The collective numbers are nouns that represent a certain number of people or objects.<\/p>\n
– a pair of pants (un par de pantalones)<\/p>\n
– a trio of singers (un tr\u00edo de cantantes)<\/p>\n
– a dozen eggs (una docena de huevos)<\/p>\n
– a score of ni\u00f1os (una veintena de children)<\/p>\n
You should know that most of the Spanish collective numbers have no single-word English equivalent so there is no way to translate them, you need to learn them by heart:<\/p>\n
– Una decena de personas han venido (Ten people have come.)<\/p>\n
– Una treintena de alumnos (A group of 30 students)<\/p>\n
– Centenares de peces gigantes han muerto en las playas de Tokyo. (Hundreds of fishes have died on Tokyo beaches.)<\/p>\n
– M\u00e1s de un millar inmigrantes llegan cada a\u00f1o. (More than 1,000 people arrive each year).<\/p>\n
Rules:<\/p>\n
– When accompanying a noun they are followed by de<\/strong><\/p>\n Una docena de uvas para el d\u00eda 31 de diciembre (A dozen grapes for the December 31st <\/sup>)<\/p>\n Han suspendido un par de ni\u00f1os (A pair of children haven’t passed the exam)<\/p>\n – Collective numbers are usually singular:<\/p>\n Un millar de personas (A thousand people)<\/p>\n Un cuarteto de trompeta (A quartet of trumpets)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2 (La mitad)<\/p>\n – La empresa redujo a la mitad el precio (The company reduced to half the cost)<\/p>\n – La mitad de los ni\u00f1os son chicas. (half of the children are girls)<\/p>\n – Una mitad y otra mitad hacen uno (One half plus another half make one)<\/p>\n – Predicen la desaparici\u00f3n de un tercio de los linces en Espa\u00f1a (They predict the disappearance of a third of Lynxes in Spain )<\/p>\n 1\/3 (un tercio)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n – Un tercio de los ingleses van a Espa\u00f1a en verano (A third of English people go to Spain on summer)<\/p>\n For fourths up to tenths, you can use the masculine form of the ordinal numbers.<\/p>\n 1\/4 (Un cuarto)<\/p>\n – Un cuarto de los animals australianos est\u00e1 en peligro de extinci\u00f3n (A quarter of Australian animals are in danger of extinction)<\/p>\n – He bebido un cuarto de litro de cerveza (I have drunk a quarter litre of beer)<\/p>\n 1\/5 (Un quinto)<\/p>\n – El cambio requerir\u00e1 la obtenci\u00f3n de una mayor\u00eda de un quinto en la votaci\u00f3n final. (The change will require the obtaining of a majority of one fifth in the final vote)<\/p>\n 1\/6 (Un sexto)<\/p>\n – Dos sextos es igual a un tercio (Two-sixths is the same as one-third)<\/p>\n 1\/7 (Un s\u00e9ptimo)<\/p>\n – Dos s\u00e9ptimos m\u00e1s dos s\u00e9ptimos es igual a cuatro s\u00e9ptimos. Two-sevenths plus two-sevenths equals four-seventh)<\/p>\n 1\/8 (Un octavo)<\/p>\n Un kil\u00f3metro es practicamente igual a cinco octavos de una milla. (A kilometer is practically equal to five-eighths of a mile)<\/p>\n We could say when the number is high, we will use the suffix -avo which is the aproximately equivalent of the “-th” (or, sometimes, “-rd”) suffix in English. It can be used for “eleventh” and beyond.<\/p>\n But, you should know that this is not the only form to express it. Numbers from 10 to 19 can be expressed as: 11 (d\u00e9cimo primero), 15 (d\u00e9cimo quinto). Numbers from 20 to 29 can be expressed as: 21 (vig\u00e9simo primero), 28 (vig\u00e9simo octavo), etc.<\/p>\n – Mi amigo vive en el piso d\u00e9cimo tercero (My friendo lives in the 13th<\/sup> floor)<\/p>\n – Es el trig\u00e9simo aniversario de mis padres (It is the 30th<\/sup> anniversary of my parent’s wedding)<\/p>\n – Hoy es su vig\u00e9simo quinto cumplea\u00f1os (today is my 25th<\/sup> birthday)<\/p>\n <\/p>\nFractions in Spanish can be expressed in different ways depending on the formality of the speech and specially the size of the number. Some examples<\/h3>\n
– Los espa\u00d1oles pasan un tercio de su tiempo libre en internet (Spanish spend a third of their free time connected to internet)<\/h3>\n