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Let’s continue learning Spanish numbers! After this episode, you’ll know how to count to seven in Spanish. We’ll also get some good listening comprehension practice so that you can identify Spanish numbers when you hear them.
Cuatro, cinco, seis…
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Today we’re going to learn a few new numbers and practice both using them and understanding them when we hear them in context.
But first, we’re actually going to look at a very interesting pronoun that we haven’t talked about yet. So first, check out this sentence:
They talked with each other.
Se hablaron.
So we already know how to use reflexive pronouns to refer to people doing something with each other. Here’s another example:
They saw each other.
Se vieron.
Now, you can use these reflexive pronouns in any case that what people are doing with each other would normally take either a direct object or an indirect object. In all such cases, of course, the pronoun goes right before the verb.
But what if what they’re doing with each other would normally take a prepositional pronoun instead? For example, let’s start with this sentence:
They believe in their friends.
Creen en sus amigos.
If we change “their friends” to a pronoun, we know we have to use a prepositional pronoun. Here are a couple of examples:
They believe in me.
Creen en mí.
They believe in them.
Creen en ellos.
But what if the people they believe in are themselves? Check this out:
They believe in themselves.
Creen en sí.
So here we’re using the word sí, which has an accent mark; it’s spelled and pronounced exactly like the word for “yes” or “indeed”. But it also has this entirely different meaning: It’s “themselves”, or “himself”, or “herself”, but as a prepositional pronoun.
Here’s another example:
They talked among themselves.
Hablaron entre sí.
Now, in most cases, when someone does something to themself, and you use a prepositional pronoun, it will just be a normal prepositional pronoun. For example:
You have to believe in yourself.
Tienes que creer en ti.
But you’ll use sí specifically when the word would be él, ella, ellos, or ellas. It’s kind of like the word se, but specifically after a preposition.
Now, very often, you’ll see some version of the word mismo after this. So for example, let’s start with this sentence:
You have to believe in yourself.
Tienes que creer en ti mismo.
So in that case, we’re using ti as a reflexive prepositional pronoun, and then we’re using mismo to emphasize “yourself”. We talked about how to do this back in Episode 68. Now check out this sentence:
They(f) believe in themselves.
Ellas creen en sí mismas.
Let’s get some practice with sí as a prepositional pronoun. In this first example, translate “by himself” as por sí mismo.
He has to do it by himself.
Tiene que hacerlo por sí mismo.
They have to talk among themselves.
Tienen que hablar entre sí.
She is looking at herself.
Se está mirando a sí misma.
They have to talk among each other by phone.
Tienen que hablar entre sí por teléfono.
I used to live there and they used to make those things for themselves.
Yo vivía ahí y ellos hacían esas cosas para sí mismos.
Let’s also learn an idiom related to this: The phrase seguro de sí mismo means “sure of himself”, and it’s an idiom that means “confident”. Something that’s interesting about this is normally we use the verb Estar with seguro; for example, “I’m sure” is estoy seguro. But the idea of being confident (or self-assured) is actually typically considered a personal trait, a part of who you are as a person, so you’ll use Ser. For example:
She is very sure of herself.
Ella es muy segura de sí misma.
Now, once again, you’ll use sí specifically when you’re using the third person, either singular or plural. But if you’re talking about yourself, you’ll use mí (as in seguro de mí mismo), and if you’re using the informal second person, you’ll use ti (as in segura de ti misma). And actually, if you’re using a formal voice or talking with a group of people, you’ll actually use usted or ustedes instead of sí, even though in general usted and ustedes use the rules for third-person. So for example:
You(f, formal) are very self-sure.
Usted es muy segura de usted misma.
Let’s get some practice with this idiom.
I told you he is sure of himself.
Te dije que es seguro de sí mismo.
I didn’t know you were so sure of yourself(f).
No sabía que eras tan segura de ti misma.
Look! She is sure of herself.
¡Mira! Ella es segura de sí misma.
I don’t think they are sure of themselves.
No creo que sean seguros de sí mismos.
In all the time we have lived, we have been sure of ourselves.
En todo el tiempo que hemos vivido, hemos sido seguros de nosotros mismos.
All right, now let’s move on to some numbers! The word for “four” is cuatro, spelled c-u-a-t-r-o, and the word for “five” is cinco, spelled c-i-n-c-o. So for example:
We’ll be there at four or five.
Estaremos allí a las cuatro o cinco.
Let’s jump right into some practice with these numbers, and we’ll throw in examples of some of our other numbers as well.
She needed two weapons for this.
Necesitaba dos armas para esto.
They need three or four things for the party.
Necesitan tres o cuatro cosas para la fiesta.
I have five goods.
Tengo cinco bienes.
I’m going to the party with four or five friends.
Voy a la fiesta con cuatro o cinco amigos.
Our next number is seis for “six”. This is spelled s-e-i-s. So you’ve probably been working on NOT bending your vowels in Spanish; for example, the word estés is pronounced es-TES, not es-TEYS. But this new word for “six” does have a bend in it because of the E and I together. Seis. For example:
There were only six people at the party.
Solo había seis personas en la fiesta.
And then the word for “seven” is siete, spelled s-i-e-t-e. For example:
Don’t leave before 7 in the evening.
No te vayas antes de las siete de la noche.
Let’s practice these. Once again we’re going to scramble the numbers a bit.
He lives with six people and three dogs.
Vive con seis personas y tres perros.
I’m looking at seven numbers.
Miro siete números.
You had five and I had six, so I had more.
Tú tenías cinco y yo tenía seis, así que yo tenía más.
If we leave at 4 in the afternoon, we’ll be there at 7 in the evening.
Si nos vamos a las cuatro de la tarde, estaremos ahí a las siete de la noche.
We’ve generally found that numbers can be pretty frustrating for learners, particularly when it comes to comprehension. So let’s spend a few minutes doing a comprehension quiz. We’re going to present some sentences in Spanish first, and you should try quickly to identify what is being said and predict the English before you hear it.
Solo tengo uno.
I only have one.
Tres hombres y cuatro mujeres estaban en ese lugar.
Three men and four women were in that place.
Necesitas siete de esos para hacerlo para cuatro personas.
You need seven of those to make it for four people.
Debíamos estar aquí a las siete, no a las cinco.
We should have(deber imperfect) been here at seven, not at five.
Cinco de nuestros amigos tienen seis perros.
Five of our friends have six dogs.
Vivimos en dos lugares diferentes, estoy en el número seis.
We live in two different places, I’m at number six.
All right, before we go on to the final quiz, let’s learn just one more idiom. To say “it’s all the same to me”, we already know me da lo mismo, literally “it gives me the same”. But a synonym is me da igual. (In fact, in general, lo mismo and igual are interchangeable in many situations.)
Here’s an example:
You can do anything, it’s all the same to me.
Puedes hacer cualquier cosa, me da igual.
Now this leads to an issue: How do you know whether to translate this as me da lo mismo or me da igual? In real life, it really doesn’t matter. So in our quizzing, either answer is correct (me da lo mismo, me da igual). But for today’s quiz we’re going to stick with me da igual to make sure to get some good practice with it.
Let’s go ahead and get some practice with all our new numbers and idioms using today’s final quiz. And of course, remember that you can always get more practice with this using the free materials here.
You can have seven, it’s all the same to me, I have four.
Puedes tener siete, me da igual, yo tengo cuatro.
I don’t care, they can do it by themselves.
Me da igual, pueden hacerlo por sí mismos.
She looks at the bed where she used to live before.
Mira la cama donde vivía antes.
He needed to look at the place where you live.
Él necesitaba mirar el lugar donde vives.
They are six people and they don’t have problems among themselves.
Son seis personas y no tienen problemas entre sí.
It’s all the same to me if you look at that place.
Me da igual si miras ese lugar.
She wants me to live with four kids.
Quiere que viva con cuatro niños.
I don’t live with five friends, I live with six.
No vivo con cinco amigos, vivo con seis.
The weather is good, so she doesn’t need seven of those.
Hace buen tiempo, así que ella no necesita siete de esos.
Look at me! I want her to live where she wants to live!
¡Mírame! ¡Quiero que ella viva donde quiere vivir!
In any case, he’s near the fire because he’s sure of himself.
De todas formas, está cerca del fuego porque es seguro de sí mismo.
I’m living with only four of these things.
Estoy viviendo con solo cuatro de estas cosas.
They live in a place where there is coffee at five in the morning.
Viven en un lugar donde hay café a las cinco de la mañana.
Don’t look at him! He isn’t sure of himself.
¡No lo mires! No es seguro de sí mismo.
They might need seven if they are going to do it by themselves.
Pueden necesitar siete si lo van a hacer por sí mismos.
I don’t want him to look at my six dogs.
No quiero que mire a mis seis perros.
We need you to look at five things where we live.
Necesitamos que mires cinco cosas donde vivimos.
I need him to be sure of himself.
Necesito que sea seguro de sí mismo.
I hope they look at it.
Espero que lo miren.
To get more practice with these sentences, join the free course here and quiz yourself with them until you’re acing this.
In tomorrow’s episode, we’ll learn some new nouns, including the words for “plan”, “memory”, and “word”.
This show is brought to you by LearnCraftSpanish.com. Our music was provided by the Seattle Marimba Quartet, and I’m Timothy, encouraging you to do the hard work of learning Spanish. Acquiring a second language is one of the most fulfilling things you can do, so start your fluency journey today using our free course — join here.
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