Numbers, days and months in Spanish

Numbers, days and months are the quiet heroes of any language. They don't feel exciting, but you need them for almost everything: telling someone your age, giving your phone number, booking a table for Friday, asking the price of a coffee, or making plans for next month. Without them, even simple conversations get stuck.

The good news? They're very learnable, and as a Hindi speaker you have some surprising shortcuts. Spanish numbers follow a neat pattern, and the days of the week have a connection to Hindi that I still find delightful. In this post we'll go from zero to a million, then through the week and the year, and finish with how to say dates. There are flashcards and a quick quiz at the end. ¡Vamos!Let's go!Used to cheer someone on or get moving.

Spanish numbers 0 to 20

These are the building blocks. Learn them really well, because every bigger number is made from them.

Notice how 16 to 19 are built: dieciséissixteenTen and six, in one word. is really "ten and six" squeezed into one word. Diez y seisten and sixThe old way of writing it. became dieciséissixteenThe modern spelling.. Once you see that, 17, 18 and 19 are free.

Hindi numbers vs Spanish numbers: good news for you

Here's something to cheer you up. In Hindi, every number from 1 to 100 has its own word. इक्कीस, बाईस, तेईस, सत्तावन, अट्ठानवे... we learned all of them by heart as kids. If you managed that, Spanish numbers will be a holiday.

Spanish only needs unique words up to 15, plus the tens. After that, it's pure pattern. And many Spanish numbers are distant cousins of Hindi ones, because both languages come from the same ancient family:

• dostwoCousin of दो. and दो
• seissixDistant cousin of छह. and छह
• sietesevenCousin of सात. and सात
• ochoeightCousin of आठ. and आठ
• nuevenineCousin of नौ. and नौ
• dieztenCousin of दस. and दस

Say them side by side and you'll hear the family resemblance.

Spanish numbers 21 to 100

From 21 to 29, Spanish writes the number as one word, starting with veinti-twenty-The prefix for 21 to 29.:

• 21 veintiunotwenty-oneOne word., 22 veintidóstwenty-twoWith an accent., 23 veintitréstwenty-threeWith an accent., 24 veinticuatrotwenty-fourOne word., 25 veinticincotwenty-fiveOne word.
• 26 veintiséistwenty-sixWith an accent., 27 veintisietetwenty-sevenOne word., 28 veintiochotwenty-eightOne word., 29 veintinuevetwenty-nineOne word.

Then come the tens:

From 31 to 99, you join the ten and the unit with yandPronounced ee., written as separate words: treinta y unothirty-oneThree words., cuarenta y cincoforty-fiveThree words., noventa y nueveninety-nineThree words.. That's the whole pattern. Learn eight tens and you can count to 99.

Big numbers in Spanish: hundreds, thousands and millions

Exactly 100 is cienone hundredOn its own, or before a noun.. But from 101 on, it becomes cientoone hundredIn bigger numbers.: ciento unoone hundred and oneNo y after ciento., ciento cincuentaone hundred and fiftyNo y here either.. Notice there's no yandOnly between tens and units. after the hundreds. YandOnly between tens and units. only goes between the tens and the units.

The hundreds are mostly regular, with three you need to learn separately:

The hundreds also change for feminine nouns: doscientos eurostwo hundred eurosEuro is masculine. but doscientas personastwo hundred peoplePersona is feminine..

Thousands are easy: milone thousandNever un mil. is one thousand, dos miltwo thousandMil never changes. is two thousand. Never say "un mil", just milthousandOn its own.. A million is un millóna millionWith un., and two million is dos millonestwo millionPlural with -es..

Lakh, crore and the billion trap

Spanish, like English, has no word for lakh or crore, so you'll need to convert:

• 1 lakh = 100,000 = cien milone hundred thousandA lakh.
• 10 lakh = 1,000,000 = un millónone millionTen lakh.
• 1 crore = 10,000,000 = diez millonesten millionA crore.

And now the big trap. In Spanish, un billóna trillionA million millions! is not a billion. It's a million millions, what English calls a trillion. An English billion is mil millonesa billionA thousand millions., literally "a thousand millions". If you work in finance or read Spanish news, this one really matters.

One more thing about writing numbers. Spain traditionally writes a point for thousands and a comma for decimals: 1.000 means one thousand, and 3,5 means three and a half. It's the opposite of what we do in India, so double-check prices and figures.

How to use numbers in real life

Numbers become useful when you use them in sentences. Here are the situations you'll meet first.

Your age. Spanish uses tenerto haveAn irregular verb., not "to be": Tengo veinticinco años.I'm twenty-five.Literally I have 25 years. You literally "have" years. To ask: ¿Cuántos años tienes?How old are you?Literally how many years do you have?

One becomes un. Before a masculine noun, unooneOn its own. drops its last letter: un libroone book, a bookUno becomes un.. This also happens in bigger numbers: veintiún añostwenty-one yearsVeintiuno becomes veintiún.. Before a feminine noun, use unaoneFeminine.: una casaone house, a houseFeminine noun..

Prices. ¿Cuánto cuesta?How much does it cost?The shopping question. is how much does it cost, and the answer might be Cuesta tres euros.It costs three euros.Costar, to cost.

Telling the time. Spanish uses serTo be (permanent)For what something is: identity, origin, profession.: Es la una.It's one o'clock.Singular for one. for one o'clock, and Son las cinco.It's five o'clock.Plural for the other hours. for every other hour. To ask, say ¿Qué hora es?What time is it?The usual question.

Days of the week in Spanish

Here are the seven days. Notice that they're written with a small letter in Spanish, unless they start a sentence.

The Hindi connection: Spanish days and our planets

Now look at that third column again, and think of the Hindi days:

• सोमवार: सोम is the Moon. Spanish lunesMondayFrom Luna, the Moon. is also the Moon's day.
• मंगलवार: मंगल is Mars. Spanish martesTuesdayFrom Marte, Mars. is Mars's day.
• बुधवार: बुध is Mercury. Spanish miércolesWednesdayFrom Mercurio, Mercury. is Mercury's day.
• गुरुवार: गुरु, or बृहस्पति, is Jupiter. Spanish juevesThursdayFrom Júpiter, Jupiter. is Jupiter's day.
• शुक्रवार: शुक्र is Venus. Spanish viernesFridayFrom Venus. is Venus's day.

Monday to Friday match perfectly! The ancient Romans and the ancient Indians both named the days after the same heavenly bodies, in the same order. Only the weekend breaks the pattern: Hindi keeps शनि (Saturn) and रवि (the Sun), while Spanish switched to religious names, sábadoSaturdayFrom the Sabbath. and domingoSundayThe Lord's day..

How to use the days in sentences

A few small rules make a big difference:

• No "on". To say "on Monday", just use the article: el luneson MondayNo preposition needed.. Te veo el lunes.See you on Monday.El lunes, on Monday.
• Every week. For a regular habit, make it plural: los luneson MondaysEvery Monday.. Tengo clase los martes.I have class on Tuesdays.Los martes, every Tuesday. Days ending in -s don't change in the plural, while sábadosSaturdaysAdds an s. and domingosSundaysAdds an s. just add an s.
• The weekend is el fin de semanathe weekendLiterally the end of the week., literally "the end of the week".
• Asking the day. ¿Qué día es hoy?What day is it today?A useful question. and the answer: Hoy es viernes.Today is Friday.Ser for days.

And a few time words that go with the days: hoytodaySounds like oy., mañanatomorrowAlso morning., ayeryesterdayThe day before today., pasado mañanathe day after tomorrowLiterally past tomorrow. and anteayerthe day before yesterdayAnte means before.. Hindi uses परसों for both of those last two, so Spanish is actually more precise here.

Months of the year in Spanish

Like the days, the months are written with a small letter in Spanish.

Most of them look a lot like English, so they're quick to learn. Watch the pronunciation of junioJuneThroaty j: HOO-nyo. and julioJulyThroaty j: HOO-lyo.: the j is a throaty h, so "HOO-nyo" and "HOO-lyo". And you'll sometimes see setiembreSeptemberA less common spelling. without the p. Both spellings are accepted.

Here's a fun bit of history. SeptiembreSeptemberFrom Latin septem, seven. comes from the Latin for seven, octubreOctoberFrom octo, eight. from eight, noviembreNovemberFrom novem, nine. from nine and diciembreDecemberFrom decem, ten. from ten. The old Roman calendar started in March, so these really were months seven to ten. And those Latin numbers are cousins of Sanskrit सप्त, अष्ट, नव and दश. Our Indian languages are hiding inside the Spanish calendar!

The seasons are la primaveraspringFeminine., el veranosummerMasculine., el otoñoautumnWith ñ. and el inviernowinterMasculine..

How to say the date in Spanish

Spanish dates follow the same order as in India: day, then month, then year. So there's no confusion like with American dates.

• The pattern: eltheBefore the number. + number + deofLinks the parts. + month: el quince de agostothe fifteenth of AugustOur Independence Day..
• The full date: Hoy es lunes, dos de noviembre.Today is Monday, the second of November.Day, number, month.
• Birthdays: ¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños?When is your birthday?Cumpleaños is always plural in form. and the answer: Mi cumpleaños es el tres de mayo.My birthday is on the third of May.El plus number plus de plus month.
• The first of the month: in Spain, people usually say el uno de enerothe first of JanuaryCommon in Spain.. In Latin America, el primero de enerothe first of JanuaryCommon in Latin America. is common.

Spanish uses ordinary numbers for dates, not "first, second, third". So it's el dos de octubrethe second of OctoberGandhi Jayanti!, literally "the two of October".

Years are read as one big number: 2026 is dos mil veintiséistwo thousand twenty-sixRead as one number., and 1998 is mil novecientos noventa y ochonineteen ninety-eightOne thousand nine hundred ninety-eight.. Not "nineteen ninety-eight" like in English. To say "in 2026", use eninFor years and months.: en dos mil veintiséisin 2026En for years..

Flashcards: numbers, days and months

These are the ones that trip people up most. Say the meaning before you flip.

Quick quiz

Keep going

Numbers stick when you use them in daily life. Try this: every time you see a number this week, on a price tag, a bus, a clock or a phone screen, say it in Spanish in your head. And every morning, say the date out loud: Hoy es...Today is...Start your day in Spanish. It takes ten seconds and it works.

For more word lists that stick, see my 100 everyday Spanish words, and if you want a system to remember them, read about spaced repetition for Spanish vocabulary. Numbers, days and dates also come up a lot in the DELE A1 exam. When you're ready to use all of this in real conversations, join one of my live A1 batches on Google Meet. Small groups of up to 5, lots of speaking, and plenty of practice with exactly these everyday words. ¡Venga!Come on!A friendly push to get going.