Numbers and Nouns

Question

Hola!

Ya sé que los números necesitan estar de acuerdo con el género de su sustantivo, pero ¿qué pasa cuando leo el numero en una frase antes de leer el sustantivo, y por eso no sé si el sustantivo es masculino o femenino?

Por ejemplo: Hay 200 personas aquí.

Cuando leo ésta frase desde un periódico a mi amigo en alta voz, al punto de leer "200" no sé si decir, "doscientos" o "doscientas".

¿Éste es importante en ésta situación, o no?

Gracias, Martyn.

Answer 1

There are possible situations like this. For example, you are reading outloud from a book, and 200 is the last word on one page and personas is the first word on the next.

I see at least 3 ways to handle that:

(1) Say the masculine version, then, if you are wrong, say the feminine. Example: "doscientos...uh...doscientas personas"

(2) Say the masculine version, then, if you are wrong, don't correct yourself at all (I'm assuming most spanish-speakers could forgive the occasional modifying of the feminine noun with a masculine adjective)

(3) Don't say the adjective until you come to the word it is modifying (that is, just remember the 200 on the previous page and don't say anything until you turn the page and see the word personas)

• I would go with option 3 as often as possible. - webdunce Sep 4, 2009
• Very practcal advice. - qfreed Sep 5, 2009
• This is exactly what I was looking for, and a much better example of how I might know the number, but not know the noun. Thanks very much. - Martyn Sep 5, 2009

Answer 2

Most of us don't read a sentence word by word like a six year old with his finger on each word trying to figure out how to pronounce it.
We would see the adjective and the noun together in this instance, but I see your point and it's interesting. I would suggest that is why adjectives are normally written very close to the noun that they modify. The same argument could be made for any language. How do you know how to pronounce the word "read" in this sentence. The boys read well. Is it present or past tense? You have to get it from context. Words don't stand alone in a sentence. That's what syntax is for.

• buena respuesta, quen, ahora lo mismo en español, anda...jeje - Heidita Sep 4, 2009
• Do you mean to suggest that you would start a sentence about "200 somethings" and not decide (until after saying 200) what "somethings you were talking about?! - samdie Sep 4, 2009
• and some would even say "old heads" like us don't even read anymore...we just scan for the important parts of a frase. There waa a study about that not too long ago... - ChamacoMalo Sep 4, 2009
• If I were saying my own sentence in normal conversation then yes I'd know what the 'something' was-I was thinking about reading aloud from a newspaper a sentence that I hadn't written, and hadn't read before, and therefore wouldn't know what the noun was. - Martyn Sep 5, 2009

Answer 3

Depende del género Martyn. Si se trata de "personas" (femenino), deberías decir: doscientas. Si se trata de "perros" (masculino), por ejemplo, deberías decir: doscientos

• Yes i know that part - what I'm asking is how do I know whether to say "...os" or "...as" if I have to decide *before* I become aware of the gender of the word to which the number relates. - Martyn Sep 4, 2009

Answer 4

Espero que podía recordar la frase que tenía en mi mente - vi una frase en "El País" donde el número estaba muy lejos del sustantivo.

Cuando los dos están cerca es fácil leer la apropiada palabra para ver el género necesario, pero a veces la palabra es difícil encontrar en los pocos de momentos que tengas mientras leyendo.

Gracias por su ayuda. Martyn.

Answer 5

Ya sé que los números necesitan estar de acuerdo con el género de su sustantivo,

...los numerales tienen que concordar en género con los sustantivos.

Cuando leo ésta frase desde un periódico a mi amigo en alta voz, al punto de leer "200" no sé si decir, "doscientos" o "doscientas".

¿Éste es importante en ésta situación, o no?

Sí, es importante. Como dice Ricardo, "persona" es femenino en cualquier caso.

Cuando los dos están cerca es fácil leer la apropiada palabra para ver el género necesario, pero a veces la palabra es difícil encontrar en los pocos de momentos que tengas mientras leyendo.

... leer la palabra apropiada... es difícil de reconocer... mientras lees.

• Thank you. I understand the importance in general, but that's what led to my question - in order to get the os/as right in the number, I first need to know the gender of the noun, so how do I handle it when I don't know. - Martyn Sep 5, 2009