The difference between "cien y ciento" and how you say the year "19 whatever" in Spanish
Ok guys, this is probably trivial but it's one of those things that goes through my head at 3:00 in the morning... So here goes:
When I was learning how to count in Spanish, I was taught that 100 was "cien" but when I try to say 101 I'm not sure how to say that. Is it: uno cien y uno, o ciento uno, o un cien y uno? and do you say 200 as "dos cien" or "dos cientos"?
Next, when I say that my daughter was born in 1998, in English I say "nineteen ninety-eight" but in spanish I was taught to say one thousand nine hundred ninety eight. Do they ever say "diecinueve noventa y ocho"? Do you say 2009 as dos mil nueve or could you say veinte cero nueve or even just cero nueve?
2 Answers
When standing alone (that is, being 100 exactly) ciento is shortened to cien before preceding a noun of either gender; the longer form is used within longer numbers (except when preceding mil).
Examples: cien lápices (100 pencils), cien plumas (100 pens), ciento tres lápices (103 pencils), ciento tres plumas (103 pens), cien mil lápices (100,000 pencils), cien mil plumas (100,000 pens)
1999 - mil novecientos noventa y ocho
2008 - dos mil nueve
Hi mth, welcome to the forum
Ciento uno is the correct form. Doscientos , one word.
El año dos mil nueve, we do not say the year like in English, just as a normal number
