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Quick Grammar Reference
P o r t u g u e s e O n l i n e

>>Other Words > Ordinal Numbers

Portuguese ordinal numbers act as and follow all of the rules of regular adjectives. The are equivalent to first, second, third, fourth, etc.

Here is a chart of ordinal numbers in Portuguese. Numbers are skipped only when they follow the obvious pattern of their surrounding group of numbers. Helpful notes are given below the chart.

Numeral (Portuguese notation)	Portuguese Number	Direct Translation (where useful or interesting)
1^o / 1^a	primeiro, primeira
2^o / 2^a	segundo, segunda
3^o / 3^a	terceiro, terceira
4^o / 4^a	quarto, quarta
5^o / 5^a	quinto, quinta
6^o / 6^a	sexto, sexta
7^o / 7^a	sétimo, sétima
8^o / 8^a	oitavo, oitava
9^o / 9^a	nono, nona
10^o / 10^a	décimo, décima
11^o / 11^a	décimo primeiro, décima primeira	tenth first
12^o / 12^a	décimo segundo, décima segunda	tenth second
13^o / 13^a	décimo terceiro, décima terceira	tenth third
20^o / 20^a	vigésimo, vigésima
21^o / 21^a	vigésimo primeiro, vigésima primeira	twentieth first
22^o / 22^a	vigésimo segundo, vigésima segunda	twentieth second
30^o / 30^a	trigésimo, trigésima
31^o / 31^a	trigésimo primeiro, trigésima primeira
40^o / 40^a	quadragésimo, quadragésima
50^o / 50^a	quinquagésimo, quinquagésima
60^o / 60^a	sexagésimo, sexagésima
70^o / 70^a	septuagésimo, septuagésima
80^o / 80^a	octogésimo, octogésima
90^o / 90^a	nonagésimo, nonagésima
100^o / 100^a	centésimo, centésima
101^o / 101^a	centésimo primeiro, centésima primeira
200^o / 200^a	ducentésimo, ducentésima
300^o / 300^a	tricentésimo, tricentésima
400^o / 400^a	quadrigentésimo, quadrigentésima
500^o / 500^a	quingentésimo, quingentésima
600^o / 600^a	seiscentésimo, seiscentésima
700^o / 700^a	septigentésimo, septigentésima
800^o / 800^a	octigentésimo, octigentésima
900^o / 900^a	nongentésimo, nongentésima
1000^o / 1000^a	milésimo, milésima
10.000^o / 10.000^a	dez milésimo, dez milésima
100.000^o / 100.000^a	cem milésimo, cem milésima
1.000.000^o / 1.000.000^a	milionésimo, milionésima

The ordinal numbers are far less common than cardinal numbers, especially in Portuguese. When specifying a century, for example, Portuguese speakers prefer o século vinte the century twenty to "o vigésimo século" the twentieth century (centuries are formally written with Roman numerals in Portuguese, so you will most often read o século XX).

Both the ordinal numerals (first column) and the full ordinal numbers (second column) have masculine (-o) and feminine (-a) forms. Please remain conscious of the noun's gender, and use the number's corresponding form. If necessary, these numbers can also differentiate between singular and plural: o primeiro ano the first year but os primeiros anos the first years (you may also write o 1^o ano and os 1^os anos).

The ordinals are usually placed before the noun. They may be placed after, but this is not only somewhat emphatic, it is overly stiff and formal.

The use of ordinals above 10^o tenth is rather restricted, and leaves an odd impression if used in casual speech (somewhat academic). Instead of o sexagésimo quarto the sixtieth room try o quarto (número) sessenta room (number) sixty (o sexagésimo quarto sounds even stranger in Portuguese than the sixtieth room in English).

When counting fractions (a half, a third, a fourth, etc.) the words meio and terço are used for half and third. Between a fourth and a tenth, the ordinals above are used. After those, the Portuguese system counts with cardinal numbers and the word avos: (um) vinte avos a twentieth, (um) cem avos a hundredth, etc.