Numbers in Portuguese

In Portuguese, numbers are an essential part of everyday communication. Understanding how to express numbers correctly is crucial for various situations, such as counting, giving your age, telling the time, and talking about dates. Let's dive into the basics of numbers in Portuguese.

Cardinal Numbers

Cardinal numbers are used to count and indicate quantity, like "one," "two," or "three" in English. Here are the cardinal numbers from 1 to 10 in Portuguese:

1. um (oom)
2. dois (doys)
3. três (treys)
4. quatro (kwah-tro)
5. cinco (seen-koo)
6. seis (sace)
7. sete (seh-tee)
8. oito (oy-to)
9. nove (no-vey)
10. dez (deys)

Counting from 11 to 100

To count from 11 to 100, you need to combine the words for the tens and the ones. Here are the numbers from 11 to 20:

1. onze (on-zi)
2. doze (doh-zi)
3. treze (treh-zi)
4. catorze (kah-tohr-zi)
5. quinze (keen-zi)
6. dezesseis (dey-se-seys)
7. dezessete (dey-se-seh-tee)
8. dezoito (dey-zoy-to)
9. dezenove (dey-ze-no-vey)
10. vinte (veen-tee)

To count beyond 20, you combine the word "vinte" (twenty) with the ones digit, using the conjunction "e" (and). For example:

• 21 - vinte e um (veen-tee e oom)
• 45 - quarenta e cinco (kwah-ren-ta e seen-koo)
• 98 - noventa e oito (no-ven-ta e oy-to)

You can use this pattern to construct numbers up to 100 and beyond.

Telling Time

Telling time in Portuguese follows a logical pattern. The basic structure is:

hour + hour indicator + minutes

Here are some examples:

• 6:15 - seis horas e quinze (seys oh-ras e keen-zi)
• 11:30 - onze horas e trinta (on-zi oh-ras e treen-ta)
• 3:45 - três horas e quarenta e cinco (treys oh-ras e kwah-ren-ta e seen-koo)

Remember, when it's 1:00, we use the word "hora" in the singular, and for other hours, we use "horas" in the plural.

Dates

When talking about dates, we use a combination of numbers and words for the months. Here's the format:

day + month + year

For example:

• 15th of May, 2022 - quinze de maio de 2022 (keen-zi deh my-oo dey vinh-ta e doys)

Remember, the day comes before the month, and the month comes before the year. Portuguese typically uses the ordinal numbers for the days, such as "primeiro" (first), "segundo" (second), "terceiro" (third), etc.

Age

When stating your age in Portuguese, you use the verb "ter" (to have). The structure is:

Eu tenho + age + anos.

For example:

• I am 25 years old. - Eu tenho vinte e cinco anos. (ay-oo ten-yo veen-tee e seen-koo ah-noyz)

Remember to use the word "anos" (years) at the end to indicate that you are talking about age.

With these fundamentals of numbers, time, dates, and age in Portuguese, you'll be equipped to handle various basic conversations. Practice using these phrases and numbers, and gradually expand your knowledge as you progress.