Learn Spanish (Spain): Los espectadores rondan los quinientos y pico. - The spectators hover around five hundred and something.

Los espectadores rondan los quinientos y pico.

The spectators hover around five hundred and something.

Breakdown of Los espectadores rondan los quinientos y pico.

odd, and something (after a number)

el espectador

the spectator

Questions & Answers about Los espectadores rondan los quinientos y pico.

Exactly how much is quinientos y pico?

The phrase y pico is added to numbers to mean "and a bit" or "and something". It indicates a small, unspecified additional amount. Here, quinientos y pico means more than 500 but less than 600, typically implying a number on the lower end, like 515 or 530.

Why is there a los before the number quinientos?

When expressing an approximate quantity, age, or time, Spanish often uses a definite article like los or las before the number. After the verb rondar, which means "to hover around", using the article is the standard way to say "around the 500 mark".

Is rondar a common verb for talking about quantities?

Yes, at this level, you will frequently see rondar used to mean "to be around" or "to be close to" a certain figure, age, or price. Its literal meaning is "to roam" or "to patrol", but metaphorically it works perfectly for numbers that hover near a specific target.

Since quinientos is plural, shouldn't pico be pluralized to match?

No, in the expression y pico, the word pico is completely invariable. It never changes to match gender or number, so it will always remain y pico regardless of whether the noun it describes is masculine, feminine, singular, or plural.