Numbers in Brazilian Portuguese: 0 to Billions, Prices, Dates, Time & Phone Numbers
From Zero to a Billion — and Into Everyday Brazilian Life
Counting is the easy part. The useful part is knowing what happens when numbers meet gender, money, dates, time, phone numbers, addresses, percentages, and real Brazilian speech. This guide takes you from zero to bilhão without treating numbers as an isolated vocabulary list.
Numbers 0–20 in Brazilian Portuguese
These are the forms worth memorizing before you rely on patterns:
| Number | Portuguese | Number | Portuguese |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | zero | 11 | onze |
| 1 | um / uma | 12 | doze |
| 2 | dois / duas | 13 | treze |
| 3 | três | 14 | catorze / quatorze |
| 4 | quatro | 15 | quinze |
| 5 | cinco | 16 | dezesseis |
| 6 | seis | 17 | dezessete |
| 7 | sete | 18 | dezoito |
| 8 | oito | 19 | dezenove |
| 9 | nove | 20 | vinte |
| 10 | dez |
The Tens: 20, 30, 40… 90
From 21 to 99, the pattern is straightforward: tens + e + units.
The conjunction e literally means “and,” but inside number words it is part of the normal structure. English says “twenty-one”; Portuguese says vinte e um.
Hundreds: 100–999
| Number | Masculine / general form | Feminine form when applicable |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | cem | cem |
| 200 | duzentos | duzentas |
| 300 | trezentos | trezentas |
| 400 | quatrocentos | quatrocentas |
| 500 | quinhentos | quinhentas |
| 600 | seiscentos | seiscentas |
| 700 | setecentos | setecentas |
| 800 | oitocentos | oitocentas |
| 900 | novecentos | novecentas |
Cem vs. cento
cem pessoas · cem reais · cem quilômetros
101 = cento e um
125 = cento e vinte e cinco
199 = cento e noventa e nove
When Do You Use E Inside a Number?
Portuguese uses e between hundreds, tens, and units:
With thousands, the pattern is slightly more nuanced. Brazilian official writing guidance gives examples such as:
| Number | Written out | What to notice |
|---|---|---|
| 1,009 | mil e nove | e connects the thousand to a remainder below 100 |
| 1,100 | mil e cem | e is used when the number ends in an exact hundred |
| 1,200 | mil e duzentos | exact hundred after mil |
| 1,409 | mil quatrocentos e nove | no e immediately after mil |
| 2,525 | dois mil quinhentos e vinte e cinco | the internal e connects hundred/tens/units |
You do not need to memorize an abstract formula before speaking. Learn several complete examples and the pattern becomes predictable.
Thousands, Millions, Billions, and Trillions
| Number | Brazilian Portuguese |
|---|---|
| 1,000 | mil |
| 2,000 | dois mil |
| 10,000 | dez mil |
| 100,000 | cem mil |
| 1,000,000 | um milhão |
| 2,000,000 | dois milhões |
| 1,000,000,000 | um bilhão |
| 1,000,000,000,000 | um trilhão |
Say mil, not um mil
Mil does not take a plural ending when it is the numeral: dois mil, not dois mils.
Milhão and milhões
Notice the preposition de before the noun after a round quantity with milhão/milhões.
Brazilian bilhão = English billion
This matters because large-number terminology differs across Portuguese varieties. If your target is Brazil, use the Brazilian forms above. Our Brazilian vs. European Portuguese guide explains why learners should avoid mixing varieties randomly.
The Numbers That Change With Gender
English numbers do not care whether the noun is masculine or feminine. Portuguese sometimes does.
1: um / uma
um livro — one book
uma casa — one house
2: dois / duas
dois carros — two cars
duas pessoas — two people
200+
duzentos alunos
duzentas pessoas
Compound numbers
duzentas e uma páginas — 201 pages
For English speakers, this is one of the easiest number mistakes to make because the mathematical value is unchanged even when the grammar is wrong.
Money and Prices in Brazil
Brazil’s currency is the real. The plural is reais.
| Written price | Natural reading |
|---|---|
| R$1,00 | um real |
| R$2,00 | dois reais |
| R$10,50 | dez reais e cinquenta centavos |
| R$25,90 | vinte e cinco reais e noventa centavos |
| R$100,00 | cem reais |
| R$1.250,00 | mil duzentos e cinquenta reais |
| R$2.000,00 | dois mil reais |
In Brazil, a comma is conventionally used as the decimal separator and a period separates thousands in standard written numbers:
mil duzentos e cinquenta reais e setenta e cinco centavos
When ordering food or asking for the bill, numbers become much more useful than isolated counting practice. See our guide to ordering food in Brazilian Portuguese for restaurant dialogues where prices and quantities appear naturally.
Decimals, Percentages, and Fractions
Decimals
Percentages
Fractions
| Fraction | Portuguese | English |
|---|---|---|
| 1/2 | meio / metade | half |
| 1/3 | um terço | one third |
| 2/3 | dois terços | two thirds |
| 1/4 | um quarto | one quarter |
| 3/4 | três quartos | three quarters |
Dates and Years in Brazilian Portuguese
Brazilian dates normally follow day / month / year order.
When written out in running text, month names are normally lowercase: 11 de agosto de 2026.
The first day of the month is special
For the other days, use cardinal numbers:
How to say years
| Year | Brazilian Portuguese |
|---|---|
| 1998 | mil novecentos e noventa e oito |
| 2000 | dois mil |
| 2005 | dois mil e cinco |
| 2026 | dois mil e vinte e seis |
Do not automatically copy the English habit of reading years in two two-digit chunks. The normal Brazilian reading treats the year as a Portuguese cardinal number.
Telling Time: One Small Grammar Rule Matters
What time is it?
At one o’clock, Portuguese uses singular agreement:
It’s one o’clock.
From two onward:
It’s two o’clock.
It’s 3:15.
It’s 3:30.
It’s fifteen to four.
In schedules and timetables, you will often see the 24-hour clock:
18h30 → dezoito horas e trinta minutos
In everyday conversation, people also use 12-hour expressions such as três da tarde and oito da noite.
How Brazilian Phone Numbers Work
Brazilian phone numbers are identifiers, not ordinary cardinal numbers. People usually read them in manageable chunks or digit groups instead of trying to turn the entire sequence into one enormous number.
According to Anatel’s Brazilian numbering plan, standard subscriber numbers currently have:
- 9 digits for mobile phones
- 8 digits for fixed lines
- a two-digit area code (DDD) when the area code is included
There is no single mandatory conversational grouping for reading every phone number. Brazilians may say individual digits, pairs, or short chunks depending on the number and the speaker. For a learner, the safest skill is being able to recognize digits quickly and repeat the number back in chunks.
A: Qual é o seu número?
B: É DDD trinta e um…
A: Espera. Pode repetir mais devagar?
B: Claro.
Can you repeat the numbers?
Addresses, Apartment Numbers, Bus Lines, and Codes
Street numbers
número 245 can be read duzentos e quarenta e cinco.
Apartment / room numbers
A number such as 203 may be read as duzentos e três, although identifiers can also be chunked depending on context.
Bus lines
Because the number is an identifier, local habits can influence how people read it. Listening to the local pattern matters more than forcing one universal rule.
Codes
PINs, confirmation codes, and similar sequences are usually easier to communicate digit by digit or in short chunks.
Ordinal Numbers: First, Second, Third…
Cardinal numbers answer “how many?” Ordinals answer “which position?”
| Number | Masculine | Feminine | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | primeiro | primeira | first |
| 2nd | segundo | segunda | second |
| 3rd | terceiro | terceira | third |
| 4th | quarto | quarta | fourth |
| 5th | quinto | quinta | fifth |
| 6th | sexto | sexta | sixth |
| 7th | sétimo | sétima | seventh |
| 8th | oitavo | oitava | eighth |
| 9th | nono | nona | ninth |
| 10th | décimo | décima | tenth |
a segunda vez — the second time
o terceiro lugar — third place
Numbers You Actually Need in Real Brazilian Life
Counting from 1 to 100 is less useful than being able to retrieve numbers inside common sentence patterns.
| Situation | Portuguese | English |
|---|---|---|
| age | Eu tenho trinta anos. | I’m thirty years old. |
| price | Quanto custa? — Vinte e cinco reais. | How much is it? — 25 reais. |
| quantity | Quero duas águas, por favor. | I’d like two waters, please. |
| time | A aula começa às quatro. | The class starts at four. |
| date | É dia quinze de setembro. | It’s September 15. |
| temperature | Hoje está fazendo trinta graus. | It’s 30 degrees today. |
| distance | Fica a dois quilômetros daqui. | It’s two kilometers from here. |
| floor | É no quinto andar. | It’s on the fifth floor. |
| percentage | Vinte por cento de desconto. | 20% off. |
| phone | Pode repetir o número? | Can you repeat the number? |
Literally: “I have thirty years.”
Natural English: “I am thirty years old.”
Numbers often expose grammar differences that are invisible in a flashcard deck. This is why learning them in sentences is more effective than simply reciting um, dois, três….
10 Common Number Mistakes English Speakers Make
1. Saying dois pessoas
Use gender agreement: duas pessoas.
2. Saying cento for exactly 100
Exactly 100 is cem. Use cento when another part follows.
3. Saying um mil
The normal numeral is simply mil.
4. Forgetting gender in the hundreds
duzentas pessoas, quinhentas páginas.
5. Forgetting de after round millions
dois milhões de pessoas, um milhão de reais.
6. Reading Brazilian commas like English commas
2,5 is dois vírgula cinco.
7. Writing a Brazilian date in U.S. order
Brazil normally uses day/month/year: 11/08/2026.
8. Saying são uma hora
Use singular at one: É uma hora.
9. Translating age with ser
Portuguese uses ter: Tenho trinta anos.
10. Reading every digit sequence as one cardinal number
Phone numbers, codes, bus lines, and other identifiers are often read in chunks.
Mini Practice
quarenta e dois
cento e um
duzentas mulheres
mil pessoas
dois milhões de pessoas
vinte e cinco reais e cinquenta centavos
doze vírgula cinco por cento
primeiro de maio
É uma hora.
Tenho trinta anos.
A Better Way to Practice Numbers
- Read five prices from a Brazilian supermarket or restaurant menu.
- Say five dates that matter to you.
- Say the current time at five different moments of the day.
- Practice three ages using ter + number + anos.
- Read an illustrative phone number back in short chunks.
- Read a percentage, a decimal, and a large population figure.
- Make one sentence with a feminine number: duas pessoas, duzentas páginas.
If you are building your Brazilian Portuguese from the beginning, combine this with our practical Brazilian Portuguese learning roadmap rather than treating numbers as a standalone unit you study once and forget.
The goal is not to count. It is to understand the number before the conversation moves on.
Prices, dates, addresses, times, and phone numbers are difficult because they arrive quickly and carry a lot of information. Train them inside real contexts until trinta e cinco feels like 35 immediately—not like three Portuguese words you have to translate.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you count from 1 to 10 in Brazilian Portuguese?
Um/uma, dois/duas, três, quatro, cinco, seis, sete, oito, nove, dez. The forms for one and two can change according to the gender of the noun.
What is the difference between cem and cento?
Cem means exactly 100. Use cento when another part follows: cento e um, cento e vinte, cento e noventa e nove.
Do Portuguese numbers have gender?
Some do. One is um/uma, two is dois/duas, and the hundreds from 200 onward agree with the noun: duzentos livros but duzentas páginas.
How do you say 1,000 in Portuguese?
Say mil, not normally um mil. Two thousand is dois mil, ten thousand is dez mil.
How do you say one million and one billion in Brazilian Portuguese?
One million is um milhão. One billion is um bilhão. One trillion in Brazilian Portuguese is um trilhão.
How do Brazilians write decimals?
Brazilian convention uses a comma as the decimal separator: 2,5. Standard written numbers commonly use a period for thousands: 2.500.
How do you read prices in Brazilian Portuguese?
R$25,50 can be read vinte e cinco reais e cinquenta centavos. The singular is um real; the plural is dois reais.
How are dates written in Brazil?
Brazil normally uses day/month/year. In running text, write forms such as 11 de agosto de 2026. The first day of a month is commonly primeiro: 1º de maio.
How do you say one o’clock in Portuguese?
Use singular: É uma hora. From two onward use plural: São duas horas, São três horas.
How many digits are in a Brazilian phone number?
Anatel’s numbering plan specifies nine subscriber digits for standard mobile numbers and eight for fixed lines, with a two-digit area code when the DDD is included.
Research and Editorial Basis
This reconstruction replaces the older version of the article, which mixed Brazilian and European Portuguese too heavily and treated numbers mainly as a counting list. The new version is built around Brazilian usage and the situations English-speaking learners actually need: money, dates, time, gender agreement, large numbers, percentages, and phone numbers.
- Câmara Municipal de Belo Horizonte — Guia de Redação: Algarismo ou extenso: guidance on writing compound numbers, use of e, thousands, millions, monetary values, decimals, percentages, and ordinals.
- FUNAG / Itamaraty — Manual de Redação: Números: Brazilian official-writing conventions for thousands separators, decimal commas, fractions, and large quantities.
- FUNAG / Itamaraty — Manual de Redação: Datas: day-month-year formatting, lowercase month names, and use of 1º for the first day of a month.
- Senado Federal — Manual de Comunicação: Números: conventions for mil, large-number notation, and numeric writing in Brazilian public communication.
- Anatel — Plano de Numeração Brasileiro: current structure of Brazilian fixed and mobile subscriber numbers.
Use Numbers Before You Have Time to Translate Them
The fastest way to make numbers useful is to hear and produce them inside actual conversation: prices, times, dates, ages, quantities, and phone numbers.
