Numbers in Catalan

In Brief

Catalan numbers from 1 to 100 are built from a small set of forms, but spelling matters: 21–29 use -i- (vint-i-un, vint-i-dos), while other tens join to the unit with one hyphen (trenta-un, quaranta-dos). Before a noun, un/una and dos/dues agree with its gender: un llibre, una taula; dos llibres, dues taules.

Overview

Cardinal numbers tell you how many: one ticket, two coffees, ninety people. In Catalan they are called nombres cardinals. You need them immediately for prices, addresses, ages, telephone numbers, dates, and times, so they are a central A1 topic. The basic sequence is regular enough to learn in groups rather than as one hundred separate words.

There are two differences that English-speaking learners should notice from the start. First, the words for one and two can change according to grammatical gender—the noun class conventionally described as masculine or feminine. English “two” never changes, but Catalan distinguishes dos and dues. Second, compound numbers are often written with hyphens, and only the twenties contain the linking word i (“and”).

This article focuses on cardinal numbers through 100 and introduces the first ordinal numbers, which express position in a sequence: first, second, third, and so on. The beginner rules come first; larger numbers, stylistic details, and useful conventions appear later under Beyond the Basics.

How It Works

The basic numbers: 0–19

The forms from 0 to 16 must mostly be learned individually. From 17 to 19, the beginning of the number already hints at deu (“ten”), but the words are written as single units.

Number	Catalan	Number	Catalan
0	zero	10	deu
1	un / una	11	onze
2	dos / dues	12	dotze
3	tres	13	tretze
4	quatre	14	catorze
5	cinc	15	quinze
6	sis	16	setze
7	set	17	disset
8	vuit	18	divuit
9	nou	19	dinou

Pay attention to pairs that can blur together when first heard: cinc and quinze, or set, setze, and disset. Learning them in short spoken phrases is more reliable than memorising spelling alone.

The tens through 100

Number	Catalan	Number	Catalan
20	vint	60	seixanta
30	trenta	70	setanta
40	quaranta	80	vuitanta
50	cinquanta	90	noranta
100	cent

Notice the spelling of quaranta: it begins with qua-, not cua-. Also keep seixanta (60) separate from setanta (70). Both are ordinary modern forms, not combinations that you should try to rebuild from smaller number words.

Building 21–29: vint-i-...

The twenties have a special pattern:

vint + i + unit

All three parts are joined by hyphens.

Number	Catalan	Number	Catalan
21	vint-i-un / vint-i-una	25	vint-i-cinc
22	vint-i-dos / vint-i-dues	26	vint-i-sis
23	vint-i-tres	27	vint-i-set
24	vint-i-quatre	28	vint-i-vuit
		29	vint-i-nou

Unlike English “twenty-one,” Catalan explicitly inserts i (“and”): vint-i-un. This happens only after vint. Do not carry the pattern over to 31 or 42.

Building 31–99

From 30 onward, join the tens word directly to the unit with a single hyphen:

tens + unit

• 31: trenta-un
• 34: trenta-quatre
• 42: quaranta-dos
• 58: cinquanta-vuit
• 67: seixanta-set
• 73: setanta-tres
• 86: vuitanta-sis
• 99: noranta-nou

There is no i in these forms. Compare vint-i-dos (22) with trenta-dos (32). Exact tens have no hyphen: trenta, quaranta, cinquanta.

A traditional memory aid for Catalan hyphens is the D-U-C rule: hyphens appear between desenes and unitats (tens and units), and between unitats and centenes (units and hundreds). Within the 1–100 range, the part you need is the first one. The special -i- of 21–29 still sits between the tens and units.

Gender agreement with one and two

A noun is a word for a person, thing, or idea, such as home (“man”), dona (“woman”), or casa (“house”). Catalan nouns belong to a grammatical gender. When a number ending in one or two comes before a noun, use the form that agrees with that noun:

Meaning	Masculine noun	Feminine noun
one	un home	una dona
two	dos gats	dues gates
twenty-one	vint-i-un llibres	vint-i-una pàgines
thirty-two	trenta-dos alumnes	trenta-dues alumnes

The gender belongs to the noun, not necessarily to the real-world person or object. For example, persona is grammatically feminine, so “two people” is dues persones, even if the group includes men.

The agreement also survives inside compound numbers. It is not enough to change only standalone un or dos: say quaranta-una cadires and seixanta-dues entrades. Other unit words through 100 do not change for gender.

U versus un/una

When the number 1 directly counts a noun, use un or una: un euro, una hora. When 1 is treated as the name of a digit or as a number in its own right, Catalan often uses u:

• el número u — number one
• l'u de maig — the first of May
• u més u fan dos — one plus one equals two

This distinction has no exact equivalent in everyday English. At A1, the most useful habit is simple: use un/una before a counted noun, but learn fixed number-label expressions such as el número u separately.

Basic ordinal numbers

Cardinal numbers answer “how many?” Ordinal numbers answer “which position?” An ordinal is a ranking word such as “first” or “third.” In Catalan, ordinals behave like adjectives—describing words—and agree in gender and number with the noun.

Position	Masculine singular	Feminine singular	English
1st	primer	primera	first
2nd	segon	segona	second
3rd	tercer	tercera	third
4th	quart	quarta	fourth
5th	cinquè	cinquena	fifth
6th	sisè	sisena	sixth
7th	setè	setena	seventh
8th	vuitè	vuitena	eighth
9th	novè	novena	ninth
10th	desè	desena	tenth

The plural adds the appropriate plural ending: els primers dies (“the first days”), les segones oportunitats (“the second chances”). For now, master primer, segon, and tercer in common phrases; a fuller ordinal system belongs with the related A2 topic.

Examples in Context

Catalan	English	Note
Tinc un germà i una germana.	I have one brother and one sister.	Un/una agrees with the noun.
Hi ha dos gats i dues gates.	There are two male cats and two female cats.	Dos/dues marks gender.
Necessitem vint-i-tres cadires.	We need twenty-three chairs.	The twenties use -i-.
El llibre té trenta-dues pàgines.	The book has thirty-two pages.	Feminine dues remains in the compound.
Aquest jersei costa quaranta-cinc euros.	This jumper costs forty-five euros.	No i after 40.
A la sala hi caben seixanta persones.	Sixty people fit in the room.	An exact ten has no hyphen.
La meva àvia té vuitanta-un anys.	My grandmother is eighty-one years old.	Anys is masculine, so use un.
Som noranta-dues participants.	We are ninety-two participants.	Participants can refer to women; the feminine form is used here.
Cent menys deu són noranta.	One hundred minus ten is ninety.	Cent means 100.
Visc al número vint-i-set.	I live at number twenty-seven.	An address uses a cardinal number.
Avui és l'u de setembre.	Today is the first of September.	A conventional date expression with u.
És la una.	It is one o'clock.	Hora is understood and feminine.
És el primer dia del curs.	It is the first day of the course.	Masculine ordinal agreement.
La Marta ha arribat segona.	Marta arrived second.	The ordinal agrees with Marta.
Vivim al tercer pis.	We live on the third floor.	A common ordinal phrase.

Common Mistakes

Adding i to every compound number

• Wrong: trenta-i-quatre
• Right: trenta-quatre
• Why: Only 21–29 use vint-i-.... Other tens take one plain hyphen before the unit.

Omitting the hyphens in the twenties

• Wrong: vint i tres
• Right: vint-i-tres
• Why: In a written number, vint, i, and the unit form one hyphenated expression.

Using dos with every noun

• Wrong: dos cases
• Right: dues cases
• Why: Casa is feminine, so “two houses” requires feminine dues. English gives you no agreement cue here, so learn the number together with the noun.

Forgetting agreement inside a larger number

• Wrong: vint-i-un persones
• Right: vint-i-una persones
• Why: A compound ending in one or two still agrees with the following noun: vint-i-una and vint-i-dues with feminine nouns.

Confusing cardinals and ordinals

• Wrong: el tres pis for “the third floor”
• Right: el tercer pis
• Why: Tres tells you a quantity. Tercer tells you a position in an ordered series.

Treating 100 like English “one hundred” in every context

• Wrong: un cent persones
• Right: cent persones
• Why: Exact 100 is normally simply cent. Catalan does not need the equivalent of English “one” before it.

Usage Notes

In everyday writing, digits are common for prices, measurements, addresses, and larger quantities. Knowing the words still matters because people say them aloud, and short numbers are often written out in ordinary prose. A price may appear as 23 €, but you need to recognise vint-i-tres euros when a cashier says it.

For telephone numbers, room numbers, bus routes, and codes, speakers may group the digits in different convenient ways. Listen to the grouping rather than assuming every digit will be read separately. The digit 0 is zero, and a standalone 1 may be u. Addresses commonly use the cardinal: Visc al número trenta-set (“I live at number 37”).

Catalan normally uses a decimal comma in written figures: 2,5. It is read with coma: dos coma cinc. Percentages use per cent: 25%, vint-i-cinc per cent. These patterns are useful in prices, statistics, and measurements even though they go slightly beyond the core 1–100 lesson.

Pronunciation varies naturally across Catalan-speaking regions, and some ordinal spellings reflect the major standard varieties. For example, Valencian commonly has forms such as cinqué where Central Catalan has cinquè. Both belong to recognised standards. Beginners should follow the variety used by their course or local community and learn to recognise the other form later.

Beyond the Basics

You do not need to master this section at A1, but these patterns show how the system continues.

Above 100, hundreds are built with cent: cent un llibres (101 books), dos-cents (200), tres-cents (300). The hundreds forms can agree in gender: dos-cents llibres but dues-centes pàgines. This is the second half of the D-U-C spelling rule: a unit and cents/centes are linked by a hyphen. Exact 100 is cent, while cents appears in multiples such as dos-cents.

A thousand is mil, without un in front for exact 1,000: mil persones. One million is un milió, and the counted item is linked with de: un milió de persones. These larger-number constructions are best learned as separate chunks rather than guessed from English.

Ordinals continue beyond desè, but everyday Catalan sometimes chooses a cardinal where formal English might prefer an ordinal, especially in labels, monarchs, chapters, or dates depending on the convention. The exact choice is tied to the type of expression. Learn common phrases as you meet them rather than replacing every English “-th” mechanically.

Ordinal abbreviations also show gender instead of using English -st, -nd, -rd, -th. Common singular forms include 1r (primer), 1a (primera), 2n (segon), 2a (segona), 3r (tercer), 3a (tercera), 4t (quart), and 4a (quarta). Accented forms such as cinquè are commonly abbreviated 5è in the masculine. Recognition is more important than producing every abbreviation at beginner level.

Finally, number agreement can reveal meaning. Dos estudiants may describe two male students or a mixed group under the traditional generic masculine pattern, while dues estudiants identifies a female group. The noun estudiant itself has the same written singular form for a man or a woman, so the number can carry the visible gender marking.

Practice Tips

1. Build a spoken number ladder. Say 1–20, then the exact tens. Next choose one unit—such as 2—and run through vint-i-dos, trenta-dos, quaranta-dos. Repeat with a feminine noun so that dues becomes automatic.
2. Turn numbers around you into Catalan. Read prices, house numbers, ages, page numbers, and percentages aloud. Check both the spelling and whether a following noun requires un/una or dos/dues.
3. Practise contrasts, not isolated lists. Make pairs such as vint-i-tres / trenta-tres, dos llibres / dues revistes, and tres / tercer. The contrast targets the exact places where an English-speaking learner is most likely to hesitate.

Related Concepts

• Next step: Time and Dates — use numbers to tell the time, give dates, and talk about the calendar.
• Next step: Ordinals and Quantity Expressions — extend primer, segon, and tercer and learn words for amounts such as “many,” “few,” and “enough.”