500 in Spanish
500 in Other Languages
About 500 in Spanish
The Spanish word for 500 is quinientos. The ordinal form — used for rankings, dates, and sequences — is quingentésimo.
500 divides evenly by two. 500 comes up regularly in Spanish conversations — in stores, when giving your phone number, reading addresses, or discussing dates and ages.
For anyone learning Spanish, numbers like 500 are essential early targets. They appear in tasks as common as buying a coffee, reading a menu, catching a bus, or asking someone their age.
Learning Numbers in Spanish
What makes Spanish numbers challenging
Spanish numbers 0-15 are unique words requiring pure memorization. The contraction pattern changes at 16 (dieciséis) and again at 21 (veintiuno) and 31 (treinta y uno), creating three different combination styles. Phone numbers can be read in groups of varying size — digit-by-digit, pairs, or triples — and the style varies by speaker and country. The long scale in most Spanish-speaking countries means un billón = 1 trillion, a major trap in financial contexts. Regional pronunciation varies widely between Spain and Latin America.
Tips for learning Spanish numbers
Memorize 0-15 as a block, then learn the combining patterns for 16-19, 21-29, and 31+. Once you master these three patterns, the system is completely predictable. Practice with prices in euros or pesos for the most common real-world number encounters. For phone numbers, train with both digit-by-digit and group styles since speakers vary. Spanish number words are mostly transparent — cuarenta y cinco (45) literally means "forty and five" — making them intuitive once the base words are learned.