mil
/ˈmiw/
The Portuguese word for thousand is mil.
mil is used as a cardinal number for 1000.
Meaning: cardinal number 1000 (num)
Which one should you use?
While mil can represent the number 1000, it is common to use it alone to represent the unit, though one might also use um mil when specifically referring to the number 1000.
How does it change in a sentence?
The word mil is an invariant noun and does not change its form to indicate plurality. It remains mil whether you are saying one thousand or two thousand.
How do you pronounce it?
/ˈmiw/
Did you know?
- The Portuguese mil shares the same ancient Indo-European root as the English word 'mile', which originally described a distance of a thousand paces.
- The Portuguese word milhão for 'million' is derived from mil and the suffix -hão, which is usually used to make things larger.
- In Portuguese, mil can be used as a hyperbole to mean 'a lot' or 'countless' in phrases like tenho mil coisas para fazer, meaning 'I have a thousand things to do'.
Examples in context
- Nem em mil anos!Not in a thousand years!Tatoeba #11861350 by ajdavidl, translation #2361089 by megamanenm
- Passa dos nove mil!It's over nine thousand!Tatoeba #1652715 by alexmarcelo, translation #1652600 by Takato
- Há dois mil livros.There are two thousand books.Tatoeba #2422119 by Ricardo14, translation #2415133 by CN
- Eles pagaram mil reais pelo concerto.They paid a thousand reais for the concert.
- Contratamos mil funcionários para a nova fábrica.We hired a thousand employees for the new factory.
- O salário mínimo é de um milhar de euros.The minimum wage is one thousand euros.
- 182 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Juliana and Gabriel are discussing the price of a used laptop.
- JulianaQuanto custa esse notebook, Gabriel?How much is this laptop, Gabriel?
- GabrielEle custa dois mil reais.It costs two thousand reais.
- JulianaNossa, achei que fosse mil reais.Wow, I thought it would be one thousand reais.
- GabrielMas ele é quase novo, Juliana.But it is almost new, Juliana.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “thousand” translations and entries mil, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries mil, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
