Math - Counting in the Hundreds (Quiz 1)

As you may recall, cien is 100. It is used before nouns such as 'cien libros' which means 100 books (or a hundred books) or 'cien perros' which means 100 dogs. However, to say that there are hundreds of books or hundreds of dogs, cien becomes 'cientos' or 'cientos de libros' and 'cientos de perros' for hundreds of books and hundreds of dogs.

Now, I bet you thought that to say 101 you would say 'cien y uno' right? WRONG. When continuing to count after 100, cien becomes ciento and the 'y' is no longer used between the hundreds and the following numbers beginning with the number one. For example, 101 is 'ciento uno', 102 is 'ciento dos', 103 is 'ciento tres' and so on. However, the 'y' remains in the regular counting numbers from 116 through 199. In other words, 116 would be ciento diez y seis.

Now let’s move on to the number 200. Your first thought might be that it would be said as 'dos cien' right? WRONG. In order to say 200 you say 'doscientos'. It is one word. To say 204 you would say 'doscientos cuatro'. Notice that ciento becomes plural by adding the letter 's' at the end of the word starting with the number 200.

Okay, now let’s take a closer look at the hundreds.

THE LOWER HUNDREDS

Note that counting in the 200’s, 300’s and 400’s repeats the same pattern found in the 100’s. In other words, 215 would be doscientos quince, 333 in Spanish would be trescientos treinta y tres and 457 would be cuatrocientos cincuenta y siete. In other words, the only new vocabulary words that you really need to learn are ciento, doscientos, trescientos and cuatrocientos. The numbers one through ninety-nine are simply repeated after each hundreds. So, you see, learning to count in Spanish is actually quite easy one you get one through ninety-nine down.

Okay, now let’s head on down to the quiz questions. Each question contains a number that is shown either in Spanish or in English. You are to locate that number’s translated counterpart. Do you think you are ready? Then begin the quiz!