Cardinal Numbers 1-100

The cardinals from 1 to 100 are the bedrock of every numerical conversation in Portuguese — counting money, telling time, giving an age, pricing in a shop, dialing a phone number. This page lays them out in full, with three pieces of information learners need but rarely get from a flat list: which numbers agree in gender (most don't, but a few do), the PT-PT spellings that differ from Brazilian Portuguese (dezasseis, dezassete, dezanove), and the rule for joining tens and units with e.

By the end of this page you should be able to read any number from 1 to 100 aloud correctly, write it correctly with the right agreement, and know exactly where PT-PT diverges from PT-BR.

1 to 10

The first ten cardinals are the only set you must memorise outright; everything else builds from them.

Two key points from the table:

Only um and dois agree in gender

Of the first ten, only um / uma and dois / duas change form for gender. Everything from três upward is invariable.

Pronunciation notes

• três has a closed ê sound: /tɾeʃ/, like English trayss with a soft final sh.
• seis has the diphthong /ɐj/: /sɐjʃ/, similar to sayss.
• dez has an open é: /dɛʃ/, like dess with the e of English bed.
• sete and nove have an open vowel that learners often produce too closed: /ˈsɛt(ɨ)/, /ˈnɔv(ɨ)/. The final e is reduced or dropped in connected speech.
• cinco has a nasal i (/ˈsĩku/) — the n before c nasalises the vowel and largely disappears.

11 to 19: the teens

The teens are partly built from the bases (10 + 1, 10 + 2, ...) but with fused, opaque forms. They must be learned individually.

The PT-PT vs PT-BR difference for 16, 17, and 19 is one of the most reliable diagnostics for telling the two varieties apart: PT-PT writes deza- (a short a as the linking vowel — dezasseis, dezassete, dezanove), PT-BR writes deze- (with e).

For 14, both catorze and quatorze are correct in PT-PT, but catorze is by far the more common form in standard European Portuguese. Use catorze unless you have a specific reason to use quatorze.

Pronunciation note: the z in teens

In dezasseis, dezassete, dezanove, the medial z is pronounced as /z/ in deliberate speech but often weakens to a /ʒ/-like sound in fast speech. The ss in dezasseis and dezassete is /s/ — the doubled s is a spelling convention to keep the sound /s/ rather than /z/ between vowels.

20 to 90 by tens

The tens have their own forms, derived loosely from the corresponding units but irregular in shape.

All the tens are invariable (no gender form): vinte alunos, vinte alunas; quarenta euros, quarenta horas.

21 to 99: tens + e + units

The signature pattern of Portuguese cardinals: tens and units are joined by the conjunction e (and), with no hyphen and all three elements written separately.

Agreement carries through to compound numbers

When a compound number ends in um or dois, the unit agrees in gender with the noun, even at the end of a long compound. Twenty-one houses must be vinte e uma casas, not vinte e um casas.

This is the most common A1 mistake learners make: forgetting that the agreement at the end of a long number is just as obligatory as it would be on a bare uma or duas.

Compound numbers are NOT hyphenated

Every element is a separate word. No hyphens.

This contrasts with French (vingt-et-un) and English when hyphenated (twenty-one). Portuguese always writes them apart.

100: the cem / cento split

The number 100 has two forms in Portuguese, governed by what comes after.

cem — alone, or before a noun (or its multiplier)

Use cem when 100 stands by itself, or directly before a noun, or before mil / milhão / milhões.

cento — before another smaller number

Use cento when 100 is followed by another number from 1 to 99 (always with e).

The distinction is mechanical: cem alone, cento with a follower. There is no semantic difference; it is purely positional.

cem is invariable

Unlike the higher hundreds (duzentos/duzentas), cem itself does not agree with gender. Cem mulheres, cem homens — same form.

For 200 onwards (duzentos/duzentas), see Cardinal Numbers 100+.

A complete sample list (selected)

Reading numbers in real contexts

A few of the most common A1-level uses of cardinals 1-100:

Telling your age

Quantities at the shop

Time

Phone numbers (digit by digit)

Addresses and door numbers

PT-PT vs PT-BR: a quick reference

The PT-PT and PT-BR cardinal systems are nearly identical, but the teens 16, 17, and 19 are the headline difference, plus the optional spelling for 14.

If you write dezesseis or dezenove in PT-PT, you have written PT-BR forms — they will be perfectly understood, but they mark you as a learner who has been studying from Brazilian materials. The PT-PT standard is dezasseis, dezassete, dezanove.

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

• Um/uma and dois/duas are the only cardinals 1-10 that agree in gender. Everything from três to cem is invariable in this range.
• The teens 11-19 are fused forms that must be memorised. PT-PT writes dezasseis, dezassete, dezanove (with -a-); PT-BR writes dezesseis, dezessete, dezenove (with -e-). For 14, PT-PT prefers catorze.
• The tens are vinte, trinta, quarenta, cinquenta, sessenta, setenta, oitenta, noventa.
• Compound numbers 21-99 are written as three separate words joined by e: vinte e um, trinta e cinco, noventa e nove. No hyphens.
• Agreement carries through to the end of long compounds: vinte e uma alunas, oitenta e duas pessoas.
• Cem is used alone or before a noun; cento is used before another smaller number: cem alunos, cento e vinte alunos.
• For 200 and beyond, see Cardinal Numbers 100+; the hundreds will start agreeing in gender (duzentos/duzentas) and the conjunction e will appear in new positions.