500 - quinientos?

Question

http://www.spanishdict.com/flashcards/1671/numbers-los-nmeros

--- I noticed when I went through these flashcards to brush up on numbers that 500 was listed as quinientos. Why is the c dropped for it? Others are cuatrocientos and doscientos and that all makes sense. Any ideas? Or is it just a quirky thing?

Thanks!

Answer 1

I think it's purely for pronunciations sake and there are actually three exceptions - quinientos (500), setecientos (700), and novecientos.

Good spotting by the way :) - Kiwi-Girl, Sep 24, 2010

Answer 2

Quinientos hombres.

Quinientas mujeres.

Great Examples :) - FELIZ77, Sep 24, 2010

Answer 3

How do setecientos and novecientos differ in the same way? I was mainly referring to the fact that the c was dropped in quinientos. It's not dropped in ... cientos

doscientos

trescientos

cuatrocientos

seiscientos

setecientos

ochocientos

novecientos

But it is in quinientos.

sorry, I didn't mean to confuse you - yes 'quinientos' is the only one that drops the 'c' but as I mentioned this change from the original is for pronunciation reasons and as you continue learning you may notice that there are two other 'hundred' numbers - Kiwi-Girl, Sep 24, 2010

which break away from the standard 'number + cientos/as' system - also for pronunciation reasons. - Kiwi-Girl, Sep 24, 2010

Answer 4

HECHO_EN_MEX: Okay ... so those are two examples of 500 somethings, how does that help me with the question?

Answer 5

Any other thoughts?

Answer 6

Hey, welcome to the forum. I don't know why it is like that, but it is like that because it is like that for me.