6.1 Cardinal Numbers (0–1,000), Telling Time, Calendar & Weather

DELE A1 Study Guide Exam

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1 Introduction, Exam Architecture & Scoring

1.1 About the DELE A1 Exam: Purpose, CEFR Level & Registration 1.2 Exam Architecture: Four Pruebas & Two-Group Scoring System 1.3 Strategic Preparation: Study Schedule, Time Management & Exam Traps

2 Prueba 1: Comprensión de Lectura (Reading Comprehension)

2.1 Reading Tarea 1: One Personal Email or Postcard (5 Questions) 2.2 Reading Tarea 2: Notes, Signs & Short Notices (Match 6 Sentences to 9 Texts) 2.3 Reading Tarea 3: Matching People's Needs to Short Ads (6 of 9) 2.4 Reading Tarea 4: Extracting Details from One Informational Text (8 Questions)

3 Prueba 2: Comprensión Auditiva (Listening Comprehension)

3.1 Listening Tarea 1: Short Interpersonal Dialogues & Graphic Selection 3.2 Listening Tarea 2: Short Messages & Announcements Matched to Pictures 3.3 Listening Tarea 3: Eight Statements from One Monologue (Matching Beginnings and Endings) 3.4 Listening Tarea 4: One Conversation, Seven Sentences to Complete

4 Core Grammar I: Essential Verbs & Foundations

4.1 Subject Pronouns & Regular Present Tense (-ar, -er, -ir) 4.2 Ser vs. Estar: Permanent Identity vs. Temporary States & Locations 4.3 Essential Irregular & Stem-Changing Verbs 4.4 Reflexive Verbs, Daily Routines & Time Sequencing

5 Core Grammar II: Nouns, Modifiers & Structures

5.1 Gender, Number, Articles & Noun-Adjective Agreement 5.2 Expressing Likes & Preferences: Gustar, Encantar, Interesar & Parecer 5.3 Question Words, Demonstratives & Possessive Adjectives 5.4 High-Yield Verbal Periphrases: Ir a + Infinitivo, Tener que + Infinitivo, Estar + Gerundio

6 Essential Vocabulary: Numbers, Time & Daily Life

6.1 Cardinal Numbers (0–1,000), Telling Time, Calendar & Weather 6.2 Personal Data, Nationalities, Family Members & Descriptions 6.3 The Home, Furniture, Rooms & Spatial Prepositions

7 Situational Vocabulary: Shopping, Travel, Health, Work & Free Time

7.1 Food, Market Shopping, Restaurant Orders & Asking Prices 7.2 City Navigation, Public Transport & Asking for/Giving Directions 7.3 Physical Well-Being, Body Parts, Doctor Visits & Pharmacy Purchases 7.4 Studies, Work, Free Time & Communication

8 Prueba 3: Expresión e Interacción Escritas (Written Expression & Interaction)

8.1 Writing Tarea 1: Personal Data Form Completion & Questionnaires 8.2 Writing Tarea 2: Short Epistolary Texts (Emails, Postcards, Messages & Ads, 30–40 Words) 8.3 Writing Scales, Essential Connectors & Common Spelling Errors

9 Prueba 4: Expresión e Interacción Orales (Oral Expression & Interaction)

9.1 Oral Tarea 1: Personal Presentation (1–2 Minute Monologue) 9.2 Oral Tarea 2: Exposición de un tema (2–3 Minute Talk on a Topic) 9.3 Oral Tarea 3: Conversation with the Interviewer (and Your Two Questions) 9.4 Oral Scoring Scales, Pronunciation & Communication Repair

6.1 Cardinal Numbers (0–1,000), Telling Time, Calendar & Weather

Key Takeaways Explain This Topic AI

Numbers 0 through 30 are written as single words (e.g., dieciséis, veintiocho), whereas numbers from 31 to 99 are separated into three words with 'y' (e.g., treinta y uno).

Hundreds from doscientos to novecientos agree in gender with the following noun (e.g., doscientas páginas, quinientos euros), while cien becomes ciento when followed by additional digits.

Telling time requires 'Es la una' for 1:00 and 'Son las...' for all other hours, utilizing 'y cuarto' (:15), 'y media' (:30), and 'menos' for remaining minutes to the hour.

Spanish days of the week and months are masculine and written in lowercase, using the definite article 'el' or 'los' without prepositions to express 'on' (e.g., el lunes, los viernes).

Atmospheric weather conditions predominantly use the impersonal verb 'hace' (hace sol, hace frío) or 'hay' (hay niebla, hay tormenta), alongside defective verbs 'llueve' and 'nieva'.

Last updated: October 2026

6.1 Cardinal Numbers (0–1,000), Telling Time, Calendar & Weather

Numerical literacy, temporal precision, and meteorological comprehension constitute the functional bedrock of the DELE A1 Breakthrough level . In the examination, these lexical domains appear continuously across multiple communicative tasks. In Comprensión de lectura (Reading Comprehension), you must decipher store opening hours, flight timetables, restaurant lunch menus, and date-stamped event posters. In Comprensión auditiva (Listening Comprehension), short dialogues, messages and the final conversation contain times, days, prices and numbers, and a Tarea 4 gap can depend on one of them. In Expresión e interacción orales (Speaking), you state your age in Tarea 1 and may describe your weekly timetable in Tarea 2.

Mastering these core systems eliminates hesitation, allowing you to secure quick, dependable points throughout the test.

Cardinal Numbers from 0 to 1,000 ( Los números cardinales )

Spanish numbers follow predictable structural patterns, but specific orthographic shifts, written accent rules, and gender agreements require deliberate study.

Numbers 0 to 30: Single-Word Construction

Numbers from 0 to 30 are written as a single contiguous word . Notice that numbers 16 through 29 were historically written as three words ( diez y seis , veinte y uno ), but standard modern Spanish mandates single-word orthography.

Number Spanish Word Key Phonetic & Orthographic Notes
0 cero Soft c pronounced as /θ/ in Spain or /s/ in Latin America
1 uno Shortens to un before masculine singular nouns; una before feminine
2 dos Invariable in gender
3 tres Invariable
4 cuatro Spelled with c , never q
5 cinco Soft initial c , hard middle c
6 seis Monosyllabic diphthong ei
7 siete Stem diphthong ie
8 ocho Standard pronunciation
9 nueve Stem diphthong ue
10 diez Final z shifts to c in derivatives ( dieciséis )
11 once Ends in -ce
12 doce Ends in -ce
13 trece Ends in -ce
14 catorce Spelled with c
15 quince Spelled with qu
16 dieciséis Single word; mandatory acute accent on final e
17 diecisiete Single word; derived from diez y siete
18 dieciocho Single word
19 diecinueve Single word
20 veinte Ends in -e
21 veintiuno Single word; shortens to veintiún (with accent) before masculine nouns
22 veintidós Single word; mandatory acute accent on final o
23 veintitrés Single word; mandatory acute accent on final e
24 veinticuatro Single word
25 veinticinco Single word
26 veintiséis Single word; mandatory acute accent on final e
27 veintisiete Single word
28 veintiocho Single word
29 veintinueve Single word
30 treinta Base decade ending in -a

Important

Memorize the four numbers between 16 and 29 that carry a written accent mark: dieciséis , veintidós , veintitrés , and veintiséis . In addition, when veintiuno precedes a masculine noun, it drops the -o and gains an accent mark: veintiún euros , veintiún días .

Tens from 30 to 90 and the "Y" Rule (31–99)

The tens proceed in regular ten-unit steps:

30 : treinta
40 : cuarenta
50 : cincuenta
60 : sesenta
70 : setenta
80 : ochenta
90 : noventa

Warning

In listening comprehension recordings, pay rigorous attention to the distinction between sesenta (60) and setenta (70). The consonant difference ( -sen- versus -ten- ) is easy to miss, even though DELE A1 recordings are spoken slowly and clearly. Look for contextual cues such as retirement age, price tiers, or speed limits.

For numbers between 31 and 99 , Spanish applies the three-word construction: [Decena] + y + [Unidad] .

31: treinta y uno (treinta y un libros / treinta y una alumnas)
45: cuarenta y cinco
58: cincuenta y ocho
64: sesenta y cuatro
72: setenta y dos
87: ochenta y siete
99: noventa y nueve

The Universal Conjunction Rule : The conjunction y is used exclusively between tens and units (from 31 to 99). It is never inserted between hundreds and tens or between thousands and hundreds:

105: ciento cinco (NOT ciento y cinco )
142: ciento cuarenta y dos (tens and units take y , but hundred and tens do not)
350: trescientos cincuenta (NOT trescientos y cincuenta )
Hundreds (100 to 900) & 1,000: Gender Agreement

The number 100 has two distinct forms:

cien : Used when the count is exactly 100, or immediately preceding a noun: cien euros , cien páginas , cien personas .

ciento : Used whenever 100 is followed by any additional number from 1 to 99: ciento uno , ciento quince , ciento ochenta .

From 200 to 900, the hundreds must agree in gender with the noun they modify:

Number Masculine Form Feminine Form Example
100 cien / ciento cien / ciento cien libros / cien cartas
200 doscientos doscientas doscientos billetes / doscientas mesas
300 trescientos trescientas trescientos euros / trescientas casas
400 cuatrocientos cuatrocientas cuatrocientos alumnos / cuatrocientas sillas
500 quinientos quinientas quinientos días / quinientas entradas
600 seiscientos seiscientas seiscientos trenes / seiscientas fotos
700 setecientos setecientas setecientos autobuses / setecientas personas
800 ochocientos ochocientas ochocientos gramos / ochocientas botellas
900 novecientos novecientas novecientos metros / novecientas palabras
1.000 mil mil mil gracias / dos mil euros

Note the irregular roots for 500 ( quinientos , not cincocientos ), 700 ( setecientos , not sietecientos ), and 900 ( novecientos , not nuevecientos ). The number mil (1,000) is invariable and never pluralized when counting ( dos mil , cinco mil ).

Telling Time in Spanish ( La hora )

Telling time requires knowing how to ask the question, how to select between singular and plural verbs, and how to express fractions of an hour.

Formulating Time Questions

There are two primary questions to distinguish:

Asking the current time :

¿Qué hora es? (What time is it?)
¿Tiene hora, por favor? (Do you have the time, please? — polite formula used in public)

Asking the time of a scheduled event :

¿A qué hora...? (At what time...?)
¿A qué hora sale el tren? (At what time does the train leave?)
¿A qué hora abre el museo? (At what time does the museum open?)
Expressing the Current Hour ( Es la vs. Son las )

Spanish uses the verb ser to state time. The grammatical agreement depends directly on whether the hour is singular or plural:

Singular (1:00 to 1:59) : Use Es la una (because la una refers to la una en punto or la hora una ).

1:00 -> Es la una en punto.

1:15 -> Es la una y cuarto.

1:30 -> Es la una y media.

Plural (2:00 to 12:59) : Use Son las... followed by the cardinal number.

2:00 -> Son las dos en punto.

8:00 -> Son las ocho.

11:00 -> Son las once.

When specifying the scheduled time of an event, replace es la / son las with the preposition a :

La clase empieza a la una . (The class begins at one.)
El concierto termina a las diez . (The concert ends at ten.)
Minutes Past and Minutes Before the Hour

Spanish divides the clock face into two halves:

Past the hour (:01 to :30) : State the hour, add y , and state the minutes:

:05 -> Son las cuatro y cinco. (4:05)
:10 -> Son las siete y diez. (7:10)
:15 -> Son las dos y cuarto. (2:15 — quarter past)
:20 -> Son las cinco y veinte. (5:20)
:30 -> Son las nueve y media. (9:30 — half past)

To the next hour (:31 to :59) : Advance to the upcoming hour, add menos , and state the minutes remaining:

:35 -> Son las seis menos veinticinco. (5:35 — twenty-five to six)
:40 -> Son las ocho menos veinte. (7:40 — twenty to eight)
:45 -> Son las diez menos cuarto. (9:45 — quarter to ten)
:50 -> Son las once menos diez. (10:50 — ten to eleven)
:55 -> Son las tres menos cinco. (2:55 — five to three)
Parts of the Day: De la vs. Por la

To specify morning, afternoon, or evening:

When a specific clock time is stated, use de la mañana , de la tarde , or de la noche :

El vuelo despega a las siete de la mañana . (7:00 a.m.)
La reunión es a las cuatro de la tarde . (4:00 p.m.)
Cenamos a las nueve y media de la noche . (9:30 p.m.)
Aterrizó a las tres de la madrugada . (3:00 a.m. early morning)

When speaking generally without an exact clock time , use por la mañana , por la tarde , or por la noche :

Estudio español por la mañana . (I study Spanish in the morning.)
Hago deporte por la tarde . (I exercise in the afternoon.)
The 24-Hour Digital Clock

In official public timetables throughout Spain and Latin America (airports, RENFE train stations, bus terminals, hospital consultations, opening notices), the 24-hour clock is standard:

14:30 -> las catorce treinta (or spoken colloquially: las dos y media de la tarde )
18:45 -> las dieciocho cuarenta y cinco (colloquially: las siete menos cuarto de la tarde )
22:00 -> las veintidós horas (colloquially: las diez de la noche )
The Calendar: Days, Months, Seasons & Dates

Calendar vocabulary is tested extensively when booking hotel accommodations, planning trips, or completing registration forms.

Days of the Week ( Los días de la semana )

The seven days are:

lunes (Monday)
martes (Tuesday)
miércoles (Wednesday — written accent on e )
jueves (Thursday)
viernes (Friday)
sábado (Saturday — written accent on a )
domingo (Sunday)

Three Essential Grammatical Rules :

Always masculine : el lunes , el jueves , los domingos .

Never capitalized : In Spanish, days of the week are written in lowercase ( hoy es martes ), unless beginning a sentence.

Expressing 'On' : Spanish uses the definite article el (for single specific occurrences) or los (for recurring habits), never the preposition 'en' :

El lunes voy al médico. (On Monday I am going to the doctor.)
Los sábados juego al tenis. (On Saturdays I play tennis.)

Incorrect: *En lunes voy al médico.

Notice that lunes , martes , miércoles , jueves , and viernes end in -s in both singular and plural ( el lunes -> los lunes ). Only sábado and domingo add -s to form the plural ( el sábado -> los sábados , el domingo -> los domingos ).

Months of the Year ( Los meses del año )

All twelve months are masculine and written in lowercase:

enero (January)
febrero (February)
marzo (March)
abril (April)
mayo (May)
junio (June)
julio (July)
agosto (August)
septiembre (September)
octubre (October)
noviembre (November)
diciembre (December)

To state that an event happens in a given month, use the preposition en :

Mi examen DELE es en mayo . (My DELE exam is in May.)
Nos vamos de vacaciones en agosto . (We go on vacation in August.)
The Four Seasons ( Las cuatro estaciones )
la primavera (Spring — the only feminine season)
el verano (Summer)
el otoño (Autumn / Fall)
el invierno (Winter)
Example: En verano hace mucho calor en Sevilla. (In summer it is very hot in Seville.)
Formatting and Expressing Full Dates

The standard formula for stating dates in Spanish is:

[D ı ˊ a de la semana] + [,] + [el] + [N u ˊ mero] + [de] + [Mes] + [de / del] + [A n ˜ o] \text{[Día de la semana]} + \text{[,]} + \text{[el]} + \text{[Número]} + \text{[de]} + \text{[Mes]} + \text{[de / del]} + \text{[Año]} [D ı ˊ a de la semana] + [,] + [el] + [N u ˊ mero] + [de] + [Mes] + [de / del] + [A n ˜ o]

Hoy es viernes, 12 de octubre de 2026 .

Nací el 24 de marzo de 1998 .

For the first day of any month, use either el primero or el uno : el primero de mayo / el uno de mayo .

Weather Expressions ( El tiempo atmosférico )

Meteorological conditions in Spanish are expressed through three distinct verbal structures: hacer , haber , and defective verbs .

Weather with the Impersonal Verb Hacer

Use the third-person singular form hace followed by a noun to describe ambient thermal and physical sensations:

Hace frío : It is cold
Hace calor : It is hot
Hace sol : It is sunny
Hace viento : It is windy
Hace buen tiempo : The weather is pleasant / good
Hace mal tiempo : The weather is bad
Hace fresco : It is brisk / cool

To intensify these expressions, use the adjective mucho / mucha (never the adverb muy ), because the complement is a noun:

Hoy hace mucho frío . (Today it is very cold. — NOT *hace muy frío )
Hace mucho calor en la playa. (It is very hot on the beach.)
Hace mucho viento cerca del mar. (It is very windy near the sea.)
Weather with Hay (Impersonal Haber)

Use hay (there is / there are) with visible atmospheric phenomena:

Hay niebla : It is foggy (There is fog)
Hay tormenta : There is a storm
Hay nubes : It is cloudy (There are clouds)
Hay humedad : It is humid
Defective Weather Verbs

Two fundamental stem-changing verbs describe precipitation. Because they are impersonal, they are conjugated only in the third-person singular:

Llover ( o -> ue ):

Llueve frecuentemente en el norte. (It rains frequently in the north.)
Está lloviendo ahora mismo. (It is raining right now.)

Associated noun: la lluvia (the rain).

Nevar ( e -> ie ):

Nieva en las montañas durante el invierno. (It snows in the mountains during the winter.)
Está nevando. (It is snowing.)

Associated noun: la nieve (the snow).

Weather with Estar

Use estar with adjectives describing sky and atmospheric states:

Está nublado : It is overcast / cloudy
Está despejado : It is clear (clear skies)
Está soleado : It is sunny

Understanding these weather expressions enables you to interpret listening tracks where scheduled outdoor excursions, sports matches, or walking tours are modified due to inclement weather.