I might have a mass of 91.3 kilograms and you might earn $9.47 an hour, but if we were conversing we'd probably be talking about weighing about 90 kilograms or earning almost $9.50 an hour. Such uses of approximations can come in handy in everyday speech, since we often think in round figures.

Following are some of the common ways of expressing approximations in Spanish. Although English equivalents are listed, keep in mind that nearly all of these terms except for casi (meaning "almost") are synonymous, so when translating to English you should translate on the basis of context and meaning rather than always using the word listed as the literal equivalent.


aproximadamente — approximately — El diccionario ofrece traducciones de aproximadamente 5.500 términos. The dictionary provides translations of approximately 5,500 terms.

como (more common in Latin America) — about — Estuve malo como cuatro meses. I was sick for about four months.

más o menos — more or less — He perdido, más o menos, seis kilos y en muy poco tiempo. I have lost more or less six kilograms and in very little time.

a eso de (used most commonly with times) — about — A eso de las 16:00 la clínica estará abierta. The clinic will be open about 4 p.m.

casi — almost — Casi 3 de cada 100 emails enviados en España este año contenía virus. Almost 3 out of each 100 email letters sent in Spain this year included a virus.

cerca de — close to — El país tiene cerca de 10 millones de internautas. The country has close to 10 million Internet users.

alrededor de — around — Alrededor de una docena de referencias citadas en el trabajo no aparecen en la bibliografía. Around a dozen references cited in the work don't appear in the bibliography.

unos, unas — some — Costó unos 500 pesos. It cost some 500 pesos.

o así — or so — ¿Has jugado al juego "teléfono"? Reúnes una docena de gente o así en un círculo y la primera persona le susurra un mensaje a la segunda. Have you played the game "telephone"? You bring together a dozen people or so in a circle and the first person whispers a message to the second.