Numbers and counting in Catalan
56 words Catalan words on the topic “numbers and counting”: un — one, dos — two, tres — three, quatre — four.
56 words on the topic
- unoneMasculine: un cafè. For a woman or a feminine thing: una. Counting has no full uno in Catalan
- dostwoIt does not change by gender: dos cafès and dos cases alike
- tresthreeHence trimestre — three months — and triple
- quatrefourThe qu reads k, the u is silent: KWA-truh. Its neighbor què is the question word 'what'
- cincfiveThe final c devoices and sounds like k: sink
- sissixSixteen is setze, literally ten-six: numbers past ten are fused
- setsevenThe same word means 'thirst': tinc set — I'm thirsty, literally 'I have thirst'
- vuiteightNot Spanish ocho: the Catalan word is its own, buoyt. Eighteen is divuit
- nounineThe same word means 'new': un llibre nou. Only the context tells them apart — and the hint nearby
- deutenNineteen is dinou, literally ten-nine: the tens go first
- onzeelevenA fused ten-one: from ten up, Catalan builds its numbers with no conjunction
- dotzetwelveTen-two. Hence dotzenat — a dozen
- tretzethirteenTen-three, with the stress at the end: tre-TZE
- catorzefourteenTen-four, and nothing of quatre survives in it: the Catalan fusion made its own shape
- quinzefifteenTen-five. A les quinze is how timetables say three in the afternoon
- setzesixteenTen-six in one word — unlike Spanish dieciséis with its written accent
- dissetseventeenTen-seven: the first part is deu, the ten, not set, the seven
- divuiteighteenTen-eight. Valencian keeps its own huit inside: vint-i-huit for twenty-eight
- dinounineteenTen-nine. With this number the teenage years run out
- vinttwentyThe final -nt is heard faintly: "bin". Twenty-one is vint-i-un, with the linking -i- that 11–19 never take
- trentathirtyThe tens end in -anta: trenta, quaranta, cinquanta… learn the first and you can guess the rest
- quarantafortyA relative of quatre, four: kwa-RAN-tuh, stress on the a
- cinquantafiftyFrom cinc, five. Cinquanta-cinc — fifty-five
- seixantasixtyshuh-SHAN-tuh: the ix gives a sh, as the letter x should
- setantaseventyFrom set, seven. Stress on the a: suh-TAN-tuh
- vuitantaeightyFrom vuit, eight. Valencian says huitanta, with its own huit
- norantaninetyFrom nou, nine — the same nine as in 'nine' and 'new' at once
- centone hundredThe final t is heard: cent. Two hundred is dos-cents, and cents there takes an s
- milone thousandIt never changes: mil euros, dos mil euros. Miles is "thousands" as a crowd — thousands of people
- milióone millionStressed on the ó: mi-li-ON. The plural is milions
- zerozeroA voiced z — the very sound Spanish lacks. Zero graus — zero degrees
- el primerfirstFeminine la primera. El primer pis is the first floor, but in the elevator it is often planta baixa — the 'ground' one
- el segonsecondThe same word means 'a second': un segon is a second, el segon is the second one
- el tercerthirdFeminine la tercera. Ordinals agree like adjectives
- l'últimlastWith the apostrophe and the accent: ool-TEEM. L'últim autobús — the last bus: better not to miss it
- quant?how muchWithout the accent, unlike Spanish cuánto. Quant costa? — how much is it? — a phrase from the basics
- la parellacoupleBoth 'a pair of things' and 'a couple' — two people together: una parella jove — a young couple. For a pair of things there is also un parell de, spelled differently
- la peçapiece (unit)The unit of counting goods: dues peces — two pieces. The same word is a machine part and a play
- el per centpercentWritten as two words. El deu per cent — ten percent; on price tags you see the % sign
- cadaeveryAlways with a singular noun: cada dia — every day, cada dues hores — every two hours
- dos-centstwo hundredThe hundred is cent; beyond that everything is hyphenated: dos-cents, literally 'two-hundred'. The feminine bends the ending: dos-centes cases
- tres-centsthree hundredBuilt like dos-cents: number, hyphen, -cents. Feminine words count the same: tres-centes persones — three hundred people
- quatre-centsfour hundredHere it is honestly 'four-hundred': quatre-cents, no surprises. The hyphen is obligatory in writing
- cinc-centsfive hundredThe one break in the row: not cinqu-cents but cinc-cents — 'five' gave up its -qu-. Feminine: cinc-centes
- sis-centssix hundredFrom sis, six: sis-cents. As in every hundred, the hyphen holds the word together
- set-centsseven hundredFrom set, seven: set-cents. Read as one word, stress on -cents
- vuit-centseight hundredFrom vuit, eight: vuit-cents. Valencian builds it with its own huit: huit-cents
- nou-centsnine hundredFrom nou, nine: nou-cents. Years read the same way: nou-cents vint — nine hundred twenty
- quartfourthIt lives on its own too: un quart d'hora — a quarter of an hour. Feminine quarta: la quarta planta — the fourth floor
- cinquèfifthAfter third the ordinals change their face: cinquè, stress at the end — sin-KEH. Feminine cinquena
- sisèsixthA short word, stress at the end: si-ZEH. Feminine sisena
- setèseventhSuh-TEH. The row keeps going easily: cinquè, sisè, setè… — the stress always at the end
- vuitèeighthVue-TEH — like vuit, eight, with a new stress. Feminine vuitena
- novèninthFrom nou, nine: novè — no-VEH. Do not mix it up with nou, 'new': the stress divides them
- desètenthFrom deu, ten: desè — duh-ZEH. The tenth page is la desena pàgina: the feminine ends in -ena
- centèsimhundredthSen-TEH-seem — cent with a suffix. The model goes on: mil·lèsim, thousandth, with the mid-dot
How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
- Només en queda unOnly one is left
- Som dos, hi ha taula?There are two of us, is there a table?
- L'autobús passa cada tres minutsThe bus runs every three minutes
- Vivim al número quatreWe live at number four
- Ens veiem a les cinc a la plaçaLet's meet at five on the square
- Entre setmana em llevo a les sisOn weekdays I get up at six
What is worth knowing about these words
un — one. Masculine: un cafè. For a woman or a feminine thing: una. Counting has no full uno in Catalan
dos — two. It does not change by gender: dos cafès and dos cases alike
tres — three. Hence trimestre — three months — and triple
quatre — four. The qu reads k, the u is silent: KWA-truh. Its neighbor què is the question word 'what'
Test yourself
Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than recognizing a familiar word — and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “one” in Catalan?
Masculine: un cafè. For a woman or a feminine thing: una. Counting has no full uno in Catalan
- How do you say “six” in Catalan?
Sixteen is setze, literally ten-six: numbers past ten are fused
- How do you say “eleven” in Catalan?
A fused ten-one: from ten up, Catalan builds its numbers with no conjunction
- How do you say “sixteen” in Catalan?
Ten-six in one word — unlike Spanish dieciséis with its written accent
- How do you say “thirty” in Catalan?
The tens end in -anta: trenta, quaranta, cinquanta… learn the first and you can guess the rest
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
A price, the change, a house number, the time you agreed on, the floor. Numbers are the first thing you have to catch by ear — and the first thing people say fast.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- This holds not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “one” in Catalan?
«un». Masculine: un cafè. For a woman or a feminine thing: una. Counting has no full uno in Catalan. It is one of 56 words in the set “numbers and counting” — the rest are in the table above.
How many numbers do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 56 words on this page covers nearly every everyday case on the topic — but it is best taken a few at a time, not all at once.