Counting in European Portuguese runs um, dois, três up to dez, then onze to vinte, trinta, quarenta and cem. Portugal spells the teens dezasseis, dezassete and dezanove, where Brazil writes dezesseis and dezessete. The same numbers tell the time and say prices in euros.
Numbers are one of the first things you need in a real day: a bus number, a price at the till, a time to meet. The counting system is regular once you know the first twenty, because everything above them is built from the same words.
Most numbers are identical in Portugal and Brazil, so a counting list from either variety will mostly serve you. The small differences are worth knowing, because they are exactly the spellings a learner of the Portuguese spoken in Portugal will read on a receipt or a timetable.
Key takeaways
- European Portuguese counts um, dois, três up to dez, then builds the teens and tens on those same roots.
- Portugal spells sixteen, seventeen and nineteen as dezasseis, dezassete and dezanove, while Brazil writes dezesseis, dezessete and dezenove.
- Um, dois and the hundreds change for gender, so you say uma, duas and duzentas before a feminine noun.
- Telling the time uses é uma hora for one o'clock and são for every other hour, with e meia for half past.
How do you count from zero to twenty?
The first twenty numbers are the ones to learn by heart, because the rest of the system is built on them. Zero to ten are short single words. The teens then combine those roots, and this is where Portugal and Brazil part ways in spelling.
| Number | European Portuguese | English |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | zero | zero |
| 1 | um / uma | one |
| 2 | dois / duas | two |
| 3 | três | three |
| 4 | quatro | four |
| 5 | cinco | five |
| 6 | seis | six |
| 7 | sete | seven |
| 8 | oito | eight |
| 9 | nove | nine |
| 10 | dez | ten |
| 11 | onze | eleven |
| 12 | doze | twelve |
| 13 | treze | thirteen |
| 14 | catorze | fourteen |
| 15 | quinze | fifteen |
| 16 | dezasseis | sixteen |
| 17 | dezassete | seventeen |
| 18 | dezoito | eighteen |
| 19 | dezanove | nineteen |
| 20 | vinte | twenty |
How do the tens, hundreds and thousands work?
After twenty, you join a ten and a unit with e, meaning and. Vinte e um is twenty-one, trinta e três is thirty-three. The tens themselves are their own words, and they are the same in Portugal Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese.
| Number | European Portuguese | English |
|---|---|---|
| 30 | trinta | thirty |
| 40 | quarenta | forty |
| 50 | cinquenta | fifty |
| 60 | sessenta | sixty |
| 70 | setenta | seventy |
| 80 | oitenta | eighty |
| 90 | noventa | ninety |
| 100 | cem | one hundred |
| 1000 | mil | one thousand |
One hundred on its own is cem, but as soon as a smaller number follows it becomes cento: cento e um is a hundred and one. The hundreds from two up take a gender, so duzentos euros but duzentas pessoas, meaning two hundred euros but two hundred people. Mil, a thousand, never changes.
Which numbers differ from Brazilian Portuguese?
The number differences between the two varieties are few and they live in the teens. Portugal keeps an a where Brazil uses an e, so the words look and sound slightly different while meaning the same count. A learner of Portuguese from Portugal should recognise both, because Brazilian spellings are everywhere online.
| Portugal | Brazil | English |
|---|---|---|
| catorze | quatorze | fourteen |
| dezasseis | dezesseis | sixteen |
| dezassete | dezessete | seventeen |
| dezanove | dezenove | nineteen |
There is one larger gap worth a note. For a thousand million, Portugal says mil milhões, while Brazil says um bilhão. In Portugal the word bilião is reserved for a million million, so the two varieties count the big numbers on different scales. For everyday sums up to the thousands, the counting is the same.
How do you tell the time in Portugal?
To ask the time you say que horas são, meaning what time is it. The answer uses the verb to be: é uma hora for one o'clock, because one is singular, and são for every other hour, as in são duas horas. The hour comes first, then the minutes.
| Time | European Portuguese | English |
|---|---|---|
| 1:00 | é uma hora | it is one o'clock |
| 2:00 | são duas horas | it is two o'clock |
| 3:15 | são três e um quarto | quarter past three |
| 4:30 | são quatro e meia | half past four |
| 5:45 | são um quarto para as seis | quarter to six |
| 12:00 | é meio-dia | it is noon |
Portugal uses the 24-hour clock for timetables and anything official, so a train leaving at half past three reads as 15h30 and is read quinze e trinta. In speech people also say the clock hour with da manhã, da tarde or da noite to mark morning, afternoon or night.
How do you say prices in euros?
Portugal uses the euro, divided into cêntimos. A price like three euros fifty is três euros e cinquenta, and in writing Portugal uses a comma for the decimal, so you see 3,50 € on a label. One euro is um euro, because euro is masculine.
At a counter you ask for the bill with a conta, se faz favor. Knowing your numbers turns a price you hear into one you understand, which is half of handling money in a shop or a café. For the full set of café and shop phrases, see how to order coffee and food in European Portuguese.
How do you practise European Portuguese numbers?
Numbers are quick to read and slow to produce. You can recite a table from memory and still freeze when a cashier says the total out loud at speed. The jump from recognising a number to saying it without a pause only comes from using it in real exchanges.
This is where Fluentus fits. Fluentus teaches the Portuguese spoken in Portugal only, and its AI tutor holds spoken conversations with you 24 hours a day in a real human voice. You practise prices, times and counts out loud, and the tutor corrects what you say, so numbers start arriving without the pause.
Fluentus runs courses from A1 to B2 with smart flashcards built from your own conversations, on iOS and Android. If you are starting from zero, how to learn European Portuguese from scratch lays out a first path.
In one sentence: learn um to vinte first, then build the rest on those roots. Practise the numbers out loud until a price or a time no longer makes you stop.
Frequently asked questions
How do you count to ten in Portugal Portuguese?
You count um, dois, três, quatro, cinco, seis, sete, oito, nove, dez, from one to ten. Um changes to uma before a feminine noun, and dois changes to duas, so you say duas horas for two o'clock. The first ten numbers are the same in Portugal and Brazil.
Why does Portugal spell sixteen as dezasseis?
Portugal and Brazil build the teens differently in spelling. Portugal writes dezasseis, dezassete and dezanove for sixteen, seventeen and nineteen, while Brazil writes dezesseis, dezessete and dezenove. The numbers sound close and mean the same thing, so the gap is one of spelling, not of counting.
How do you tell the time in Portugal Portuguese?
You start with é uma hora for one o'clock and são for every other hour, as in são duas horas. You add e meia for half past and e um quarto for quarter past. For quarter to, Portugal says um quarto para as, as in um quarto para as seis.
Are numbers different in Portugal and Brazil?
Most numbers are identical in Portugal and Brazil. The visible differences are the teen spellings, dezasseis against dezesseis, and the word for a thousand million: Portugal says mil milhões where Brazil says um bilhão. Everything from one to a hundred is counted the same way in both varieties.