Portuguese flag

Numbers with grammatical gender

In English, numbers are strictly invariable. Whether you are counting one apple or one car, or seeing two men or two women, the numbers themselves never change. In Portuguese, however, certain numbers have grammatical gender. They behave a bit like adjectives, meaning they must agree with whether the noun they are counting is masculine or feminine.

While this might sound like a lot of extra work, there is a simple boundary to remember. Only the numbers one, two, and the exact hundreds from two hundred up to nine hundred change their endings. All other base numbers stay exactly the same, no matter what they are counting.

Word list
doismA1 two dois / duas os doisA1 both os dois / as duas ummA1 one um / uma duzentosmA2 two hundred duzentos / duzentas novecentosmA2 nine hundred novecentos / novecentas oitocentosmA2 eight hundred oitocentos / oitocentas quatrocentosmA2 four hundred quatrocentos / quatrocentas quinhentosmA2 five hundred quinhentos / quinhentas seiscentosmA2 six hundred seiscentos / seiscentas setecentosmA2 seven hundred setecentos / setecentas trezentosmA2 three hundred trezentos / trezentas vinte e doismA2 twenty-two vinte e dois / vinte e duas vinte e ummA2 twenty-one vinte e um / vinte e uma
One and two

The most common numbers you will need to change are um and dois. When counting a masculine noun, you use the standard masculine forms: um and dois. When the noun you are counting is feminine, these change to uma and duas.

Comprei um livro.
(I bought one book.)
Comprei uma revista.
(I bought one magazine.)
Ele tem dois carros.
(He has two cars.)
Ela comeu duas maçãs.
(She ate two apples.)
The hundreds (200 to 900)

Once you get past two, numbers stay invariable until you reach the hundreds. The words for three, four, ten, and fifty do not change. But starting at two hundred, the hundreds have a feminine form that ends in "as". For example, duzentos becomes duzentas, and trezentos becomes trezentas.

This pattern continues all the way through the hundreds: quatrocentos, quinhentos, seiscentos, setecentos, oitocentos, and novecentos all change to match a feminine noun.

Havia duzentas pessoas na festa.
(There were two hundred people at the party.)
Precisamos de trezentos euros.
(We need three hundred euros.)
A escola tem quinhentas alunas.
(The school has five hundred female students.)
Caminhei oitocentos metros.
(I walked eight hundred meters.)

Keep in mind that the word for one hundred (cem) and the word for one thousand (mil) are invariable. They never change. Additionally, the word for a million (milhão) is technically a masculine noun, not an adjective, so it does not change its ending to match feminine nouns either.

Compound numbers

This gender agreement applies even when these specific numbers are part of a much larger compound number. If you have twenty-one or thirty-two of something, the "one" and "two" parts must still agree with the noun. The same rule goes for the hundreds when they are inside larger figures.

Vinte e uma casas estão à venda.
(Twenty-one houses are for sale.)
Vieram duzentas e vinte e duas pessoas.
(Two hundred and twenty-two people came.)
O custo foi de mil quatrocentos e dois dólares.
(The cost was one thousand four hundred and two dollars.)
Summary

Whenever you are counting nouns in Portuguese, remember that the numbers one, two, and the hundreds from 200 to 900 must match the gender of the noun. This rule applies whether the numbers are standing alone or hiding inside much larger compound numbers.