Tell Me, What Is A “Quinto”?

Introduction

This post is about Spanish fractions^* in general, and fraction un quinto in particular.

SCENARIO

Imagine you are in a bar having a drink with with a relative, a friend or a work colleague.

Hearing someone order a “quinto de cerveza”, the other person says to you: tell me, what is a “quinto”?

In Spanish, the other person could choose to be less formal and say:

Dime, ¿qué es un quinto?

In Spanish, the other person could choose to be more formal and say:

Dígame, ¿qué es un quinto?

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OUR TIP

The question is quite straightforward. You should be able to answer that question with relative ease.

Remember that the main meaning of the word “quinto” is, a fifth. As it happens, a fifth of a litre (20 cl.) is also a very common size of beer bottle. It is for that reason that in many parts “un quinto de cerveza”¹ is how people refer to a small-sized bottle of beer. In some parts a bottle of beer of that size is known as a “botellín” -literally, small bottle.

With that in mind, you could say:

• Un quinto es la fracción 1/5 (“un quinto” is the fraction 1/5);
• Un quinto de litro es la quinta parte de un litro (a “quinto de litro” is a fifth of a litre);
• Un quinto de cerveza es la quinta parte de un litro de cerveza ( a “quinto de cerveza” is a fifth of a litre of beer);
• Aquí, un quinto de cerveza es una botella pequeña de cerveza (here a “quinto de cerveza” is a small-sized bottle of beer);
• Aquí, a un quinto de cerveza se le llama un botellín (here a “quinto de cerveza” is called a small-sized bottle of beer);

Notes

1 – Please note that the terms used to refer to specific types and quantities of beer tend to vary from place to place. Although the 20cl bottle is pretty much standard, that bottle may well be better known by a name other than a “quinto” or a “botellín” in some places. The bar we refer to in this post is a place where “un quinto” is accepted terminology. The use of “aquí” (here) in some of the answers indicates that, whilst a “quinto de cerveza” is a locally accepted term, it might not be so somewhere else.

Now you should practise answering the question:

Dime, ¿qué es un quinto?

*See some commonly used Spanish fractions below

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*Spanish Fractions

A list of commonly used Spanish fractions is shown in Table 1 below:

English	Noun	Adjective
one/ a half	un medio	medio media la mitad
one/ a third	un tercio	la tercera parte
one/ a quarter	un cuarto	la cuarta parte
one/ a fifth	un quinto	la quinta parte
one/ a sixth	un sexto	la sexta parte
one/ a seventh	un séptimo	la séptima parte
one/ a eight	un octavo	la octava parte
one/ a ninth	un noveno	la novena parte
one/a tenth	un décimo	la décima parte
one/a eleventh	un onceavo	la onceava parte la undécima parte
one/a twelfth	un doceavo	la doceava parte la duodécima parte
one/a thirteenth	un treceavo	la treceava parte
one/ a fourteenth	un catorceavo	la catorceava parte
one/ a fifteenth	un quinceavo	la quinceava parte
one/ a sixteenth	un dieciseisavo	la dieciseisava parte
one/a seventeenth	un diecisieteavo	la diecisieteava parte
one/ a eighteenth	un dieciochoavo	la dieciochoava parte
one/ a nineteenth	un diecinueveavo	la diecinueveava parte
one/ a twentieth	un veinteavo	la veinteava parte
one/ a hundredth	un centésimo una centésima	la centésima parte
one/ a thousandth	un milésimo una milésima	la milésima parte
one/ a millionth	un millonésimo una millonésima	la millonésima parte

Table 1 – Spanish Fractions

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