Portuguese Numbers: How to Count in Portuguese

Portuguese Numbers: How to Count in Portuguese


In this post, we’ll cover all Portuguese numbers from 0 – 1,000 and beyond. You’ll learn how to count in Portuguese, and how to learn these numbers as quickly as possible.ย 

By the end of this article, you’ll know:

๐Ÿ‘ How to count from 0 โ€“ 1,000 + in Portuguese
๐Ÿ‘ The tips and tricks to learn Portuguese numbers quickly
๐Ÿ‘ Cardinal numbers and ordinal numbers in Portuguese

Although learning Portuguese can be challenging, learning how to count in Portuguese is not too difficult, especially if you already speak other romance languages.

Sure, there are certain numbers that you just need to remember. But most Portuguese numbers are part of a simple pattern, just like most Latin languages.

Ready to get started? Letโ€™s discover how to count from 0 โ€“ 1,000+ in the Portuguese language.

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Numbers in Portuguese: Counting from 1 โ€“ 100

In the table below you will find numbers 1 to 100 in written Portuguese.

Try to memorize as much as you can. Then, we’ll show you how to remember these numbers.

1 โ€“ um/uma2 โ€“ dois/duas3 โ€“ trรชs4 โ€“ quatro5 โ€“ cinco
6 โ€“ seis7 โ€“ sete8 โ€“ oito9 โ€“ nove10 โ€“ dez
11 โ€“ onze12 โ€“ doze13 โ€“ treze14 โ€“ catorze15 โ€“ quinze
16 โ€“ dezesseis/dezasseis17 โ€“ dezassete/dezessete18 โ€“ dezoito19 โ€“ dezanove/dezenove20 โ€“ vinte
21 โ€“ vinte e um/uma22 โ€“ vinte e dois/duas23 โ€“ vinte e trรชs24 โ€“ vinte e quatro25 โ€“ vinte e cinco
26 โ€“ vinte e seis27 โ€“ vinte e sete28 โ€“ vinte e oito29 โ€“ vinte e nove30 โ€“ trinta
31 โ€“ trinta e um/uma32 โ€“ trinta e dois/duas33 โ€“ trinta e trรชs34 โ€“ trinta e quatro35 โ€“ trinta e cinco
36 โ€“ trinta e seis37 โ€“ trinta e sete38 โ€“ trinta e oito39 โ€“ trinta e nove40 โ€“ quarenta
41 โ€“ quarenta e um/uma42 โ€“ quarenta e dois/duas43 โ€“ quarenta e trรชs44 โ€“ quarenta e quatro45 โ€“ quarenta e cinco
46 โ€“ quarenta e seis47 โ€“ quarenta e sete48 โ€“ quarenta e oito49 โ€“ quarenta e nove50 โ€“ cinquenta
51 โ€“ cinquenta e um/uma52 โ€“ cinquenta e dois/duas53 โ€“ cinquenta e trรชs54 โ€“ cinquenta e quatro55 โ€“ cinquenta e cinco
56 โ€“ cinquenta e seis57 โ€“ cinquenta e sete58 โ€“ cinquenta e oito59 โ€“ cinquenta e nove60 โ€“ sessenta
61 โ€“ sessenta e um/uma62 โ€“ sessenta e dois/duas63 โ€“ sessenta e trรชs64 โ€“ sessenta e quatro65 โ€“ sessenta e cinco
66 โ€“ sessenta e seis67 โ€“ sessenta e sete68 โ€“ sessenta e oito69 โ€“ sessenta e nove70 โ€“ setenta
71 โ€“ setenta e um/uma72 โ€“ setenta e dois/duas73 โ€“ setenta e trรชs74 โ€“ setenta e quatro75 โ€“ setenta e cinco
76 โ€“ setenta e seis77 โ€“ setenta e sete78 โ€“ setenta e oito79 โ€“ setenta e nove80 โ€“ oitenta
81 โ€“ oitenta e um/uma82 โ€“ oitenta e dois/duas83 โ€“ oitenta e trรชs84 โ€“ oitenta e quatro85 โ€“ oitenta e cinco
86 โ€“ oitenta e seis87 โ€“ oitenta e sete88 โ€“ oitenta e oito89 โ€“ oitenta e nove90 โ€“ noventa
91 โ€“ noventa e um/uma92 โ€“ noventa e dois/duas93 โ€“ noventa e trรชs94 โ€“ noventa e quatro95 โ€“ noventa e cinco
96 โ€“ noventa e seis97 โ€“ noventa e sete98 โ€“ noventa e oito99 โ€“ noventa e nove100 โ€“ cem

How to Count from 1 โ€“ 10 in Portuguese

Naturally, we’ll start from the beginning and look at the numbers 1 – 10.

1 – um/uma

2 โ€“ dois/duas

3 โ€“ trรชs

4 โ€“ quatro

5 โ€“ cinco

6 โ€“ seis

7 โ€“ sete

8 โ€“ oito

9 โ€“ nove

10 โ€“ dez

You’ll notice that there are two versions of โ€œoneโ€ (um/uma) and โ€œtwoโ€ (dois/duas).

If you have just started learning Portuguese then you will know that these are the masculine and feminine forms of the number.

Um is the masculine version of one, whilst uma is the feminine version.

They need to agree with the gender of the thing that’s being counted, and this is the same in all Portuguese-speaking countries.

See the below examples:

๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น eu comprei um abacaxi โ€“ โ€œI bought one pineappleโ€
๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น tenho dois carros โ€“ โ€œI have two carsโ€
๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น vocรช pode me passar uma taรงaย โ€“ โ€œCan you pass me one cup?โ€
๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น eu contei duas vezes jรก โ€“ โ€œI already told you two timesโ€

Note that um/uma can mean โ€œaโ€ as well as โ€œoneโ€.

Unlike in English and several other European languages, neither Brazilian Portuguese nor European Portuguese distinguishes between these two words.

So, for example, the first sentence above could also be translated as simply โ€œI bought a pineappleโ€.

How to Count from 11 โ€“ 19 in Portuguese

Once you have learned how to count to 10 in Portuguese, try learning the numbers 11 – 19.

11 โ€“ onze

12 โ€“ doze

13 โ€“ treze

14 โ€“ catorze

15 โ€“ quinze

16 โ€“ dezesseis/dezasseis

17 โ€“ dezessete/dezassete

18 โ€“ dezoito

19 โ€“ dezenove/dezanove

In the three cases above, you’ll notice two separate words for one number. Don’t worry, there’s a simple explanation for this.

The first word is used in Brazil (Brazilian Portuguese numbers) and the second is used in Portugal (European Portuguese numbers). So, for example, Brazilians say โ€œdezenoveโ€ but Portuguese people say โ€œdezanoveโ€.

Whilst these are very subtle differences, they will affect your Portuguese pronunciation and could determine whether or not you sound like a native speaker!

These language differences have nothing to do with masculine forms and feminine forms. They are simply country differences.

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Portuguese numbers 1-100: Multiples of 10

As is the case with any other Latin language, it is easy to learn all the numbers in Portuguese up to 100 once you have learned the above and all multiples of 10.

20 โ€“ vinte

30 โ€“ trinta

40 โ€“ quarenta

50 โ€“ cinquenta

60 โ€“ sessenta

70 โ€“ setenta

80 โ€“ oitenta

90 โ€“ noventa

These multiples of 10 are pretty easy to learn.

You’ll notice that all of these numbers from 40 upwards end in -enta, and all of them except vinte have an obvious relationship with their root digit โ€“ e.g. โ€œoitoโ€ and โ€œoitentaโ€.

How to Remember these Portuguese Numbers with a Pattern

In order to say a number between a multiple of 10, such as 99, follow this pattern:

โœ…ย Pick the correct multiple of ten (let’s say noventa)
โœ… Translate the number from the units column (in this case nove)
โœ… Join them together with an e โ€“ noventa e nove.

Unlike with 16 (dezesseis), 17 (dezessete) and 19 (dezenove), you write this as three separate words. This pattern is the same for all numbers between twenty and ninety-nine.

NOTE: In European Portuguese, you do not change the e to an a.

Once you have learned how to say โ€œone hundredโ€ โ€“ cem – you’ll know how to count from 1 to 100 in Portuguese.

And, remember, when counting in Portuguese, for any number ending in one or two, you need to use the correct form of um/uma or dois/duas.

See the below examples:

๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น Somos vinte e duas pessoasโ€“ โ€œthere are twenty-two of usโ€ (literally: โ€œwe’re twenty-two people)
๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น Li trinta e um livros esse ano jรกโ€“ โ€œI’ve already read thirty-one books this yearโ€

‘Hundreds’ Numbers in Portuguese

Now, let’s learn how to say multiples of 100 in Portuguese. Once you’ve learned this, you’ll know how to say any number up to one thousand.

Like many other European languages (Latin ones anyway), Portuguese numbers in the hundreds (600, 700, 800, etc) have masculine and feminine forms. This means that they need to agree with the noun next to which they appear.

The masculine form ends in -os and the feminine form in -as. These numbers in Portuguese written are as below:

200 โ€“ duzentos/duzentas

300 โ€“ trezentos/trezentas

400 โ€“ quatrocentos/quatrocentas

500 โ€“ quinhentos/quinhentas

600 โ€“ seiscentos/seiscentas

700 โ€“ setecentos/setecentas

800 โ€“ oitocentos/oitocentas

900 โ€“ novecentos/novecentas

This is pretty easy when put into practice. The hundreds number is centos, and the number which indicates the number of hundreds stays the same. For example, four-hundred is quatro (four) + centos/centas (hundreds).

The only ones that don’t follow this pattern in the target language are duzentos, trezentos, and quinhentos. So, you just need to learn these, which can be a little challenging for English speakers.

More Portuguese Numbers in the Hundreds

Finally, remember to separate the hundreds, units, and tens portion of any number with an e:

121 โ€“ cento e vinte e um

487 โ€“ quatrocentos e oitenta e sete

701 โ€“ setecentos e um

811 โ€“ oitocentos e onze

940 โ€“ novecentos e quarenta

‘Thousands’ and Beyond Numbers in Portuguese

So far, we’ve learned numbers in Portuguese up to 1,000. You should now be able to count this far.ย 

But what about numbers in the thousands? In Portuguese,mil means โ€œ(one) thousandโ€ and um milhรฃo means โ€œone millionโ€.ย 

In the plural, ‘milhรฃo’ becomes ‘milhรตes’ but the word ‘mil’ does not change.

So you’d say vinte e trรชs mil (23,000) but dois milhรตes (2,000,000).

A billion in Portuguese is um bilhรฃo, often spelled in Brazil as um biliรฃo.

Normally, it is not necessary to add an ‘e‘ when linking hundreds and thousands. For example:

1,202 โ€“ mil duzentos e dois

2,052 โ€“ dois mil cincuenta e dois

๐Ÿ‘ You need to insert an e if the number is an exact multiple of one hundred:

1,200 โ€“ mil e duzentos

5,300 โ€“ cinco mil e trezentos

2,400 โ€“ dois mil e quatrocentos

34,200 โ€“ trinta e quatro mil 2 duzentos

๐Ÿ‘ You need to add an e in spoken and written Portuguese when linking separate thousands and units:

2,009 โ€“ dois mil e nove

3,009 โ€“ trรชs mil e nove

6,002 โ€“ seis mil e dois

2,002 โ€“ dois mil e dois

4,009 โ€“ quatro mil e nove

๐Ÿ‘ In Portuguese, when using milhรตes, you don’t have โ€œa million thingsโ€ (um milhรฃo coisas) like in English. Instead, you have โ€œa million of thingsโ€: um milhรฃo de coisas.

Decimal Points and Commas

In the English language, we make long numbers easier to read or understand by placing a comma in between each group of three digits. For example, five million is written โ€œ5,000,000โ€.

For fractional numbers, we separate numbers by placing a decimal point (e.g. 3.14159) wherever appropriate.

In Portuguese, this numerical/grammatical practice exists but is used in different ways.

As is the case in most European languages, large numbers are split up using dots, and fractional numbers are written using a decimal comma โ€“ the vรญrgula da casa decimal:

๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น A populaรงรฃo do Brasil e 208.494.900 – The population of Brazil is 208,494,900

๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น O valor de pi รฉ 3,1419 – The value of Pi is 3.1419

Notice that we’d use the comma and decimal point the other way round here?

Crop young positive female smiling and taking notes in organizer while cat watching on netbook at table at home

Ordinal and Cardinal Numbers in Portuguese

In this post so far, we’ve been through cardinal numbers in Portuguese โ€“ โ€œone, two, threeโ€, etc.

But what about if you want to use ordinal numbers? โ€“ โ€œfirst, second, thirdโ€, etc.

Well, here they are. You’ll notice they are much like Spanish, French and Italian, which is no real surprise!

These are used in European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese.

1st โ€“ primeiro

2nd โ€“ segundo

3rd โ€“ terceiro

4th โ€“ quarto

5th โ€“ quinto

6th โ€“ sexto

7th โ€“ sรฉtimo

8th โ€“ oitavo

9th โ€“ nono

10th โ€“ dรฉcimo

Remember, like cardinal numbers, ordinal numbers in Portuguese work like regular adjectives. This means that they have to agree in gender and number with the word they refer to:

๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น a primeira mulher โ€“ โ€œthe first womanโ€
๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น o terceiro carroโ€“ โ€œthe third carโ€
๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น os terceiros gruposโ€“ โ€œthe third groupsโ€
๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น as quartas maรงรฃs โ€“ โ€œthe fourth applesโ€

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Ordinal numbers in Portuguese for multiples of 10

20th โ€“ vigรฉsimo

30th โ€“ trigรฉsimo

40th โ€“ quadragรฉsimo

50th โ€“ quinquagรฉsimo

60th โ€“ sexagรฉsimo

70th โ€“ septuagรฉsimo

80th โ€“ octogรฉsimo

90th โ€“ nonagรฉsimo

100th โ€“ centรฉsimo

Then you can combine these words to get other numbers:

11th โ€“ dรฉcimo primeiro

34th โ€“ trigรฉsimo quarto

How easy is that? Almost as easy as English ๐Ÿ˜‰

Using Numbers for Dates and Years

Take a look at this date – โ€œ1979โ€. In English, if we are saying this like a year or date, we’d say โ€œnineteen seventy-nineโ€.

On the other hand, if you’re simply referring to the number, you’d say โ€œone thousand, nine hundred and seventy-nineโ€.

In Portuguese, and many other languages, to say the same of the year you just say the regular name of the number.

So the year 1973 in Portuguese is mil novecentos, setenta e nove.

๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡นโ€œEu nasci em 1979โ€ – โ€œI was born in 1979โ€

A Phrase Relating to Numbers

In Portuguese, it is common to use a fixed phrase instead of a specific number. This is also the case in English.

Think about it, sometimes we may ask for half a dozen apples instead of six, or refer to 50 years as โ€œhalf a century.โ€

Below, you’ll find a common phrase relating to Portuguese numbers found only in Brazilian Portuguese.

โ€œMeiaโ€ in Brazilian Portuguese

In Brazil it is common to hear people saying the word meia when reading a list of numbers. This is another way to say โ€œsixโ€, and it comes from meia dรบzia โ€“ โ€œhalf dozenโ€.

Think about the fact that in English we often say โ€œohโ€ instead of โ€œzeroโ€ when providing a phone number. Well, Brazilians do the same, except they replace seis with meia.

Summarizing what we’ve learned about Portuguese Numbers

We’ve covered a lot in this article, so let’s recap the main points.

โœ… Cardinal numbers in Portuguese work a lot like English numbers, so you’ll have no problem learning Portuguese numbers from 0 – 1,000.
โœ… Ordinal numbers are very similar to Spanish and Italian, and Portuguese numbers for dates and years are written just like the numbers in English.
โœ… In Portuguese, we use decimal points for fractions of a number.
โœ… Finally, Brazilian Portuguese is different from European Portuguese in several ways, including numbers.We hope you have found this article useful and that you now feel confident counting in Portuguese.

If you’re serious about learning Portuguese and becoming fluent faster, why not take a look at our full list of Portuguese Courses? Good luck!

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Author bio:

James is the founder of travel-lingual.com, this online travel, and language blog. He is a tutor of English, Spanish and French. Furthermore, he has visited 35 countries and has tried dozens of Portuguese courses to date.

He has worked as a language teacher in France, Spain, Argentina, and Costa Rica. His love of languages led him to create this blog, to share best practices in language learning and inspire others to learn!

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