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Cardinal Numbers by Fernanda L. Ferreira, Ph.D.

These numbers are used for counting and expressing quantities. In Portuguese, the number one has two forms: um for masculine and uma for feminine. The same is true for the number two: dois and duas. The basic number sequence that you must learn is zero through fifteen. See the following table.

TRACK 39

Numbers Zero to Fifteen

zero

zero

ZEH-roh

one

um, uma

UHN, UHN-ah

two

dois, duas

DOY-sh, DOO-ahsh

three

três

TREYSH

four

quatro

KWA-troh

five

cinco

SIN-koo

six

seis

SEYSH

seven

sete

SEH-tchee, SHE-tee

eight

oito

OY-too

nine

nove

NOH-vee

ten

dez

DEH-ish

eleven

onze

OHN-zee

twelve

doze

DOH-zee

thirteen

treze

TREH-zee

fourteen

catorze

kah-TOHR-zee

fifteen

quinze

KEEN-zee

Notice that the number sete (seven) has variable pronunciation in different regions of Brazil. The speakers from the southeast, especially those from Rio de Janeiro, will have a more palatal variant (SEH-tchee), which is heard with the combinations te and ti, such as the word tia (aunt), pronounced TCHEE-ah. Now the next set of numbers is a combination of “ten” plus a unit number. See the following table:

TRACK 40

Numbers Sixteen to Nineteen

sixteen

dezesseis

deh-zeh-SEYSH

seventeen

dezessete

deh-zeh-SEH-tchee

eighteen

dezoito

deh-ZOY-too

nineteen

dezenove

deh-zeh-NOH-vee

Notice that the combination of — ss — indicates a soft pronunciation of an [s] sound in English, not a [z] sound that is associated with a — s — that is common between vowels. The next set of numbers is from vinte (twenty) to cem (one hundred). When we need to express the combination of tens and units, we simply use the word e (and) in between the numbers. See the following examples.

TRACK 41

Numbers Twenty to One Hundred

twenty

vinte

VEEN-tchee

twenty-one

vinte e um, uma

VEEN-tchee-ee-UHN, -UHN-ah

twenty-two

vinte e dois, duas

VEEN-tchee-ee-DOYSH, - DOO-ahsh

twenty-three

vinte e três

VEEN-tchee-ee-TREYSH

thirty

trinta

TREEN-tah

forty

quarenta

kwa-REHN-tah

fifty

cinqüenta

sin-KWEN-tah

sixty

sessenta

seh-SEHN-tah

seventy

setenta

seh-TEHN-tah

eighty

oitenta

oy-TEHN-tah

ninety

noventa

noh-VEHN-tah

one hundred

cem

SEH-in

After cem (one hundred), any combination of 100 plus another unit, such as 101, results in a change to cento (hundred) plus the word e followed by the unit. The same is repeated after each case. See the following examples.

<tgroup cols="3"> <colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="35%" colsep="0" rowsep="1" align="left"/> <colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="35%" colsep="0" rowsep="1" align="left"/> <colspec colname="col3" colnum="3" colwidth="30%" colsep="0" rowsep="1" align="left"/> <tbody> <tr> <td><p>one hundred and one</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>cento e um, uma</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>SEHN-too-ee-UHN, UHN-ah</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>one hundred and ten</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>cento e dez</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>SEHN-too-ee-DEYSH</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>one hundred and eleven</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>cento e onze</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>SENH-too-ee-OHN-zee</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>one hundred and twenty-one</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>cento e vinte e um, uma</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>SEHN-too-ee-VEEN-tchee-ee-UHN, -UHN-ah</p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <p>Starting at two hundred and up to nine hundred, the numbers have a masculine and a feminine form. These depend on what follows, if it is a masculine or a feminine noun. So, “two hundred students” could be <emphasis>duzentos alunos</emphasis> (two hundred [male] students) or <emphasis>duzentas alunas</emphasis> (two hundred [female] students). And don't forget that the rule for one and two still applied, with two forms. So, there could be <emphasis>duzentas e trinta e uma páginas</emphasis> (two hundred and thirty-one pages), where the word “page” is feminine, and thus the number one is expressed in the feminine form. See the next set of numbers below.</p> <p></p> <p>TRACK 42</p> <table frame="none" width="100%"> <h2>Numbers Two Hundred to Nine Hundred</h2> <tgroup cols="3"> <colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="35%" colsep="0" rowsep="1" align="left"/> <colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="35%" colsep="0" rowsep="1" align="left"/> <colspec colname="col3" colnum="3" colwidth="30%" colsep="0" rowsep="1" align="left"/> <tbody> <tr> <td><p>two hundred</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>duzentos</emphasis>, <emphasis>duzentas</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>doo-ZEHN-toos, doo-ZEHN-tahs</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>three hundred</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>trezentos</emphasis>, <emphasis>trezentas</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>treh-ZEHN-toos, treh-ZEHN-tahs</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>four hundred</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>quatrocentos</emphasis>, <emphasis>quatrocentas</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>kwa-troh-ZEHN-toos, kwa-troh-ZEHN-tahs</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>five hundred</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>quinhentos</emphasis>, <emphasis>quinhentas</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>keen-NHEN-toos, keen-NHEN-tahs</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>six hundred</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>seiscentos</emphasis>, <emphasis>seiscentas</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>seys-SEHN-toos, seys-SEHN-tahs</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>seven hundred</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>setecentos</emphasis>, <emphasis>setecentas</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>seh-the-SEHN-toos, seh-the SEHN-tahs</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>eight hundred</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>oitocentos</emphasis>, <emphasis>oitocentas</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>oy-too-SEHN-toos, oy-too-SEHN-tahs</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>nine hundred</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>novecentos</emphasis>, <emphasis>novecentas</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>noh-vee-SEHN-toos, noh-vee-SEHN-tahs</p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <p>After those, the number <emphasis>mil</emphasis> (one thousand) shows no variation; that is, there is no feminine counterpart. However, if the number ends in one, such as in one thousand and one, there is the normal feminine form of one, depending on the noun. An example is <emphasis>mil e uma páginas</emphasis> (one thousand and one pages), where the word “page” is feminine. See more examples below.</p> <table frame="none" width="100%"> <title/> <tgroup cols="3"> <colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="35%" colsep="0" rowsep="1" align="left"/> <colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="35%" colsep="0" rowsep="1" align="left"/> <colspec colname="col3" colnum="3" colwidth="30%" colsep="0" rowsep="1" align="left"/> <tbody> <tr> <td><p>one thousand nine hundred</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>mil e novecentos</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>meel-ee-noh-vee-SEHN-toos</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>one thousand nine hundred and two</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>mil novecentos e dois</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>meel-noh-vee-SEHN-toos-ee-DOYSH</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>one thousand nine hundred and twenty-two</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>mil novecentos e vinte e dois</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>meel-noh-vee-SEHN-toos-ee-VEEN-tchee-ee-DOYSH</p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <p>Notice that if there is a need to use <emphasis>e</emphasis> (and) after the hundreds then the first <emphasis>e</emphasis> is dropped. Remember that in the case of the years that relate to the last millennium, we don't say “nineteen hundred” but rather “one thousand, nine hundred,” and so forth.</p> <div class="npsb"> <h2></h2> <p>In Portuguese (and in most other languages), a period is used after the thousands. So the number 1,400 in English is expressed as 1.400 in Portuguese. The reverse also happens in the case of fractions. The number pi is expressed as 3,1416…with a comma, not a period, in Brazil!</p> </div> <p>You might not use the words <emphasis>um milhão</emphasis> (one million) or <emphasis>um bilhão</emphasis> (one billion) in Brazil, since inflation has been curbed in the past decades. But you might need to use them when referring to populations. These words match the English closely, unlike in Spanish dialects, where one billion is expressed as “one thousand million.” Make sure to use the preposition <emphasis>de</emphasis> after these words and before nouns, such as in <emphasis>dois milhões</emphasis> <emphasis role="Bolditalic">de</emphasis> <emphasis>pessoas</emphasis> (two million people).</p> <h2><link linkend="l26">Exercise: Translation Using Numbers</link></h2> <p>Now let's try some practice. Write in the numbers in Portuguese followed by a translation of the words. Check your answers in Appendix C.</p> <ul> <li><p>15 notebooks:</p> <p>_______________________________________________________</p></li> <li><p>83 books:</p> <p>_______________________________________________________</p></li> <li><p>379 professors:</p> <p>_______________________________________________________</p></li> <li><p>761 female students:</p> <p>_______________________________________________________</p></li> <li><p>1.006 cars:</p> <p>_______________________________________________________</p></li> <li><p>432.578 people:</p> <p>_______________________________________________________</p></li> </ul> <!--/gc--> <div id="pagination"><ul><li class="prev"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/the-vocabulary-of-numbers/" title="The Vocabulary of Numbers">The Vocabulary of Numbers</a></li><li class="next"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/the-vocabulary-of-numbers/ordinal-numbers.htm" title="Ordinal Numbers">Ordinal Numbers</a> </li></ul></div></div> <div id="coda"> <div id="rel"><div class="n5">Related Articles</div><ul> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/the-vocabulary-of-numbers/cardinal-numbers.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> Cardinal Numbers - Brazilian Portuguese </a></li> <li><a href="http://banking.about.com/library/bl_write_out_numbers.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> Write Out Numbers - How to Write Out Numbers Using Words </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/french/using-everyday-expressions/cardinal-numbers.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> Cardinal Numbers - French </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/italian-practice/subject-pronouns-avere-and-essere/numbers.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> Numbers - Italian Practice </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/sign-language/count-1-2-3/big-numbers.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> Big Numbers - Sign Language </a></li> </ul></div> <div id="sec"><div class="n5">Read More The Vocabulary of Numbers</div><ul><ul class="col1"><li class="btO">Cardinal Numbers</li> <li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/the-vocabulary-of-numbers/ordinal-numbers.htm">Ordinal Numbers</a></li> <li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/the-vocabulary-of-numbers/days-of-the-week.htm">Days of the Week</a></li> </ul><ul class="col2"><li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/the-vocabulary-of-numbers/talking-about-time.htm">Talking about Time</a></li> <li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/the-vocabulary-of-numbers/the-months-and-seasons.htm">The Months and Seasons</a></li> <li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/the-vocabulary-of-numbers/practice-with-numbers.htm">Practice with Numbers</a></li> </ul></ul></div> </div> <script>if(zSbL<1)zSbL=3;zSB(2);zSbL=0</script> </div> <div id="widgets"><script type="text/javascript">if(z336>0){w('<div id="adB">'+ap[0]+at[4]+as[0]);adunit('','','about.com',ch,gs,336,280,'1','bb',3);w('</div>')}if(z155>0){w('<div id="adP">'+ap[0]+at[4]+as[0]);adunit('','','about.com',ch,gs,336,155,'1','ps',4);w('</div>')}</script> <div id="pg" class="pane"><div class="n3">Shopping</div><div class="cntnr"><a href="http://shop.everything.com/product/the-everything-learning-brazilian-portuguese-book-with-cd/ "><img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/np/brazilian-portuguese/Cover.jpg"></a><h4><a href="http://shop.everything.com/product/the-everything-learning-brazilian-portuguese-book-with-cd/ ">THE EVERYTHING LEARNING BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE BOOK</a></h4><p><a href="http://shop.everything.com/product/the-everything-learning-brazilian-portuguese-book-with-cd/ ">By Fernanda L. 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