Forming Portuguese Numbers in the Tens, Hundreds, and Thousands

In the Numbers 1 unit, we gave you an overview of many different types of numbers, and we practiced with just 0-19. Now it’s time to pick up where we left off, so we can start using higher numbers.
The lessons in this unit will focus on Portuguese numbers in the tens, hundreds, and thousands.
First, let’s review:

0	zeroCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
1	umCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number umaCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number, Singular, Feminine
2	doisCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number duasCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
3	trêsCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
4	quatroCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
5	cincoCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
6	seisCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
7	seteCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
8	oitoCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
9	noveCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
10	dezCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
11	onzeCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
12	dozeCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
13	trezeCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
14	catorzeCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
15	quinzeCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
16	dezasseisCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
17	dezasseteCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
18	dezoitoCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
19	dezanoveCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
20	vinteCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
21	vinte e umCommunity Slow audio Play audio
25	vinte e cincoCommunity Slow audio Play audio
30	trintaCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
40	quarentaCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
50	cinquentaCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
60	sessentaCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
70	setentaCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
80	oitentaCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
90	noventaCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
100	cemCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
101	cento e umCommunity Slow audio Play audio
200	duzentosCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
300	trezentosCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
400	quatrocentosCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
500	quinhentosCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
600	seiscentosCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
700	setecentosCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
800	oitocentosCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
900	novecentosCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
1000	milCommunity Slow audio Play audio Number
1001	mil e umCommunity

How to Form Portuguese Numbers in the Tens

So you’ve learned the Portuguese numbers from 0-19, as well as the multiples of 10.
But what about forming numbers in-between, like 25 or 42 or 87? For these, you simply need the word eandCommunity Slow audio Play audio Conjunction .
Now just think of the numbers as “twenty and five”, “forty and two”, “eighty and seven”, and so on.

• vinte e cinco25Community Slow audio Play audio
• quarenta e dois42Community
• oitenta e sete87Community

Remember that this doesn’t apply to the numbers between 11-19. That said, you may have noticed that 16-19 all start with dez, and end with the word for the number in the ones digit (e.g., dezassete – 17), so those few do follow a sort of similar pattern.

How to Form Portuguese Numbers in the Hundreds

For the most part, forming Portuguese numbers in the hundreds follows the same pattern as the tens:

• cento e dezanove119Community Slow audio Play audio Number
• quinhentos e trinta e cinco535Community
• novecentos e setenta e três973Community

But make sure to note that there are actually two ways to say 100: cem or cento.
Cem is used when the number stands alone, when it comes before any noun, and when it comes before higher numbers (e.g., “one hundred thousand”).

• cem100Community Slow audio Play audio Number
• cem euros100 eurosCommunity | cem pássaros100 birdsCommunity Slow audio Play audio
• cem mil dólaresone hundred thousand dollarsCommunity Slow audio Play audio

Cento is used before lower numbers:

• cento e um101, one hundred and oneCommunity Slow audio Play audio
• cento e vinte120, one hundred and twentyCommunity Slow audio Play audio
• cento e cinquenta anos150 yearsCommunity

How to Form Portuguese Numbers in the Thousands

When you jump to the thousands, if the last two digits of a number are 00, you need to include eandCommunity Slow audio Play audio Conjunction in between the thousands and hundreds places. For example:
sete mil e trezentos7300Community – seven thousand [and] three hundred
dois mil e quatrocentos2400Community – two thousand [and] four hundred
But with other numbers in the thousands, the “e” is dropped between the thousands and hundreds.
mil trezentos e vinte e cinco1325Community – one thousand three hundred [and] twenty [and] five
sete mil e três7003Community – seven thousand [and] three
dois mil quatrocentos e vinte e três2423Community – two thousand four hundred [and] twenty [and] three
dois mil e vinte e três2023Community – two thousand [and] twenty [and] three
In the Numbers 3 unit, we’ll go even higher! 😮 But for right now, knowing up through the thousands should suffice for most everyday interactions.

Gender Agreement with Portuguese Numbers

When a Portuguese number stands alone, you always use the masculine form, such as duzentos200Community Slow audio Play audio Number or quinhentos500Community Slow audio Play audio Number
But what about when the number comes before a noun? e.g., 2 euros (masculine), 5 people (feminine)
As you may remember from the cardinal numbers Learning Note, most numbers are “invariable”, meaning they only have one form, and do not change depending on the gender of the noun. For example:
três meninos3 boysCommunity Slow audio Play audio and três meninas3 girlsCommunity
However, there are some important exceptions, which are “variable”:

• the number 1
• the number 2
• numbers in the hundreds (starting at 200)

These each have 2 forms that depend on the gender of the noun they describe.

Examples

Let’s explore how these gender agreement exceptions rules apply to digits that appear in the ones, tens, hundreds, and thousands places of a number:
Ones Place
The number 1 can be either um or uma, and the number 2 can be either dois or duas.

•  masculine:
  • cento e um101Community Slow audio Play audio | cento e dois102Community | setenta e cinco mil, cento e um75101Community | Um limão ou dois limões?1 lemon or 2 lemons?Community Slow audio Play audio | cento e dois euros102 eurosCommunity | mil e um euros1001 eurosCommunity
•  feminine:
  • Uma mão ou duas mãos?1 hand or 2 hands?Community Slow audio Play audio | cento e uma pessoas101 peopleCommunity | cento e duas pessoas102 peopleCommunity | mil e uma coisas1001 thingsCommunity

As mentioned, the other one-digit numbers (0 and 3-9) are invariable. For example:

• sete mil e sete euros7007 eurosCommunity
• sete mil e sete pessoas7007 peopleCommunity

Tens Place
No need to match gender for numbers in the tens place – these are all invariable.
Hundreds Place
Starting at 200, all numbers in the hundreds place have masculine and feminine forms. It’s just a matter of changing the end of the word to –as if the noun is feminine. For example:

• masculine: duzentos euros200 eurosCommunity Slow audio Play audio | seiscentos e cinquenta e três animais653 animalsCommunity
• feminine: duzentas pessoas200 peopleCommunity | quatrocentas e vinte e cinco árvores425 treesCommunity | mil setecentas e vinte crianças1720 childrenCommunity

Thousands Place
In the thousands, we have to consider the numbers 1 and 2 again. Only numbers in the 2000s match the gender of the noun. It can start with either dois mil (masculine) or duas mil (feminine).

• masculine: dois mil2000Community | dois mil e vinte e um2021Community | dois mil euros2000 eurosCommunity
• feminine: duas mil pessoas2000 peopleCommunity | duas mil e vinte e uma pessoas2021 peopleCommunity | duas mil e três cartas2003 lettersCommunity

For numbers in the 1000s, you can just say mil. You don’t have to say uma mil when it’s feminine. For example:

• mil1000Community Slow audio Play audio Number
• mil euros1000 eurosCommunity
• mil pessoas1000 peopleCommunity

As mentioned, the other numbers (3000, 4000, etc.) are invariable. For example:

• três mil trezentos e dois euros3302 eurosCommunity
• três mil trezentas e duas pessoas3302 peopleCommunity
• oito mil e quatro carros8004 carsCommunity
• oito mil e quatro cartas8004 lettersCommunity