How to count in Portuguese (Portugal)

Enter a number and read it spelled out in Portuguese (Portugal).

Language overview

Portugues (português) is a romance language from the indo-european family. Originating from Portugal, it has evolved into different dialects and creoles in Brasil, in five African countries (Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe) as well as in Macau and East Timor. Regulated by the Lisbon Science Academy (Academia das Ciências de Lisboa), it is roughly spoken by 10 million people in Portugal alone and 170 million people in Brasil where Brazilean Portuguese is in use with mostly spelling and pronunciation differences.

Portuguese (Portugal) numbering rules

  • Digits and numbers from zero to fifteen are specific words, namely zero [0], um [1], dois [2], três [3], quatro [4], cinco [5], seis [6], sete [7], oito [8], nove [9], dez [10], onze [11], doze [12], treze [13], catorze [14], quinze [15]. Sixteen to nineteen are regular numbers, i.e. named after the ten and the digit, and written phonetically: dezasseis [10 and 6], dezassete [10 and 7], dezoito [10 and 8], dezanove [10 and 9].
  • The tens have specific names based on the digits roots except for ten and twenty: dez [10], vinte [20], trinta [30], quarenta [40], cinquenta [50], sessenta [60], setenta [70], oitenta [80] and noventa [90].
  • The same applies for the hundreds: cem [100] (plural centos), duzentos [200], trezentos [300], quatrocentos [400], quinhentos [500], seiscentos [600], setecentos [700], oitocentos [800], novecentos [900].
  • Tens and units are linked with e (and), as in trinta e cinco [35], as well as hundreds and tens (e.g.: cento e quarenta e seis [146]), but not thousands and hundreds, unless the number ends with a hundred with two zeroes (e.g.: dois mil e trezentos [2,300], but dois mil trezentos e sete [2,307]). E is also used to link thousands and units (e.g.: quatro mil e cinco [4,005]).
  • The main differences between Portuguese from Portugal and Brazilean Portuguese is on one hand the spelling of some numbers (e.g.: dezassete (P) vs. dezessete (B) [17], cinquenta (P) vs. cinqüenta (B) [50]), and on the other hand, the difference of scale. Portugal uses the long scale where every new word greater than a million is one million times bigger than the previous term, whereas Brazil uses the short scale (where the one thousand factor is replaced by one million). For example, um bilhão in Portugal is 1012 (one trillion in the US), and 109 in Brazil (where 1012 is um trilhão, the same as the US trillion).

Books

  • In English
    • Portuguese grammar: a complete, concise and practical reference, Sonia Celegatti Althoff (2008)
  • In French

Numbers list

1 – um
2 – dois
3 – três
4 – quatro
5 – cinco
6 – seis
7 – sete
8 – oito
9 – nove
10 – dez
11 – onze
12 – doze
13 – treze
14 – catorze
15 – quinze
16 – dezasseis
17 – dezassete
18 – dezoito
19 – dezanove
20 – vinte
30 – trinta
40 – quarenta
50 – cinquenta
60 – sessenta
70 – setenta
80 – oitenta
90 – noventa
100 – cem
1,000 – um mil
one million – um milhão
one billion – mil milhões
one trillion – um bilião

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