Numbers in Portuguese
Why Learn Portuguese Numbers?
Why devote time specifically to Portuguese numbers? Quite simply, numbers shape our daily life. Whether it’s discussing the temperature in São Paulo, paying for groceries in Luanda, or scheduling a meeting in Porto, numbers form a universal language. However, their expressions vary from country to country.
- Travel and Culture: You’ll easily handle bus schedules, hotel reservations, or restaurant bills.
- Professional Edge: In business settings, being able to talk finances, quantities, and data in Portuguese can set you apart.
- Social Interaction: Making small talk, sharing phone numbers, or discussing sports scores is way more comfortable if you have a solid number vocabulary.
Think of mastering numbers as planting a seed. Once it sprouts, it enriches your overall language capability. Soon, grammar, vocabulary, and even slang will seem easier, because you already have the numeric foundation to handle everyday conversations.
Basic Counting from 0 to 10
When you start learning a new language, numbers 0 through 10 often come first. In Portuguese, these numbers are:
- 0 – zero
- 1 – um (masculine), uma (feminine)
- 2 – dois (masculine), duas (feminine)
- 3 – três
- 4 – quatro
- 5 – cinco
- 6 – seis
- 7 – sete
- 8 – oito
- 9 – nove
- 10 – dez
Pronunciation Tips
- The “r” in “três” can sound slightly rolled, but not as strongly as in Spanish.
- “Oito” is pronounced like “OY-toh,” not “OH-ee-toh.”
- “Nove” sounds like “NO-vee.”
Mastering Teens and Tens (11-99)
Once you’ve got 0 to 10 down, moving on to teen numbers and the tens is the next logical step. Let’s break it down:
- 11 – onze
- 12 – doze
- 13 – treze
- 14 – catorze or quatorze (depends on the region)
- 15 – quinze
- 16 – dezesseis (Brazil), dezasseis (Portugal)
- … and so on until 19 (dezenove in Brazil, dezanove in Portugal)
- 20 – vinte
- 30 – trinta
- 40 – quarenta
- 50 – cinquenta
- 60 – sessenta
- 70 – setenta
- 80 – oitenta
- 90 – noventa
Numbers between tens, like 21, 22, etc., are typically formed by combining the ten with “e” (meaning “and”). For instance, 21 is “vinte e um/uma.”
