A third, twice over, an order of magnitude: fractions and multiples
Spanish counts fractions and multiples its own way, and a word-for-word translation gives nonsense. For example: “Un tercio de la clase faltó, y eso es más de diez alumnos” — A third of the class was absent — and that is more than ten students. A rule from the Spanish course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Spanish counts fractions and multiples its own way, and a word-for-word translation gives nonsense.
Fractions. Half is la mitad, a third un tercio, a quarter un cuarto. De follows them: la mitad del pan, un tercio de los alumnos. Percentages always take the article: el diez por ciento.
One and a half. There is no single word for it: Spanish splits it in two. Una hora y media, un kilo y medio, dos kilos y medio. The whole comes first, the half after.
Multiples. 'Twice' and 'three times' are el doble and el triple: cuesta el doble. With a comparison add de: el doble de caro. From four upwards you count in veces: cuatro veces más. Before a number it is más de, not más que.
Table
| in English | in Spanish | the trap |
|---|---|---|
| a third of the class | un tercio de la clase | the obligatory de |
| an hour and a half | una hora y media | whole first |
| twice as expensive | el doble de caro | a noun, not an adverb |
| four times as much | cuatro veces más | from four up, in times |
| grew by a third | subió en un tercio | en, not a |
| round to ten | redondear a diez | a, not en |
| more than twenty | más de veinte | de before the number |
| more than the neighbour | más que el vecino | que before a person |
By example
- Un tercio de la clase faltó, y eso es más de diez alumnosA third of the class was absent — and that is more than ten students
- Nos costó el doble y tardamos una hora y media másIt cost us twice as much and took us an hour and a half longer
- El gasto bajó en un veinte por ciento y se redondeó a mil eurosThe spending fell by twenty percent and was rounded to a thousand euros
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
A third, twice over, an order of magnitude: how does it work in Spanish?
Spanish counts fractions and multiples its own way, and a word-for-word translation gives nonsense.
What does it look like in an example sentence Spanish?
“Un tercio de la clase faltó, y eso es más de diez alumnos” — A third of the class was absent — and that is more than ten students. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.