Large numbers and their translations
Who travels a lot between The Netherlands, Portugal and Brazil and who is interested in statistics or economic news, will have noticed that there is quite some confusion where large numbers are at stake. Just like everybody else, journalists often start their texts with editorial input from another country, whereby mistakes are easily made through translations.
We hope the below table may be useful to everybody:
1000.000 (six zeros):
In Dutch: “Miljoen”
In English – both British and American – : “Million”
In Portuguese – both in Portugal and in Brazil – : “Milhão”
1000.000.000 (nine zeros):
In Dutch: “Miljard”
In British English: “Milliard”
In American English: “Billion”
In Portuguese in Portugal: “Mil Milhões”
In Brazilian Portuguese: “Bilhão”
1000.000.000.000 (twelve zeros):
In Dutch: “Biljoen”
In British English: “Billion”
In American English: “Trillion”
In Portuguese in Portugal: “Bilião”
In Brazilian Portuguese: “Trilhão”
1000.000.000.000.000 (fifteen zeros):
In Dutch: “Biljard”
In British English: “Quadrillion”
In American English: “Billiard”
In Portuguese in Portugal: “Mil Biliões”
In Brazilian Portuguese: “Quatrilhão”
1000.000.000.000.000.000 (eightteen zeros):
In Dutch: “Triljoen”
In British English: ”Quintillion”
In American English: “Trillion”
In Portuguese in Portugal: “Trilião”
In Brazilian Portuguese: “Quintilhão”