miles
/miles/from spelling rules
The English phrase "thousands" is translated into Spanish as miles.
miles is used to express a large number of things or people, specifically in multiples of one thousand.
Which one should you use?
Use mil when referring to the specific number 1,000, but use miles when referring to an indefinite large number of thousands.
How does it change in a sentence?
miles is the plural form of mil, which is used for the specific number one thousand. When used to mean 'thousands of [something]', the word 'miles' must be followed by the preposition 'de'.
How do you pronounce it?
/miles/
Did you know?
- While miles means 'thousands', it is a homonym for the word miles meaning 'miles' as a unit of distance. Context is the only way to tell if a speaker is talking about a vast quantity of people or a long journey.
- Because mil does not change for gender, it is one of the few number-based words in Spanish that stays the same whether it modifies a masculine or feminine noun.
- The word mil is actually a loanword from the Latin mille. This root is the same one that gave English the prefix 'milli-' in words like 'millimeter' and 'millisecond'.
Examples in context
- Miles murieron en Japón.Thousands died in Japan.This sentence shows the use of miles to describe a large number of people who died.Tatoeba #3603598 by marcelostockle, translation #3608070 by panamicua
- Él sacudió miles de manos.He shook thousands of hands.This sentence demonstrates using miles to quantify hands being shaken.Tatoeba #1387836 by marcelostockle, translation #802987 by Source_VOA
- Miles perdieron su trabajo.Thousands of people lost their jobs.This sentence shows how miles can represent a large number of people in a workforce context.Tatoeba #5057122 by don_ramon, translation #807277 by Source_VOA
- La semana pasada, la tienda recibió miles de productos nuevos.Last week, the store received thousands of new products.
- El monumento atrae miles de turistas cada año.The monument attracts thousands of tourists every year.
- 57 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Lucía and Javier are talking about a music festival.
- LucíaHabía miles de personas en el concierto.There were thousands of people at the concert.
- Javier¿De verdad había tanta gente?Were there really that many people?
- LucíaSí, miles de fans esperaban al artista.Yes, thousands of fans were waiting for the artist.
- Javier¡Qué increíble debe ser ese espectáculo!What an incredible show that must be!
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
