Learn the Spanish numbers: 20 to 29 – With speaking & listening drills – Episode 46

Learn the Spanish numbers: 20 to 29 – With speaking & listening drills

Podcast episode 46 – SEE ALL EPISODES

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

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Hi, welcome back to Speak Spanish with Maria Fernandez. I’m Maria Fernandez, a native Spanish teacher and language learner.

Today you’re going to master numbers 20 to 29.

See also: Maria’s step-by-step Spanish courses.

Today’s question comes from George, one of my Facebook followers. George wrote to me to ask: “I’ve been trying to learn numbers one to one hundred, but I keep forgetting them. Can you help me get those numbers into my head?”

The trick to mastering the Spanish numbers is to learn them in groups of ten. And then doing plenty of drills with each group, before you move on to the next one. Once you’ve mastered numbers 1 to 100, learning all other Spanish numbers will be much easier.

In today’s lesson, I bring you numbers 20 to 29.

Learn the Spanish numbers 20 to 29: hear & say

Let’s practice saying them. Repeat after me:

veinte :: twenty
veintiuno :: twenty-one
veintidós :: twenty-two
veintitrés :: twenty-three
veinticuatro :: twenty-four
veinticinco :: twenty-five
veintiséis :: twenty-six
veintisiete :: twenty-seven
veintiocho :: twenty-eight
veintinueve :: twenty-nine

Notice how those numbers are a combination of veinte (twenty) plus the units ‘uno, dos, tres, cuatro’, etc. Veintiuno, veintidós, veintitrés, veinticuatro, and so on.

Have a look at
Maria’s step-by-step Spanish courses

Let’s say them once more.

Learn the Spanish numbers 20 to 29: pronunciation tips

When you use Spanish numbers in conversation, you need to pronounce them as best as you can. Sadly, mispronounced numbers are impossible to understand. To help you say them right, here are 4fourtips:

Tip 1. Never drop the last in E in numbers: veinte, veintisiete, veintinueve.

Tip 2. Notice that the first ‘i’ in numbers veintiuno through to veintinueve is very short, almost non-existent: veintiuno, veinticuatro, veintiocho.

Tip 3. Make sure your second ‘i’ in numbers veintiuno through to veintinueve sounds like this: i – veintiuno, veintitrés, veintiocho, veintinueve.

And tip 4. Watch out for the final O in numbers: veintiuno, veinticuatro, veinticinco, veintiocho. Avoid saying the final O like in the English word: no. The Spanish O is: o.

Learn the Spanish numbers 20 to 29: listening drill

Now we’re going to do a listening drill. Can you tell me which number I’m saying?

veinticuatro :: twenty-four
veintiocho :: twenty-eight
veintiuno :: twenty-one
veintisiete :: twenty-seven
veinticinco :: twenty-five
veintinueve :: twenty-nine
veintidós :: twenty-two
veintiséis :: twenty-six
veinte :: twenty

Have a look at
Maria’s step-by-step Spanish courses

Learn the Spanish numbers 20 to 29: speaking drill

Let’s now do a speaking drill. Can you tell me these numbers in Spanish?

twenty-seven – veintisiete
twenty-three – veintitrés
twenty-five – veinticinco
twenty-nine – veintinueve
twenty-six – veintiséis
twenty – veinte
twenty-two – veintidós
twenty-eight – veintiocho
twenty-one – veintiuno
twenty-four – veinticuatro

Learn the Spanish numbers 20 to 29: let’s recap

To recap, let’s go through those ten numbers once again. Remember the pronunciation tips I gave you before. Repeat after me:

veinte
veintiuno
veintidós
veintitrés
veinticuatro
veinticinco
veintiséis
veintisiete
veintiocho
veintinueve

Have a look at
Maria’s step-by-step Spanish courses

Find out more about my Spanish courses.