Hola! Hello, and welcome to Mexican Spanish Survival Phrases, brought to you by SpanishPod101.com. This course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to Mexico. You'll be surprised at how far a little Spanish will go. Now, before we jump in, remember to stop by SpanishPod101.com and there you'll find the accompanying PDF lesson note and additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment! |
Mexican Spanish Survival Phrases Lesson 22: Mexican Currency |
Mexico’s monetary unit is the peso ($). Denominations include coins for 5 cents, 10 cents, 20 cents, 50 cents, 1 peso, 2 pesos, 5 pesos, 10 pesos, and 20 pesos and bills for 20 pesos, 50 pesos, 100 pesos, 200 pesos, 500 pesos and 1000 pesos. |
Let’s say some prices in Spanish. It won’t be too difficult. Let’s start with 1 cent: Un centavo. |
(slow) Un cen-ta-vo. |
Un centavo. |
Centavo is the word for “cent” |
15 cents will sound like this: Quince centavos. The word centavo becomes centavos in the plural form. |
Let’s break that down: |
(slow) Quin-ce cen-ta-vos. |
Quince centavos. |
If you go up to hundreds or thousands, remember that each level of hundred has its own name. |
To say “200” in Spanish, you say doscientos. |
(slow) Dos-ci-en-tos. |
Doscientos. |
To say “300” in Spanish, you say: trescientos. |
(slow) Tres-ci-en-tos. |
Trescientos. |
To say “400” in Spanish, you say: Cuatrocientos. |
(slow) Cu-a-tro-ci-en-tos. |
Cuatrocientos. |
For “500”, you say: Quinientos. |
(slow) Qui-ni-en-tos. |
Quinientos. |
For “600”, you say: Seiscientos. |
(slow) Se-is-ci-en-tos. |
Seiscientos. |
For “700”, you say: Setecientos. |
(slow) Se-te-ci-en-tos. |
Setecientos. |
For “800” in Spanish, you say: Ochocientos. |
(slow) O-cho-ci-en-tos. |
Ochocientos. |
For “900”, you say: Novecientos. |
(slow) No-ve-ci-en-tos. |
Novecientos. |
Let’s try to say a price using the hundreds. |
“230 pesos” is: Doscientos treinta pesos. |
(slow) Dos-ci-en-tos tre-in-ta pe-sos. |
Doscientos treinta pesos. |
A “thousand” in Spanish is mil. |
(slow) Mil. |
Mil. |
For 2000 or more, we use the first number plus the word mil. So “2000” would be dos mil. |
Now let’s try a slightly more complicated number, “5420 pesos.” That is: Cinco mil cuatrocientos veinte pesos. |
Let’s break it down: |
(slow) Cin-co mil cua-tro-ci-en-tos ve-in-te pe-sos. |
Once more: |
Cinco mil cuatrocientos veinte pesos. |
To close out today's lessons, we’d like you to practice what you have just learned. I’ll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you’re responsible for shouting it out loud. You’ll have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so !buena suerte! which means “Good luck!” in Spanish. |
“1 cent.” - Un centavo. |
“15 cents.” - Quince centavos. |
“230 pesos.” - Doscientos treinta pesos. |
“5420 pesos.” - Cinco mil cuatrocientos veinte pesos. |
Alright! That's going to do it for this lesson. Remember to stop by SpanishPod101.com and pick up the accompanying PDF lesson note. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment! Hasta luego. |
7 Comments
HideWhat will you buy when you get your Mexican pesos?
Hola Michael,
Gracias por participar.
Sigamos asi! Espero estes disfrutando de las lecciones.
Saludos,
Carla
Team SpanishPod101.com
Yo como caliente pollo y frijoles. Yo nado y me lavo en río.
5/30/19
Hola Gloria,
Entonces podemos decir que eres una local en Mexico.
Me gustan los billetes de Mexico porque pueden ser mojados.
Saludos,
Carla
Team SpanishPod101.com
Hola Carla,
Sí, me acostumbro a usarlos porque he usado los pesos por muchos años. El cajero automático en México me dio solamente pesos. El hecho es que no veo los dólares de los Estados Unidos mucho. A veces veo algunos americanos que están de vacaciones comprando cosas en las tiendas con sus dólares .
(Yes, I am used to using pesos because I have been using them for many years. The ATM in Mexico only gives me pesos. The fact is that I don't see U.S. dollars much. Sometimes I see some Americans who are on vacation buying things at the stores with their dollars.)
Hola Gloria,
Ya te acostumbrarte a usarlos?
Que bueno, son bastante diferentes a otras monedas.
Saludos,
Carla
Team SpanishPod101.com
Uso pesos todo el tiempo en vez de dólares porque vivo en México.
I use pesos all the time instead of dollars because I live in Mexico.