Portuguese 1.4. Cardinal Numbers

Let us learn the cardinal numbers and counting in Portuguese. Here, we will learn how to count from 1 to 10 and beyond in Portuguese.

um, uma	1	vinte e um	21	duzentos/-as	200
dois, duas	2	vinte e dois	22	trezentos/-as	300
três	3	vinte e três	23	quatrocentos/-as	400
quatro	4	trinta	30	quinhentos/-as	500
cinco	5	trinta e um	31	seiscentos/-as	600
seis	6	trinta e dois	32	setecentos/-as	700
sete	7	trinta e três	33	oitocentos/-as	800
oito	8	quarenta	40	novecentos/-as	900
nove	9	quarenta e um	41	mil	1.000
dez	10	quarenta e dois	42	dois mil	2.000
onze	11	cinquenta	50	três mil	3.000
doze	12	cinquenta e um	51	dez mil	10.000
treze	13	cinquenta e dois	52	cem mil	100.000
quatorze	14	sessenta	60	cem mil e um	100.001
quinze	15	setenta	70	cem mil e dez	100.010
dezesseis	16	oitenta	80	um milhão	1.000.000
dezessete	17	noventa	90	dois milhões	2.000.000
dezoito	18	cem	100	dez milhões	10.000.000
dezenove	19	cento e um	101	mil milhões (or) um bilhão	1.000.000.000
vinte	20	cento e dois	102	dois bilhões	2.000.000.000

The Number “0”

The number “0” in Portuguese is “zero,” pronounced as “ze-ro.”

Numbers 1-999

The numbers “one” and “two” have distinct forms for masculine and feminine.

Numbers 16-19 are formed by contracting the combination of the tens and the units (dez + e + “seis, sete, … etc.”) into (dezesseis, dezessete, … etc.). Notice the doubling of the “s” in “dezesseis” and “dezessete,” and the dropping of “e” in “dezoito.”

The multiples of hundred (200-900) can have a masculine “-os” or a feminine “-as” ending depending on the nouns they describe, e.g., “duzentos livros” (200 books), “duzentas maçãs”(200 apples).

The word “cem” refers to the number 100 or thousand multiples of the number 100, e.g., “cem” (100), “cem mil” (100.000), “cem milhões” (100.000.000), etc.

Otherwise, if preceded or followed by a number, “cento” or “centos” must be used instead, e.g., “cento e um” (101), “trezentos” (300), etc.

The conjunction “e” meaning “and” is used between tens and units, either explicitly as in “trinta e quatro” (34) or in contracted form as in “dezenove” (19), i.e., “dez + e + nove.”

The conjunction “e” is used between hundreds and tens and between thousands and hundreds, e.g., “quatrocentos e cinquenta e um”(451), but not bewteen thousands and hundreds, e.g., “mil novecientos e cinquenta” (1950). However, we insert an “e” if the number is an exact multiple of one hundred, e.g., “mil e novecientos” (1900).

Thousands, Millions, and Beyond

In plural form, “mil” remains the same in singular and plural forms, e.g., “três mil” (3.000), whereas “milhão” becomes “milhões,” e.g., “oito milhões” (8.000.000), “cem milhões” (100.000.000), etc.

We use a comma to separate decimals and a period to separate thousands in Portuguese. For instance, the number 2.155,25 in Portuguese is equivalent to 2,155.25 in English.

When describing items in millions or billions, one must add “de” after “milhão,” “milhões,” “bilhão,” or “bilhões,” e.g., “um milhão de estudantes” (a million students), “dois milhões de habitantes” (two million inhabitants), etc.

Notice that in Portuguese, we cannot use the English way of expressing years, as in “nineteen eighty-three” (1983); that is, saying “dezenove, oitenta e três” is incorrect. The correct way is to say “mil novecentos e oitenta e três.”

Next: Subject Personal Pronouns

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