What’s in store for you today: Counting to 99

Listen to Track 1.4.1

Juan: Necesito un lápiz ¿Tienes un lápiz?  (I need a pencil. Do you have a pencil?)

María: No, lo siento. Tengo un bolígrafo. (No, I’m sorry. I have a pen.)

Juan: También necesito papel y una goma. (I need paper and an eraser, too.)

María: ¿Algo más? (Anything else?)

Juan: No. Gracias. (No. Thank you.)

Los números 20–99

Yesterday, we looked at how to count to 20. Some would say that those numbers are the hardest. Moving forward, it’s really not that bad! Let’s take a look.

Listen to Track 1.4.2

• Veintiuno – Twenty-one
• Veintidós – Twenty-two
• Veintitrés – Twenty-three
• Veinticuatro – Twenty-four
• Veinticinco – Twenty-five
• Veintiséis – Twenty-six
• Veintisiete – Twenty-seven
• Veintiocho – Twenty-eight
• Veintinueve – Twenty-nine
• Treinta – Thirty
• Treinta y cinco – Thirty-five
• Cuarenta – Forty
• Cuarenta y cinco – Forty-five
• Cincuenta – Fifty
• Cincuenta y cinco – Fifty-five
• Sesenta – Sixty
• Sesenta y cinco – Sixty-five
• Setenta – Seventy
• Setenta y cinco – Seventy-five
• Ochenta – Eighty
• Ochenta y cinco – Eighty-five
• Noventa – Ninety
• Noventa y cinco – Ninety-five

For the numbers past 20, you’re basically going to say “thirty and one” (treinta y uno) or “forty and six” (cuarenta y seis).

The only ones that are a little different are the 20s, which will mush together to make one word. The challenge with these is more in the spelling than anything.

Vocabulary: Useful Words

Listen to Track 1.4.4

María está hablando de lo que necesita en su trabajo. (María is talking about what she needs in her job.)

En mi trabajo, necesito un lápiz, un bolígrafo, papel y un portátil. No necesito un libro. Pero necesito un escritorio y una silla. (In my job, I need a pencil, a pen, paper, and a laptop. I don’t need a book. But I need a desk and a chair.)

Let’s take some time to look at some new vocabulary. Specifically, let’s look at some vocabulary you’ll probably use every day (you can even use a lot of these words right now, I bet!).

As you listen to the words, focus on the pronunciation and where the stress falls in the words.

La Oficina – The Office

Listen to Track 1.4.5

• Lápiz – Pencil
• Bolígrafo – Pen
• Papel – Paper
• Goma (de borrar)* – Eraser
• Escritorio – Desk
• Computadora – Computer
• Portátil – Laptop
• Libro – Book
• Silla – Chair
• Trabajo – Work/Job

* Literally translated, “Goma de borrar” means “rubber of erasing.” You can call an eraser a “goma de borrar,” a “goma,” or a “borrador.”

Verbos – Verbs

Listen to Track 1.4.6

• Estudiar – To study
• Trabajar – To work
• Comer – To eat
• Comprar – To buy
• Leer – To read

Necesito…

Listen to Track 1.4.8

All of the words we just looked at can be used with the verb necesitar (to need).

• Necesito un lápiz. – I need a pencil.
• Necesito papel. – I need paper.
• Necesito estudiar. – I need to study.

Like in English, verbs in Spanish change depending on what subject they are associated with (I need; he needs…). This is called “conjugating.”

We will look at conjugating more in detail later on. For now, let’s focus on using the verb necesitar in the first person singular:

• Yo necesito (I need)

If we want to say “I need two…” we simply make the nouns we just learned plural. Making nouns plural in Spanish is very easy.

Rules to Remember

To make a noun plural, simply:

• Add an –s to words ending in vowels.
  • Libro-Libros (book–books)
• Add -es to words ending in consonants.
  • Papel-Papeles (paper–papers)
• If a word ends in -z, change the -z to a -c before adding the -es.
  • Lápiz- Lápices (pencil–pencils)