uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco
The English phrase one, two, three, four, five is translated into Spanish as uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco.
This phrase represents the first five cardinal numbers used for counting in Spanish.
Which one should you use?
Use uno when counting abstractly or as a standalone number, but use un or una when it precedes a noun.
How does it change in a sentence?
When counting objects, use uno or una based on the gender of the object. When counting objects of a masculine gender, uno changes to un before the noun. When counting objects of a feminine gender, uno changes to una before the noun.
Did you know?
- In many Spanish-speaking cultures, people use the fingers of their hand differently to count, often starting with the thumb for uno.
- In some dialects, counting uno, dos, tres is used as a colloquial way to tell someone to hurry up or leave quickly.
- The word uno is a linguistic cousin to the Russian word 'odin', both stemming from the same ancient Indo-European root for 'single'.
Examples in context
- Tengo tres libros.I have three books.
- Tengo cuatro sillas.I have four chairs.
- Tengo cinco ventanas.I have five windows.
Example conversation
Mateo and Sofía are practicing counting in a classroom.
- Mateo¿Sabes contar del uno al cinco?Do you know how to count from one to five?
- SofíaSí, uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco.Yes, one, two, three, four, five.
- Mateo¡Muy bien, Sofía!Very well, Sofía!
- SofíaGracias, Mateo.Thanks, Mateo.
