Portuguese grammar · Beginner (A1)

Numbers

Numbers from zero to a million, um / uma and dois / duas, prices in reais, phone numbers with meia, ordinals and how numbers are written.

0 to 20

Zero is . (one) and (two) agree with the noun: , , , . This also happens inside bigger numbers: (22 people).

14 has two spellings, and ; both are correct and common in Brazil. In Brazil 16, 17 and 19 are written , and (in Portugal , , ).

Number	Word	Number
1	,	11
2	,	12
3		13
4		14
5		15
6		16
7		17
8		18
9		19
10		20

21 to 100

From 21, join the tens and the units with (and): (21), (35), (99). 100 on its own is .

Number	Word	Number	Word
20		60
30		70
40		80
50		90
21		100

Ela tem trinta e dois anos.She's thirty-two.
São quarenta e cinco reais.That's forty-five reais.

Hundreds, thousands and millions

is exactly 100; from 101 it becomes : , . The hundreds from 200 to 900 agree with the noun: , . 1,000 is just , never um mil, and doesn't change: , .

Put between the hundreds, tens and units: (345). After , use only if what follows is a round hundred or less than 100: (1,500), (2026), but (1,850).

(a million) is a noun, so it takes before another noun: , .

Number	Word	Number	Word
100		600	,
101		700	,
200	,	800	,
300	,	900	,
400	,	1.000
500	,	1.000.000

Prices and written numbers

Brazil uses a comma for decimals and a dot to group thousands, the opposite of English: R$ 1.250,50 is one thousand two hundred and fifty reais and fifty centavos. The currency is the (plural ), divided into 100 .

To read a price, say the reais, then and the centavos. The word is often left out: R$ 15,90 is or . Percentages use : (10%).

Quanto custa? — Custa um real e cinquenta.How much is it? — It's one real fifty. · R$ 1,50
São vinte e nove e noventa.That's twenty-nine ninety. · R$ 29,90
O aluguel é mil e oitocentos reais.The rent is one thousand eight hundred reais. · R$ 1.800,00

Phone numbers

Phone numbers are usually said digit by digit, sometimes in pairs. Instead of , most Brazilians say (short for , half a dozen), so it can't be confused with on a bad line. A mobile number has an area code of two digits and nine digits: (11) 98765-4321.

Meu celular é nove oito sete meia cinco, quatro três dois um.My mobile number is 98765-4321.
Qual é o DDD? — Onze.What's the area code? — Eleven. · São Paulo

Ordinals: first, second, third

Ordinal numbers agree with the noun: (the first floor), (the second street). They are written with a small º or ª: 1º, 2ª. The ground floor is .

Dates use ordinary numbers, except for the first day of the month: , but .

Number	Masculine	Feminine	Number	Masculine	Feminine
1st			6th
2nd			7th
3rd			8th
4th			9th
5th			10th

O quarto fica no terceiro andar.The room is on the third floor.
Vire na primeira rua à direita.Take the first street on the right.