Learn Spanish (Latin America): Hay setecientos libros aquí y ochocientos en la biblioteca. - There are seven hundred books here and eight hundred in the library.

Hay setecientos libros aquí y ochocientos en la biblioteca.

There are seven hundred books here and eight hundred in the library.

Breakdown of Hay setecientos libros aquí y ochocientos en la biblioteca.

Questions & Answers about Hay setecientos libros aquí y ochocientos en la biblioteca.

Why is it setecientos and not sietecientos?

The number for seven is siete, but seven hundred is slightly irregular and drops the i to become setecientos. Another common irregular hundred to watch out for is nine hundred, which is novecientos instead of nuevecientos.

Do numbers like setecientos and ochocientos change depending on the noun?

Yes! The hundreds from 200 through 999 must match the gender of the noun they count. Because libros is masculine, we use setecientos and ochocientos. If we were counting feminine things, like tables (mesas), they would change to setecientas and ochocientas.

Why does the sentence say just ochocientos instead of ochocientos libros?

You can leave out the noun if it is already obvious from the context. Since we already mentioned libros (books) in the first half of the sentence, we do not need to repeat it. This works exactly the same as saying eight hundred in English.

Since we are talking about hundreds of books, why do we not use a plural form of hay?

The word hay is a special verb form that means both there is and there are. It is invariable, meaning it never changes to a plural form, even if you are talking about hundreds of books!