We learned cardinal numbers upto 99 in lesson 16 on CultureAlley. A recap of the lesson is embedded at the end of this post. Through a series of 3 posts, we will learn how to form large numbers in Spanish. Starting with 100 going upto thousands.

Today we will learn how to form numbers between 100 and 200

Numbers 100 to 200 in Spanish

100 = Ciento
Note: When used to indicate exactly 100 of something, ‘ciento’ gets shortened to ‘cien’.
Example: 100 bottles  = Cien botellas

But when we use 100 to form larger numbers, we use ‘ciento’. Let us look at some examples

101 = ciento uno ( 100 (ciento) + 1 (uno) )

111 = ciento once ( 100 (ciento) + 11 (once) )

120 = ciento veinte ( 100 (ciento) + 20 (veinte) )

127 = ciento veintisiete ( 100 (ciento) + 27 (veintisiete) )

131 = ciento treinta y uno ( 100 (ciento) + 30 (treinta) + y + 1 (uno) )

156 = ciento cincuenta y seis ( 100 (ciento) + 50 (cincuenta) + y + 6 (seis) )

199 = ciento noventa y nueve ( 100 (ciento) + 90 (noventa) + y + 9 (nueve) )

Did you notice a pattern?

1. ‘y’ is not used to separate numbers from  from 101 till 130  (eg: 119 = ciento diecinueve not ciento y diecinueve)
2. For all numbers starting from 131, we use ‘y’ to separate the digit at the ones place (eg: 132 = ciento treinta y dos). Note that in this case as well, ‘y’ is not used before ‘treinta’ or the tens place

So the pattern is:

From 101 till 130: ciento + tens digit + ones digit
From 131 till 199: ciento + tens digit + y + ones digit

In the next post, we will learn how to form numbers between 200-999. Stay tuned!