Estimating Crowd Sizes
When a protest gathers, exact numbers are hard to count. First, you will need vocabulary like el manifestante (protester) and la pancarta (banner).
| The protesters read the leader's banner. | Los manifestantes leen la pancarta del líder. |
Spanish estimates sizes using collective nouns for "a group of" or "about" a number. For tens (and fifteen), use the suffix -ena.
These are singular feminine nouns, so they use una, connect to the counted objects with de, and take a singular verb—even though they describe multiple people!
- una decena (about ten)
- una quincena (about fifteen / a fortnight)
- una veintena (about twenty)
| About ten students are reading the banner now. | Una decena de estudiantes lee la pancarta ahora. |
| The demonstration was going to end a fortnight ago. | La manifestación iba a terminar hace una quincena. |
| We saw about twenty protesters with banners. | Vimos a una veintena de manifestantes con pancartas. |
Higher Estimates and Hundreds
As the crowd grows and people start to corear (chant), you can use higher tens. The pattern remains the same:
- una treintena (about thirty)
- una cuarentena (about forty)
- una cincuentena (about fifty)
| About thirty citizens were chanting in the downtown. | Una treintena de ciudadanos coreaba en el centro. |
| There are about fifty people, and the door is closed. | Hay una cincuentena de personas, y la puerta está cerrada. |
For hundreds, do not use the -ena suffix. The word for "a hundred" or "about a hundred" is el centenar. Because this is a masculine noun, it pairs with un.
| A hundred leaders were going to organize the event. | Un centenar de líderes iba a organizar el evento. |
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