| Table of contents |
|
2 Ordinal numbers 3 Dates 4 Fractions and decimals 5 Whether to use digits or words |
| 0 | zero | ||
| 1 | one | ||
| 2 | two | 20 | twenty |
| 3 | three | 30 | thirty |
| 4 | four | 40 | forty (there is no "u") |
| 5 | five | 50 | fifty |
| 6 | six | 60 | sixty |
| 7 | seven | 70 | seventy |
| 8 | eight | 80 | eighty (there is only one "t") |
| 9 | nine | 90 | ninety |
| 10 | ten | ||
| 11 | eleven | ||
| 12 | twelve | ||
| 13 | thirteen | ||
| 14 | fourteen | ||
| 15 | fifteen | ||
| 16 | sixteen | ||
| 17 | seventeen | ||
| 18 | eighteen (there is only one "t") | ||
| 19 | nineteen |
If a number is in the range 21 to 99, and the second digit is not zero, you write the number as two words separated by a hyphen.
| 21 | twenty-one |
| 25 | twenty-five |
| 32 | thirty-two |
| 58 | fifty-eight |
| 64 | sixty-four |
| 79 | seventy-nine |
| 83 | eighty-three |
| 99 | ninety-nine |
In English, the hundreds are perfectly regular.
| 100 | one hundred |
| 200 | two hundred |
| 300 | three hundred |
| 400 | four hundred |
| 500 | five hundred |
| 600 | six hundred |
| 700 | seven hundred |
| 800 | eight hundred |
| 900 | nine hundred |
So are the thousands, up to nine thousand.
| 1,000 | one thousand |
| 2,000 | two thousand |
| 3,000 | three thousand |
| 4,000 | four thousand |
| 5,000 | five thousand |
| 6,000 | six thousand |
| 7,000 | seven thousand |
| 8,000 | eight thousand |
| 9,000 | nine thousand |
Starting with 10,000, the numbers become difficult.
| 10,000 | ten thousand |
| 11,000 | eleven thousand |
| 12,000 | twelve thousand |
| 13,000 | thirteen thousand |
| 14,000 | fourteen thousand |
| 15,000 | fifteen thousand |
| 16,000 | sixteen thousand |
| 17,000 | seventeen thousand |
| 18,000 | eighteen thousand |
| 19,000 | nineteen thousand |
| 20,000 | twenty thousand |
| 21,000 | twenty-one thousand |
| 30,000 | thirty thousand |
| 85,000 | eighty-five thousand |
| 100,000 | one hundred thousand |
| 999,000 | nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand |
| 1,000,000 | one million |
In informal English, people very rarely name exact numbers larger than one million, except for dramatic effect.
There is more than one way of forming intermediate numbers. One way is for when you are counting something. Another way is for when you are using numbers as labels.
| "How many marbles do you have?" | "What is your house number?" | |
| 101 | "A hundred and one." | "One-oh-one." Here, "oh" is used for the digit zero. |
| 109 | "A hundred and nine." | "One-oh-nine." |
| 110 | "A hundred and ten." | "One-ten." |
| 117 | "A hundred and seventeen." | "One-seventeen." |
| 120 | "A hundred and twenty." | "One-twenty." |
| 152 | "A hundred and fifty-two." | "One-fifty-two." |
| 208 | "Two hundred and eight." | "Two-oh-eight." |
| 334 | "Three hundred and thirty-four." | "Three-thirty-four." |
NOTE: When writing a check:
| Quantity | Written | Pronounced |
|---|---|---|
| 1,200,000 | 1.2 million | one point two million |
| 3,000,000 | 3 million | three million |
| 250,000,000 | 250 million | two hundred and fifty million |
| 1,000,000,000 | 1 billion | one billion (a billion is 1000 times 1 million) |
| 6,400,000,000 | 6.4 billion | six point four billion |
| 1,000,000,000,000 | 1 trillion | one trillion (a trillion is 1 million times 1 million) |
Ordinal numbers
Here are some ordinal numbers.
| 0th | zeroth (very rarely used) | ||
| 1st | first | ||
| 2nd | second | 20th | twentieth |
| 3rd | third | 30th | thirtieth |
| 4th | fourth | 40th | fortieth |
| 5th | fifth | 50th | fiftieth |
| 6th | sixth | 60th | sixtieth |
| 7th | seventh | 70th | seventieth |
| 8th | eighth (only one "t") | 80th | eightieth |
| 9th | ninth (note spelling) | 90th | ninetieth |
| 10th | tenth | ||
| 11th | eleventh | ||
| 12th | twelfth (note spelling) | ||
| 13th | thirteenth | ||
| 14th | fourteenth | ||
| 15th | fifteenth | ||
| 16th | sixteenth | ||
| 17th | seventeenth | ||
| 18th | eighteenth | ||
| 19th | nineteenth |
Ordinal numbers such as 21st, 33rd, are formed by combining a CARDINAL ten with an ORDINAL unit.
| 21st | twenty-first |
| 25th | twenty-fifth |
| 32nd | thirty-second |
| 58th | fifty-eighth |
| 64th | sixty-fourth |
| 79th | seventy-ninth |
| 83rd | eighty-third |
| 99th | ninety-ninth |
Higher ordinals usually are not written in words. They are written using digits and letters, as described below. Here are some rules you should remember. If you are Japanese, please read this.
| If the units' digit is: | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| write this after the number | th | st | nd | rd | th | th | th | th | th | th |
| 1066 | ten sixty-six |
| 1492 | fourteen ninety-two |
| 1500 | fifteen hundred |
| 1502 | fifteen oh two (note the "oh" for zero) |
| 1776 | seventeen seventy-six |
| 1990 | nineteen ninety |
The year 2000 is read "two thousand".
Years after 2000 have no set system as of yet for expressing them. I call the year 2003 "two thousand and three".
Note that years are NEVER read as ordinal numbers!!
Dates usually do not use "st", "nd", etc., after the day of the month; however, it is always pronounced with the "st" or whatever.
| 1/16 | one-sixteenth |
| 1/10 or 0.1 | one-tenth |
| 1/8 | one-eighth |
| 2/10 or 0.2 | two-tenths |
| 1/4 | one-quarter or one-fourth |
| 3/10 or 0.3 | three-tenths |
| 1/3 | one-third |
| 3/8 | three-eighths |
| 4/10 or 0.4 | four-tenths |
| 1/2 | one-half |
| 6/10 or 0.6 | six-tenths |
| 5/8 | five-eighths |
| 2/3 | two-thirds |
| 7/10 or 0.7 | seven-tenths |
| 3/4 | three-quarters or three-fourths |
| 8/10 or 0.8 | eight-tenths |
| 7/8 | seven-eighths |
| 9/10 or 0.9 | nine-tenths |
| 15/16 | fifteen-sixteenths |
Numbers with a decimal point are usually read as a whole number, then "point", then digits.