What is a cardinal number?
A cardinal number is a number that denotes quantity or amount.
Below you will see the numbers 1-10:
| 1 | un / uno | ||
| 2 | dos | ||
| 3 | tres | ||
| 4 | cuatro | ||
| 5 | cinco | ||
| 6 | seis | ||
| 7 | siete | ||
| 8 | ocho | ||
| 9 | nueve | ||
| 10 | diez |
The number “one” switches from “uno” to “un” before a masculine noun.
| Spanish | English |
| un cuaderno | one notebook |
| un gato | one cat |
| un chico | one boy |
The number “one” switches from “uno” to “una” before a feminine noun.
| Spanish | English |
| una mesa | one table |
| una silla | one chair |
| una niña | one girl |
When counting in general (one, two, three …) use “uno” but when counting a specific object (one cat, one dog) use “un” or “una”
| Spanish | English |
| un cuaderno | one notebook |
| una mesa | one table |
| uno, dos, tres | one, two, three |
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