbers 1-15 are unique. 16+ follow a pattern but have contractions. Numbers agree with nouns they precede. Ordinals are adjectives that agr...
English: Teens are mostly regular (thir-teen, four-teen). Irregular teens: eleven, twelve. Ordinals mostly add -th. No agreement.
Chinese: The most logical system. 11 = 10+1, 20 = 2×10, 100 = 1×100. No irregular forms. Uses 两liǎng instead of 二èr before classifiers. 万wàn is a sep...
Key concepts compared: 1-10 basic, 11-19 (teens), 20, 30, 40....
最后更新: 2026年6月4日