A third, twice over, an order of magnitude: fractions and multiples
Spanish counts in fractions and in times differently from English, and in three spots a word-for-word rendering produces 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 in fractions and in times differently from English, and in three spots a word-for-word rendering produces nonsense.
Fractions. A half — la mitad, a third — un tercio, a quarter — un cuarto, further the ordinals: un quinto, un sexto. After la mitad and the fractions goes de: la mitad del pan, un tercio de los alumnos. Percentages always take the article: el diez por ciento, and the verb with them is more often plural: El treinta por ciento de los vecinos han votado.
One and a half. There is no single numeral. Spanish splits it into two words, and the half agrees with the noun: una hora y media, un kilo y medio, año y medio, dos kilos y medio. The order is the same as English 'an hour and a half': whole first, half second.
Multiples. 'Twice' and 'three times' are nouns, el doble and el triple: Cuesta el doble, Tarda el triple. With a comparison de is added: el doble de caro, el triple de gente. From four upward one speaks in times: cuatro veces más. The reverse direction also in times: tres veces menos.
Change of size. 'By a third', 'by ten percent' — with the preposition en: subió en un diez por ciento, bajó en un tercio — the same 'by' as in English 'rose by ten percent'. But 'to' — with a: redondear a diez euros, llegar a los cien. Mixing up en and a here means speaking about a different number.
And the last thing worth memorizing outright: más de before a number, not más que. Más de veinte personas — more than twenty people; más que Juan — more than Juan. The first compares with an amount, the second with someone.
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 in fractions and in times differently from English, and in three spots a word-for-word rendering produces 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.