This intensive course is for language learners striving toward the B1 level.
My suggestion* for these two weeks is to focus on:
*There's always room to adjust the course according to the group's preferences:
After this course, you'll have come closer to the B1 level and have the tools and strategies to get there and beyond.
Not sure if you should enroll in the A2 or B1 course?
Geared toward Absolute Beginners, this course gives you a solid start and foundation to build upon.
This is an introductory course to the Portuguese language as spoken in Portugal. Throughout the course, we will focus on the Portuguese sound system and basic Portuguese grammar.
You will also learn how to introduce yourself and day-to-day, useful phrases. Finally, we will discuss learning resources and strategies to support your learning journey.
After the course, you will have a basic understanding of European Portuguese pronunciation and grammar. You will also be capable of engaging in simple, short oral interactions. Last but not least, you will be aware of a variety of learning resources and strategies to help you succeed at learning the language.
I will keep you updated on upcoming course seasons
This intensive course is for language learners striving toward the A2 level.
My suggestion* for these two weeks is to focus on:
*There's always room to adjust the course according to the group's preferences:
After this course, you'll have come closer to the A2 level and have the tools and strategies to get there and beyond.
Not sure if you should enroll in the A2 or B1 course?
This intensive course is for language learners striving toward the A1 level.
If you have just started your learning journey, you may find this course too challenging. Consider enrolling for the Clean Slate A0 instead (if available).
This is an all-round course, meaning that we’ll work on all aspects of language learning (at the A1 level):
After this course, you'll have come closer to the A1 level and have the tools and strategies to get there and beyond.
Not sure if you should enroll in the A1 or A2 course?
Learning to say the numbers in Portuguese is one of those things you want to achieve as soon as possible in your language-learning journey.
You see, numbers pop up all the time in everyday life conversations and you’ll often need to recall them on the fly when talking to people. If you’re not able to do that, your conversational flow will suffer.
Here’s the first glance at Portuguese numbers:
| 1 – um/uma | 12 – doze | […] |
| 2 – dois/duas | 13 – treze | 30 – trinta |
| 3 – três | 14 – catorze | 40 – quarenta |
| 4 – quatro | 15 – quinze | 50 – cinquenta |
| 5 – cinco | 16 – dezasseis | 60 – sessenta |
| 6 – seis | 17 – dezassete | 70 – setenta |
| 7 – sete | 18 – dezoito | 80 – oitenta |
| 8 – oito | 19 – dezanove | 90 – noventa |
| 9 – nove | 20 – vinte | 100 – cem |
| 10 – dez | 21 – vinte e um | 1.000 – mil |
| 11 – onze | 22 – vinte e dois | 1.000.000 – milhão |
In what follows, I will walk you through the logic behind counting in Portuguese and, of course, will make sure that you pronounce the numbers correctly.
It is one thing to know the Portuguese numbers. It is another to be able to recall them at will. The best way to develop such readiness is to practice saying Portuguese numbers as you go through your day (in-context practice).
You see, even intermediate-level students already acquainted with Portuguese numbers still struggle to recall them in conversation.
Imagine the following situation. You’re learning Portuguese and you’re brave enough to approach people in your target language. You say Hi! and introduce yourself. The other person replies and the conversation is flowing well until …
Well, until you want to mention, say, your age! You go, Uh uh, you get stuck there. Has that ever happened to you?
It probably has. And that’s in part a positive thing because it means that you’ve been daring to talk in Portuguese, well done!
But at the same time, it is a pity that your conversational flow systematically gets interrupted whenever you need to mention your age or recall any numeral for any other reason.
Here’s the thing – you must go beyond learning the numbers. You’ve got to etch them on your brain so that you’ll have them at hand.
How do we achieve that? Practice. Daily practice.
Integrate it into your day-to-day life. Maybe you’re playing a board game or cards and you need to keep score – well, do it in Portuguese then. Or maybe you’re killing some time doing sudoku – say those numbers aloud in Portuguese as you go through it.
There are certainly several other everyday life situations where you can drill Portuguese numbers. Just keep tapping into those daily opportunities and, before you know it, Portuguese numbers will be second nature to you.
Reading tips! Daily practice is a vital principle of language learning in general. Here’re a couple of articles on must-know learning strategies:
1. Mindsets and Strategies to Learn Portuguese the Best
2. Here’s How to Push Through Your Portuguese Speaking Skills
As far as logic is concerned, counting in Portuguese is quite similar to counting in English. You learn the basic blocks – the units, tens, hundreds, and so on – and everything else builds on that.
Let’s take a closer look at it.
| 0 | zero |
| 1 | um/uma |
| 2 | dois/duas |
| 3 | três |
| 4 | quatro |
| 5 | cinco |
| 6 | seis |
| 7 | sete |
| 8 | oito |
| 9 | nove |
| 10 | dez |
The numbers 1 and 2 take different endings according to gender.
Um agrees with masculine nouns, whereas uma agrees with feminine nouns. The same goes for dois and duas, that is, they agree with masculine and feminine nouns respectively.
Further reading! As you may have noticed, the gender dimension is very pervasive in Portuguese. Learn more about it in this article: Disentangling Gender with Portuguese Masculine-to-Feminine Spelling Patterns.
Note the nasal sound in um! All Portuguese words ending with the letter m produce that nasal sound. So, make sure that the air flows out through your nose when you say um.
Numbers 2, 3, and 6 end with the letter s. That means that you’ll pronounce those last syllables with a sh-sound, as in sheep. The same applies to the number 10 that ends with the consonant z. All Portuguese words ending with either s or z produce that same sh-sound.
Now listen carefully to numbers 7 and 9. Did you notice that you hardly hear that e at the end? It is almost mute, right? That’s the case for most Portuguese words ending with the vowel e.
| 11 | onze |
| 12 | doze |
| 13 | treze |
| 14 | catorze |
| 15 | quinze |
| 16 | dezasseis |
| 17 | dezassete |
| 18 | dezoito |
| 19 | dezanove |
| 20 | vinte |
Again, you can barely hear that last vowel e in the numbers 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, and 20.
And what about the double-s on 16 and 17? In Portuguese, whenever the s gets trapped in between vowels (take the word casa for example), it will produce a voiced sound, as in zebra or these. The double-s, however, always renders an unvoiced s-sound, as in simple.
Pay attention to how we pronounce 15. You don’t hear the u-sound when you say quinze, do you? In general, we don’t pronounce the u on qui-syllables. The same applies to que-syllables. But! We pronounce u on qua-syllables, as in quatro.
Further reading! Learn more about Portuguese phonology and spelling-sound patterns: Portuguese Pronunciation: A Helpful Guide to Portuguese Basic Sounds and Spelling Patterns.
| 21 | vinte e um/uma |
| 22 | vinte e dois/duas |
| 23 | vinte e três |
| . . . | . . . |
| 30 | trinta |
| 40 | quarenta |
| 50 | cinquenta |
| 60 | sessenta |
| 70 | setenta |
| 80 | oitenta |
| 90 | noventa |
| 100 | cem |
After twenty, we just go on counting, easy! We put together the tens and the units. Mind that we always write and pronounce that little e (and) between the tens and units.
And of course, you’ll need to learn the tens (10 and its multiples) all the way up to 100.
Btw! Do you remember what I’ve just said above about how to pronounce qui and que syllables? Well, there is no rule without an exception – the number 50, cinquenta, is one such exception where we pronounce that u.
| 101 | cento e um/uma |
| 102 | cento e dois/duas |
| 103 | cento e três |
| 110 | cento e dez |
| 145 | cento e quarenta e cinco |
| . . . | . . . |
| 200 | duzentos |
| 300 | trezentos |
| 400 | quatrocentos |
| 500 | quinhentos |
| 600 | seiscentos |
| 700 | setecentos |
| 800 | oitocentos |
| 900 | novecentos |
| 1000 | mil |
We go on through the hundreds (100 and its multiples) until we reach 1000. Note that after cem (100), you’ll switch over to cento. Again, don’t forget that e between the tens and units, and the hundreds and tens.
One more thing to keep in mind! The hundreds (200 and upwards) change endings according to gender. We say duzentas casas (a casa), but we say duzentos carros (o carro).
| 1001 | mil e um/uma |
| 1020 | mil e vinte |
| 1200 | mil e duzentos |
| 1215 | mil duzentos e quinze |
| 1900 | mil e novecentos |
| 1981 | mil novecentos e oitenta e um/uma |
| 2000 | dois mil |
| 10 000 | dez mil |
| 25 000 | vinte e cinco mil |
| 300 000 | trezentos mil |
| 555 500 | quinhentos e cinquenta e cinco mil e quinhentos |
| 555 555 | quinhentos e cinquenta e cinco mil quinhentos e cinquenta e cinco |
| 106 | um milhão |
| 109 | mil milhões |
| 1012 | um bilião |
| 1015 | mil biliões |
| 1018 | um trilião |
| . . . | . . . |
| ∞ | infinito |
After 1000, we basically apply the same logic as before. Still, there are a few things to keep in mind.
First off, we don’t say that e between thousands and hundreds, as in 1981. But! We do say e with plain multiples of 100, as in 1200 or 1900 (see the table above).
Also, we say e between thousands and tens, or between thousands and units, as in 1020 and 1001 respectively.
When counting in thousands, we say e as we normally do between hundreds and tens, and tens and units, as in 555 5555.
European vs Brazilian! Both bilião and trilião is European spelling, whereas bilhão and trilhão is Brazilian. Most importantly, they mean different things. Bilião corresponds to one million million in Portugal, whereas bilhão in Brazil corresponds to a thousand million. Trilião amounts to one million billion in Portugal, whereas trilhão in Brazil equals a thousand billion.
Learn more about how the European and Brazilian standards compare: European vs. Brazilian Portuguese – How Different Are They, Really?
The ordinal numbers in Portuguese take different endings according to gender and number:
| 1st | primeiro(s) primeira(s) |
| 2nd | segundo(s) segunda(s) |
| 3rd | terceiro(s) terceira(s) |
| 4th | quarto(s) quarta(s) |
| 5th | quinto(s) quinta(s) |
| 6th | sexto(s) sexta(s) |
| 7th | sétimo(s) sétima(s) |
| 8th | oitavo(s) oitava(s) |
| 9th | nono(s) nona(s) |
| 10th | décimo(s) décima(s) |
| 11th | décimo-primeiro(s) décima-primeira(s) |
| 12th | décimo-segundo(s) décima-segunda(s) |
| . . . | . . . |
| 20th | vigésimo(s) vigésima(s) |
| 21st | vigésimo-primeiro(s) vigésima-primeira(s) |
| 22nd | vigésimo-segundo(s) vigésima-segundo(s) |
| . . . | . . . |
| 30th | trigésimo(s) trigésima(s) |
| 40th | quadragésimo(s) quadragésima(s) |
| 50th | quinquagésimo(s) quinquagésima(s) |
| . . . | . . . |
As in English, we use ordinal numbers when we rank something.
But! Unlike English, we use the “normal” numbers to refer to the days in the month. For instance, we say vinte e cinco de maio (25th of May). Accordingly, the sentence he turns 25 on the second of April translates to ele faz 25 anos a dois de abril.
Reading tips! Learn more about the similarities and differences between Portuguese and English grammar: Portuguese Grammar Compared to English.
Break Free from the Tyranny of the Present Tense
Stay tuned for upcoming online courses and other learning materials.