Whether in French, English or any other language, you will need to know the rules for spelling and writing numbers in words. It is an essential element for any language: to tell the time, to ask for the price of something, to measure a distance or a quantity, etc.
In this article (mainly for beginners), I will show you how do you spell numbers in words and all the necessary number writing rules to avoid any mistakes.
👉👉 Don’t forget to take the Quiz at the end to test your understanding!
When should we consider writing numbers in words?
When it comes to spelling out numbers, you will find that most of the writing rules are not standard! And it’s quite painful! Do you have to write them in words or leave them as digits and numbers?
Writing numbers from zero to one hundred in non-technical handwriting is generally preferable. However, in scientific and technical writing, the most common style is to write numbers less than ten.
While we have exceptions to these rules, your major focus should be on consistently expressing numbers.
Also, you will need to consider the potential differences between various style guides (for instance, Chicago, APA, and MLA) to write numbers in correct form. Because these guides often describe different rules for using numbers in writing.
What is the difference between Digits, Numbers and Numerals?
Don’t confuse numbers with numerals and digits: it’s not the same thing!
In everyday language, it is very common to get confused. These three terms are indeed closely linked. Mathematically, however, these words do not have the same meaning.
What is a digit?
Digits are basic mathematical symbols with which a numerical value is associated. In the Arabic numbers symbolism used in the USA, there are only ten digits: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.
- A digit is a single symbol used to write numbers.
What is a number?
A number represents a quantity, a value, a size. It can be composed of one or more digits.
- So the number is an idea, the numeral is how we write it.
For example :
- 875 is a number composed of the digits 8, 7 and 5.
- 7972410 is a number composed of 7 digits.
What is a numeral?
A numeral, which is one or more digits, is an ordered element in a series composed of several numbers.
For example, a room number, a telephone number, social security number…
π (Pi) is also a special number, although we can’t write it exactly, but we know the idea behind it!
How do you spell single-digit numbers ? (1 through 9)
Spell out the numbers between one and nine. Except if you run out of space, this is the most common way to write a one-digit number. Also write “zero”, as it can be easily confused with the letter “O”.
| 0 | Zero |
| 1 | One |
| 2 | Two |
| 3 | Three |
| 4 | Four |
| 5 | Five |
| 6 | Six |
| 7 | Seven |
| 8 | Eight |
| 9 | Nine |
Writing Double-Digit numbers from 10 to 90
| 10 | Ten |
| 11 | Eleven |
| 12 | Twelve |
| 13 | Thirteen |
| 14 | Fourteen |
| 15 | Fifteen |
| 16 | Sixteen |
| 17 | Seventeen |
| 18 | Eighteen |
| 19 | Nineteen |
| 20 | Twenty |
Notice that the numbers from 13 (thirteen) to 19 (nineteen) always end in “-teen”. For this reason, people between the ages of thirteen and nineteen are called “teenagers” (teenagers).
If you know how to write numbers from 1 to 20, you have already done half the job because, after that, writing out numbers in English is very regular. Aalso don’t forget that we use the comma to separate the thousands and the point to separate the decimals, however, in other languages it is upside down.
To write a number in words, it’s really very basic. We take the number of tens and separate it from the numbers of the units by a dash “-“.
- 20 in words: Twenty
- 30 in words: Thirty
- 50 in words: Fifty
- 80 in words: Eighty
- 90 in words: Ninety
Examples With dashes :
- 99 in words, it is enough to add the figure “ninety” to “nine”, which gives “ninety-nine
- 25 in words, it is enough to add the figure “twenty” to “five”, which gives “twenty-five
- 21 in words, it is enough to add the figure “twenty” to “one”, which gives “twenty-one
Hundreds and thousands in English
Writing out numbers in words with hundreds in English is also easy. We take the number of hundreds, add “and” and put the number or the numbers that follows
- 100 in words : A hundred or one hundred
- 200 in words : Two hundred
- 900 in words : Nine hundred
- 990 in words : Nine hundred ninety
As for the hundreds, it is very simple to write the numbers from 2000 to 900 000 in words.
Example:
- 4000 in words: Four thousand
- 8000 in words: Eight thousand
- 20000 in words: Twenty thousand
- 90000 in words: Ninety thousand
How do you write large numbers?
Maybe you are asking : How do you read a 7 digit number? Or even larger numbers!
It is quite easy, and this is very essential for business English in particular. If you say “billion” when you mean “million”, it can be a very big mistake! This is something you need to learn if you want to enhance your conversational and writing skills!
-
- 1000000 in words is a million in English.
- 1000000000 in words : Billion which is the equivalent of a thousand million that spelt billion in english (one thousand million)
In this video tutorial you will learn how to write large numbers in English step by step :
Writing Rule when beginning a sentence with a number
This is a rule that you can always use: Numbers at the beginning of a sentence are always spelled out, no matter how big they are.
Some times, it will look awkward to star a sentence with a figure. So in this case, you should reword it to avoid this.
What are the rules for hyphens?
You should always hyphenate numbers when writing a compound number between 21 and 99.
Any number that consists of two words is considered a compound number. For example, Sixty-seven, Seventy-seven, Twenty-one…
- Exception to this rule: 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90
- Numbers greater than 99 do not require a dash.
Rules for using commas and dots to separate numbers
In English writing, we split numbers greater than 999 with commas to make them easier to read.
We put a comma every third digit from the right, this is known as a “thousands-separator”. The decimal point is shown with a period or full stop.
Do not include spaces on either side of this comma.
- Example: Over 70,000 cars are manufactured every year
Separate thousands and millions in compound numbers using commas.
- Example: 1,681,860
Use no commas in decimals.
- Example: $7.52
If the date is given as month, day, year, use a comma before the year.
- Example: July 22, 2021
Numbers that are not money amounts, like serial numbers, years, and phone numbers are generally represented without commas.
In some countries, large numbers are separated by dots and the comma is used for decimals.
- Example: 211,357.59
How do you write money amounts?
Here are some basic guidelines for writing U.S. currency and money amounts in general usage.
For amounts less than $1, use numerals with the word cent or cents.
- Example: Gasoline dropped 8 cents per gallon.
If the reference comes next to another dollar amount of $1 or more, in this case the cents must be formatted with $ and numbers.
- Example: Prices will soon be increased from $0.47 to $1.33 per piece.
When writing money amounts between 99¢ and $1 Million, use the dollar sign and numerals.
- Example: The subscription service is $783.88 per month.
If you are writing a check, you have to spell out in words the dollar value and you can write the cents numerically.
Replace a decimal point with ‘and’ when you write out amounts on a check.
- Example: forty-six thousand Seven dollars and 33 cents
Rules for writing times
Use numerals when you need to write the exact time and when using a.m. and p.m. However, the time is spelled out when it is followed by o’clock.
Examples:
- He arrived at home at seven o’clock in the morning.
- Wake me up at 9:00 a.m.
Common Mistakes In Writing English Numbers
Mistake 1 : Large Numbers
The first mistake we’re going to look at is related to large numbers.
Don’t worry It’s so easy, just keep in mind, if you have a number or a specific amount of money before : hundreds, thousands, millions, billions, trillions. Make sure you don’t add an ‘S’ at the end.
Example:
- He is making millions of dollars online.
- He is making hundreds of dollars online.
So, notice there’s no specific number here, it’s just hundreds of dollars in general. We don’t know how many hundreds, but we just know somewhere in the hundreds. Same with millions, we don’t know how many millions, we just know he stole millions of dollars not a specific amount.
But, if you have a specific number, there shouldn’t be an ‘S’, even though there’s more than one.
Example:
- I have 9 hundred followers.
- I have three thousand followers.
Mistake 2 : Single Numbers
The next mistake is very frequent. A lot of students and native English speakers get confused when they have to write numbers out.
If a number is a single number, or in other words, if you have a number where it’s just one word that you need to write (E.g. : Three, Twelve, Twenty…), in this case you will need to write it with letters.
Otherwise, if it’s not a single number (E.g. : Twenty-one, Two hundred eighty-four, one thousand six…), we wouldn’t write this out because it’s just too long. In this case we use the digits to write the numbers (E.g. : 21, 284, 1006,…)
Example:
- I have 7 cars. (wrong)
- I have seven cars. (correct)
The next thing you need to know is, when writing numbers at the beginning of a sentence you shouldn’t start with a numeral, the number should be written out in words.
Example:
- 7 birds are in the nest. (wrong)
- Seven birds are in the nest. (correct)
Useful Tip:
If you have a really long number to write, like in this sentence :
Three hundred eighty-six people attended the workshop.
It will be so long and awkward to write it. It’s better to change the sentence here.
So instead of saying Three hundred eighty-six people attended the workshop, you could say: The meeting was attended by 386 people
Mistake 3 : Adjectives
OK, so here is a final mistake that is seen often and that has to do with writing out numbers and also grammar in terms of pronunciation.
- The twenty-year-old boy.
- The boy is twenty years old.
If you’re using time, age or number of something as an adjective, use a hyphen and don’t add an “S”
Well, we have to think about whether or not we’re talking about an adjective. So in the first case, twenty-year-old boy is describing the noun boy, which is why we use hyphens here.
Mistake 4 : Writing money amounts
For figures followed by a dollar sign, don’t add the word “dollars”.
- Incorrect: I earned $2,344 dollars yesterday.
- Correct: I earned $2,344 yesterday.
Conclusion:
There are many different styles for writing numbers in word. This requires good grammar and focus on detail. Deciding whether to write numbers as words or as numerals is a matter of style. The key in all cases is to use a consistent style all along your writing.
Take the Quiz
Test your understanding of the Rules for Writing Numbers by answering this Quiz.
At the end of the quiz (10 questions), you will get the correct answers and your score.
Post your score in the comments below 👇👇 and let us know how you did.
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Cardinal and ordinal numbers in English
You might think that it makes no sense to study numerals in English. Indeed, it is easier to write the necessary numbers on a piece of paper and just show them to an English-speaking friend (and to any other friend who passed the numbers at school).
But what to do if a situation arises when there is no piece of paper at hand or there is no way at all to draw something on the sand / napkin / other surfaces. For example, when you speak to a business partner on the phone or call the automated call center at London Airport.
And in general, knowledge of numbers in English will not be superfluous.
You didn’t think, when you learned the English alphabet, about its need, but you took it for granted. Moreover, this process is simple and interesting.
Numbers in English (quantitative numerators)
• What is easiest to memorize? Rhymed poetry. The British seem to have specially invented numbers that are easy to rhyme. Meaning quantitative numerals. That is, those with which you can count objects. We take numbers from 1 to 12 and memorize simple rhymes:
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
Eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve.
We repeat this mantra 10 times and consider that the first stage has been passed.
• The second step is to learn the cardinal numbers from 13 to 19. If we were talking about a person’s age, then many would call people from 13 to 19 years old teenagers. And it is no coincidence. It’s just that at the end of each of these numbers there is the same ending. —teen… And here is the confirmation:
thirteen
fourteen
fifteen
sixteen
seventeen
eighteen
nineteen
• Let’s go further? We take dozens. They are very similar to the numbers 13 through 19, but they have an important difference. Instead of a teenage ending, we add –Ty.
Twenty
thirty
forty
fifty
sixty
seventy
eighty
ninety
• Do you think it will be more difficult further? Don’t even hope. How do we speak Russian 21? The same in English:
twenty one
Fine, fine. Have noticed. Yes, a hyphen is placed between ten and one. But otherwise, everything is the same. Take a look:
Thirty-four, fifty-seven, eighty-two.
• Let’s not waste time on trifles. And let’s move on to more impressive numbers.
Hundred — 100
Thousand — 1000
Million — 1000000
If this is not enough for us, then we can make 200 (two hundred) or 3000 (three thousand), or even immediately 5000000 (five million).
It is surprising that the British did not complicate anything here. Note that a hundred, a thousand, a million are not plural. Everything is in one.
• Still, let’s try something more complicated. Let’s look at composite numbers. For example, 387. We place bets, gentlemen, who will pronounce this number how? And now the correct answer is:
three hundred AND eighty-seven.
The only difference from the Russian is the appearance of the union “and” between hundreds and tens.
What about 5234? We place our bets again. Correct answer:
Five thousand two hundred and thirty-four.
Ordinal numerators
• Cardinal numbers did a good job as a warm-up. It’s time to move on to ordinal in English. That is, to those numerals that denote the order of objects: first, second, third twenty-fourth, the calculation is over!
And here one little surprise awaits us. All ordinal numbers are obtained in the same way: the article is simply added to them the front and —th at the end of a word. And all the cases.
the fourth
the fifth
the sixth
the seventh
the eighth
the ninth
tenth
the forty-seventh
But English wouldn’t be so interesting if it weren’t for the exceptions to the rule. And, of course, these exceptions are the most commonly used numerals.
the first
second
the third
Who has not guessed yet, this is the very first, second and third.
• For dessert. A little more theory for the most curious. This is no longer as necessary as knowledge of cardinal and ordinal numbers, but it will help you show yourself to be very educated in the environment of English-speaking interlocutors.
Phone number. How do you say in Russian 155-28-43? Yeah: one hundred fifty five, twenty eight, forty three. And in English you will call each number in turn. And a little nuance: when there are 2 identical digits in a row, you need to say double and name the number. In this example: one double five two eight four three.
Year. For example, 1843. In Russian: one thousand eight hundred and forty-third. That is, as a number, and even ordinal. And the British are not bastard. Their years are pronounced in dozens at once: eighteen forty-three. That is, also numbers, but quantitative, without any –Th.
Rooms.
Source: https://iloveenglish.ru/theory/anglijskaya_grammatika/chislitelnie_kolichestvennie_i_poryadkovie
Lesson 5. Numbers in English
Daria SorokinaLinguist-translator, teacher of foreign languages.
In English, as in Russian, there are two types of numerals: quantitative and ordinal. Quantitative are those that answer the question How much? and ordinal — to questions what?which? which? which?
Cardinal numbers
The numbers from 1 to 12 need to be memorized and known very well, but then it will be easier for you, because when forming two-digit numbers, there are already hint rules that will help you to facilitate the formation of numbers.
Take a close look at the table with numbers and try to find the common in the formation of round numbers. In the note, you will be shown the very tips that we talked about above.
0 — oh or zero [ou], [‘zɪərəu]
1 — one [wʌn]
2 — two [tuː]
3 — three [θriː]
4 — four [fɔː]
5 — five [faɪv]
6 — six [sɪks]
7 — seven [‘sev (ə) n]
8 — eight [eɪt]
9 — nine [naɪn]
10 — ten [ten]
11 — eleven [ɪ’lev (ə) n]
12 — twelve [twelv]
13 — thirteen [θɜː’tiːn]
14 — fourteen [ˌfɔː’tiːn]
15 — fifteen [ˌfɪf’tiːn]
16 — sixteen [ˌsɪk’stiːn]
17 — seventeen [ˌsev (ə) n’tiːn]
18 — eighteen [ˌeɪ’tiːn]
19 — nineteen [ˌnaɪn’tiːn]
20 — twenty [‘twentɪ]
21 — twenty-one [ˌtwentɪ’wʌn]
30 — thirty [‘θɜːtɪ]
40 — forty [‘fɔːtɪ]
50 — fifty [‘fɪftɪ]
60 — sixty [‘sɪkstɪ]
70 — seventy [‘sev (ə) ntɪ]
80 — eighty [‘eɪtɪ]
90 — ninety [‘naɪntɪ]
100 — one hundred [wʌn] [‘hʌndrɪd]
101 — one hundred and one
200 — two hundred
1000 — one thousand [wʌn] [‘θauz (ə) nd]
1000000 — one million [wʌn] [‘mɪljən]
Note:
1) To form numbers from 13 to 19, the suffix is used —teen, however, some numbers are formed in a special way:
13 — root —three— changes to —thir—
15 — root —five— changes to —fif—
18 — only one letter t
2) To form numbers from 20 to 90, the suffix is used —ty, however, some numbers are formed in a special way:
20 — the form of the word changes completely
30 — root —three— changes to —thir—
40 — root —four — changes to —for—
50 — root —five— changes to —fif—
18 — only one letter t
3) Numbers from 21 to 99 are hyphenated in words
4) Word hundredweight remains in the singular, regardless of the number in front of it. The same for words thousands и million.
Ordinals
Ordinal numbers are formed by adding a definite article the before the numeral and suffix —th… However, there are exceptions to this rule, these are numbers from one to five. Look at the table of formation of ordinal numbers:
1st — (the) first [fɜːst]
2st — (the) second [‘sek (ə) nd]
3st — (the) third [θɜːd]
4th — (the) fourth [fɔːθ]
5st — (the) fifth [fɪfθ]
9st — (the) nineth
10th — (the) tenth
16th — (the) sixteenth
29th — (the) twenty-ninth
73rd — (the) seventy-third
In this lesson, we will learn with you not only to greet our interlocutor, but also to ask how he is doing. Look at the words for the dialogue, the dialogue itself and its translation.
New words:
how [haʊ] — how
good [gʊd] — good
fine [faɪn] — ok
thanks / thank you [θæŋks] — thanks
goodbye / bye [gʊd’baɪ] — goodbye, bye
Source: https://linguistpro.net/chislitelnye-v-angliyskom-yazyke
Cardinal numbers in English
English cardinal numbers in form are divided into several varieties: simple, derivatives and compound.
Simples consist of one root, they are not formed from other numbers, so they should be well remembered. Simple numbers include all numerals from 0 to 12, as well as numerals-nouns one hundred, one thousand, one million, billion.
Derivatives consist of one word, formed from simple numbers with the addition of suffixes.
For numbers from 12 to 19, add the suffix -teen to the root. The resulting words have double stress on the first and second syllables, which makes it possible to distinguish them by ear from dozens. The second stress in a word is pronounced stronger than the first.
To form tens, denoting the numbers 20, 30, 40, and so on, add the suffix -ty to the stem. The stress in such numbers is placed on the first syllable.
Compound numbers are made up of multiple numbers. Dozens with ones in English are hyphenated, and hundreds are written separately. In each digit in British English, it is customary to put the union and after a hundred, but in the American version it is omitted.
Two hundred and sixteen = two hundred sixteen
Hundred, thousand, million, and milliard / billion are not plural in compound numbers. But if they are used as nouns without other numerals, for example, in the meaning of «hundred», then they can be put in the plural. In the singular, before them, the use of the article is mandatory.
Five thousand people — five thousand people
Thousands of people — thousands of people
Table with examples of cardinal numbers in English
| Simple | Derivatives | Composite | |
| 0-12, 100, 1000, 1000000 | 13-19 | 20-90 | Other |
| ZeroOneTwoThreeFourHundredThousandMillionMilliard / billion | + teenThirteenFourteenFifteen |
Source: https://lingua-airlines.ru/kb-article/kolichestvennye-chislitelnye-v-anglijskom/
Numbers in English with transcription in the table from 1 to 10:
| Digit / Number | Word with transcription |
| 1 | one [wʌn] |
| 2 | two [tuː] |
| 3 | three [θriː] |
| 4 | four [fɔː] |
| 5 | five [faɪv] |
| 6 | six [seks] |
| 7 | seven [‘sev (ə) n] |
| 8 | eight [eɪt] |
| 9 | nine [naɪn] |
| 10 | ten[ten] |
If you do not know English transcription and you need Russian transcription, listen to how numbers and numbers are read in English:
/audio/english-vocabulary-numbers.mp3 Download mp3
The number 0 is written like this: nought [nɔːt], zero [‘zɪərəu]
Numbers 11 to Million
More numbers in English from 11 to 20 and from 21 to 100:
| 11 | eleven [ɪ’lev (ə) n] |
| 12 | twelve [twelv] |
| 13 | thirteen [θɜː’tiːn] |
| 14 | fourteen [ˌfɔː’tiːn] |
| 15 | fifteen [ˌfɪf’tiːn] (note: “f”, not “v”) |
| 16 | sixteen [ˌsɪk’stiːn] |
| 17 | seventeen [ˌsev (ə) n’tiːn] |
| 18 | eighteen [ˌeɪ’tiːn] (only one «t») |
| 19 | nineteen [ˌnaɪn’tiːn] |
| 20 | twenty [‘twentɪ] |
| 21 | twenty-one [ˌtwentɪ’wʌn] (numbers from 21 to 99 are hyphenated in words) |
| 30 | thirty [‘θɜːtɪ] |
| 40 | forty [‘fɔːtɪ] (no letter “u”) |
| 50 | fifty [‘fɪftɪ] (note: “f”, not “v”) |
| 60 | sixty [‘sɪkstɪ] |
| 70 | seventy [‘sev (ə) ntɪ] |
| 80 | eighty [‘eɪtɪ] (only one «t») |
| 90 | ninety [‘naɪntɪ] (there is a letter “e”) |
| 100 | one hundred [wʌn] [‘hʌndrəd], [-rɪd] |
| 101 | one hundred and one |
| 200 | two hundred (the word hundred remains in the singular, regardless of the number in front of it) |
| 1000 | one thousand [wʌn] [‘θauz (ə) nd] (also true for thousands: two thousand) |
| 1,000,000 | one million [wʌn] [‘mɪljən] (also true for a million: two million) |
Cardinal and ordinal numbers
There are two types of numerals:
- quantitative (cardinal)
- ordinal (ordinal)
Everything is clear with the first group. Quantitative (cardinal) numerals are our one, two, three one hundred (one, two, three hundred).
But ordinal (ordinal) numerals are a bit tricky. Pointing to the order of the position or course of action (first, second, third hundredth), they are formed according to a certain rule, which was not without exceptions. Let’s consider the rule.
To form an ordinal number, it is necessary to add the ending -TH to the cardinal number.
If “four” is oven, then the «fourth» will be the fourth. «Six — sixth» — «six — thesixth ”.
Pay attention! Ordinal numbers are used with the article “The“.
And what about the exceptions? They are words «First, second, third, fifth»that need to be learned by heart:
| 1 | — the | first |
| 2 | second | |
| 3 | third | |
| 5 | fifth |
Ordinal numbers will be useful to us in order to name the date of your birth. (birthday).
Mu birthday is on the second (tenth, seventeenth) of May (January, June).
Use “on» to indicate the day and «Of» before the month name. By the way, historically, the names of calendar months are written with a capital letter. Remember this!
Ordinal numbers in English
| Number | Word |
| 1st | the first [ðiː] [fɜːst] |
| 2nd | the second [ðiː] [‘sek (ə) nd] |
| 3rd | the third [ðiː] [θɜːd] |
| 4th | the fourth [ðiː] [fɔːθ] |
| 5th | the fifth [ðiː] [fɪfθ] |
| 6th | the sixth [ðiː] [sɪksθ] |
| 7th | the seventh [ðiː] [‘sev (ə) nθ] |
| 8th | the eighth |
| 9th | the ninth |
| 10th | tenth |
| 11th | the eleventh |
| 12th | the twelfth |
| 13th | the third |
| 14th | the fourteenth |
| 15th | the fifteenth |
| 16th | the sixteenth |
| 17th | the seventeenth |
| 18th | the eighteenth |
| 19th | the nineteenth |
| 20th | the twentieth |
| 21st | the twenty-first |
| 30th | the third |
| 40th | the fortune |
| 50th | the fiftieth |
| 60th | the sixtieth |
| 70th | the seventies |
| 80th | the eightieth |
| 90th | the ninetieth |
| 100th | the hundredth |
| 101st | the hundred and first |
| 1000th | the thousandth |
Source: https://englishtexts.ru/english-grammar/english-numerals
Numerals in English. Numbers and numbers in English
Numbers in English have two functions:
- are responsible for counting objects: indicate the size, quantity;
- indicate the order in which items are counted — sequence.
Are they important; and if important, how much? It is easy not only to imagine, but also to check it yourself. For at least one day, try not to mention the exact information regarding:
- dates, times and deadlines;
- prices;
- telephone numbers and addresses;
- age;
- weights and distances.
Eventually, even talking about the weather gets a lot harder without mentioning temperature:
— How is it on the street?
— Coldly.
— How cold?
— Colder than yesterday!
— How cold was it yesterday ?!
— Colder than the day before yesterday !!!
So, without delaying or putting it on the back burner, we get down to numbers and numbers in English.
Cardinal numbers in English
Cardinal numbers, following their name, indicate the number of things (objects). At the same time, they answer the question — «how much?» (how many?).
dragonflies have four wings. — Dragonflies have 4 wings.
The company purchased ninety tons of coal. — The company purchased 90 tons of coal.
Simple numbers in English
They determine the score from 1 to 12.
Numbers in English
The figures — symbols used to write all numbers: whole, fractional, large and small. Without getting into higher mathematics and not counting punctuation marks (period, comma, slash), there are only 10 characters that we operate with for:
- counting: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, etc.;
- designations of quantities: mass, time, temperature, etc.
These are the so-called «Arabic numerals» used in the vast majority of countries in the world to write numbers in the decimal system.
Source: https://englishboost.ru/tsifry-na-anglijskom/
Ordinal numbers English pronunciation — Secrets of a
Ordinal numbers English pronunciation
Let’s take a look at how ordinal numbers are written and pronounced in English. As always, this will require you to remember one simple rule and a few exceptions and peculiarities. They are more related to the written part. I will show the word, its transcription and pronunciation with translation. We will also discuss the rule for each number from 1 to 100. Ordinal numbers in English are pronunciation.
Ordinal numbers call things in order. Imagine cups.
The first cup is white, the second cup is black, the third cup is red, the fourth cup is blue, the fifth cup is green, and the sixth cup is yellow. A cup of this shape (or mug) is called a mug.
The first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth are ordinal numbers. They show in what order the circles are.
Rule: the article the is always used with ordinal numbers.
Rule: numerals do not change by gender. «First» and «first» will be denoted by the same word.
1. First, first or first, first will the first | fəːst |… Listen
The first circle is white. The first mug is white.
2. Second, second, second, second — the second — | ˈSɛk (ə) nd | Listen
The second mug is black. — The second circle is black.
3. Third, third, third, third — the third [θɜːd] Listen
The third mug is red. — The third circle is red. Could you give me the third mug, please? — Bring the third mug, please.
So, these three words «the first, the second, the third» are an exception, because they do not look like their «brothers», the words «one, two, three — one, two, three». They need to be remembered !!!
How to memorize words can be viewed click here
The rest of the words are derived from quantitative.
The rule is this. In most cases, you need to add — th to the end of the word to the cardinal number to get an ordinal number.
4. Fourth, fourth, fourth, fourth — The fourth [fɔːθ] Listen
He lives in the fourth house on the right of the street. — He lives in the fourth house on the right side of the street.
The smiths are the fourth who live in this house. “The Smiths are the fourth to live in this house.
Practice:
- So the word four is four. How do you say «fourth»? See the rule above. Add — th and don’t forget about the article the at the beginning. Fourth — the fourth. It’s not difficult, is it? )))
5. Fifth, fifth, fifth, fifth— the fifth — [fɪfθ] Listen
Rule: Ordinal numbers English pronunciation — in the word five, when forming an ordinal number, the final -e disappears, and the letter -v- changes to -f-
It will look like -fif-. Add the previous rules — the article and the ending -th. Fifth — the fifth
Why such a rule, you ask? This is due to phonetics. The -th ending is a dull sound [θ]. And the letter -v- sounds sonorous (remember the paired consonants in voicing — deafness from the first grade of school) in-f. Since the final sound is deaf, the previous sound must also be deaf, so we replace the letter: vf
I am the fifth child in the family — I am the fifth child in the family.
Do not confuse the words “forth” (“come forth”) and “fourth”. They sound the same.
Ordinal numbers English pronunciation
6. Sixth, sixth, sixth, sixth — the sixth [sɪksθ] Listen
He started his sixth year at school. — He started his sixth year at school.
Rule: the article the can be replaced with possessive pronouns according to the meaning (my — my, his — his, her — her, their — their, our — our)
my sixth bike — My sixth bike (Can’t my the sixth bike)
I’ve broken my sixth bike this year — I crashed my sixth bike this year.
7. Seventh, seventh, seventh, seventh — the seventh [ˈSevnθ] Listen
The their seventh wedding anniversary they are going to Paris. “They are going to Paris for their seventh wedding anniversary.
8. Eighth, eighth, eighth, eighth — the eighth [eɪtθ] Listen
Rule: When writing the eighth, the letter t is removed from the word eight so that there is no repetition (the + eight + th)
9. Ninth, ninth, ninth, ninth — the ninth[naɪnθ] Listen
Rule: if the number at the end is -e, it is removed in the ordinal number.
estatee-the ninth — nine — ninth
10. Tenth, tenth, tenth, tenth — the tenth [tenθ] Listen
Song about Ordinal numbers English pronunciation
| Quantitative | Ordinal | Transcription | Transfer |
| eleven | eleventh | [ɪˈlevnθ] | eleventh |
| twelve | Twelfth (rule) | [twelfθ] | twelfth |
| thirteen | thirteenth | [ˌΘɜːˈtiːnθ] | thirteenth |
| fourteen | fourteenth | [ˌFɔːˈtiːnθ] | fourteenth |
| fifteen | Fifteenth (rule) | [ˌFɪfˈtiːnθ] | fifteenth |
| sixteen | sixteenth | [siːkˈstiːnθ] | sixteenth |
| seventeen | seventeenth | [ˌSevnˈtiːnθ] | seventeenth |
| eighteen | eighteenth | [ˌEɪˈtiːnθ] | eighteenth |
| nineteen | nineteenth | [ˌNaɪnˈtiːnθ] | nineteenth |
11. Twentieth, twentieth, twentieth, twentieth [ˈtwentɪəθ] Listen
Rule: When forming an ordinal from twenty — twenty, the letter y changes to -ie-: twenty — the + twent + ie + th
Practice: how to say twenty-first — 21 th? Only the last number changes. Word twenty remains quantitative. twenty. And the word one changes to the first word — the first. In this case, the article is placed from the very beginning of the word «twenty-first». There is a hyphen between tens and ones. The + twenty + — + first.
The twenty-first [ˈtwɛntiˈfɜrst] Listen
| Quantitative | Ordinal | Transcription | Transfer |
| twenty-one | The twenty-first | [ˈTwɛntiˈfɜrst] | Twenty first |
| Twenty — two | The twenty — second | [ˈTwɛntiˈ ˈsɛk (ə) nd] | Twenty second |
| Twenty — three | The twenty — third | [ˈTwɛntiˈθɜrd] | Twenty third |
| Twenty — four | The twenty- fourth | [ˌˈtwɛntiˈfɔrθ] | Twenty-fourth |
Numbers in English: rules of education, reading, memorization
Редакция Updated Nov 6, 2018
We are faced with numbers every day. House number, phone number, number of people who viewed your Stories, but not all of us know how to pronounce these cryptic numbers. It’s time to find out and finally learn them.
How to pronounce numbers in English correctly?
To pronounce the number correctly, you need to know the transcription.
Rules for the formation of numbers in English
Numbers in English are divided into:
- simple;
- derivatives;
- composite.
Prime numbers are made up of one word.
Derived numbers consist of one word, but they have suffixes:
- -teen (sixteen, eighteen);
- -ty (twenty, sixty).
Composite numbers consist of several numbers:
215 — two hundred and fifteen.
How to form derivative numbers?
So, derived numbers have suffixes -ty or -teen:
16 — sixteen = six + teen.
If the suffix -teen is added to the number, then the stress falls on the suffix:
70 — seventy = seven + ty.
If the suffix -ty is added, the stress falls on the root (in this example, seven).
How to form compound numbers?
Formula of education: number of hundreds + and + number of tens and units.
examples:
84 — eighty-four;
256 — two hundred and fifty-six;
569 — five hundred and sixty-nine.
Note that two-digit numbers are hyphenated (eighty-two, fourty-six).
Numbers up to twenty, tens up to 100, 1000, 1000000
We have already covered the numbers from 1 to 12. It’s time to study tens, hundreds, thousands and millions.
- 13 — thirteen;
- 14 — fourteen;
- 15 — fifteen;
- 16 — sixteen;
- 17 — seventeen;
- 18 — eighteen;
- 19 — nineteen.
It is important to remember that three in 13 and five in 15 will change slightly in spelling and pronunciation.
Tens are formed using the -ty suffix:
- 20 — twenty (two becomes twen + ty);
- 30 — thirty (three becomes thir + ty);
- 40 — fourty;
- 50 — fifty (five becomes fif + ty);
- 60 — sixty;
- 70 — seventy;
- 80 — eighty;
- 90 — ninety.
100 in English is hundred. It is always preceded by an indefinite article a, but if it is a composite number (115, 178), then we put one.
My father gave me a hundred dollars. — My dad gave me a hundred dollars.
Source: https://4lang.ru/english/grammar/numbers
Numbers in English
It is difficult to meet a person who cannot count to 10 in English, but English numbers greater than ten raise many questions, and many do not fully know how to call them correctly, so they avoid calling large numbers or working with fractions. In this article, I will tell you in great detail (and I will remind someone) what numbers are in English, and how to call numbers in English.
In English, as in Russian, there are two types of numerals: quantitative and ordinal.
Cardinal numbers
Quantitative answers to the question «How much?» and, as their name implies, indicate the quantity:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| one | Two | three | four | five | six | seven | eight | nine | th |
This row is familiar to everyone, but I still ask you to pay attention to the pronunciation of the words: three [θriː], so that you have an English sound [θ], not Russian C, but in the words five and seven, try not to deafen the sound [v ]: [faɪv], [ˈsev.ən].
To form numbers second ten (11-19), the suffix -teen is added to simple numbers, but not to all, as there are exceptions (11,12):
| 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| eleven | twelve | thirteen | fourteen | fifteen | sixteen | seventeen | eighteen | nineteen |
Please also note that in some numbers, when a suffix is added, the spelling changes (thirteen, fifteen, eighteen).
It is important to remember about stress. At transfer or invoice, the stress falls on the first syllable, because all numbers in a row with the same suffix:
thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen,
If you use in speech one numeral, not in a number row, but, for example, with a noun, then the stress falls on the second syllable:
She is thirteen years old. — She is 13 years old.
There are fourteen books. — There are 14 books.
For the formation of numerals denoting dozens of, the suffix -ty is used:
| 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 | 60 | 70 | 80 | 90 |
| Twenty | thirty | forty | fifty | sixty | seventy | eighty | ninety |
Note the changes in the numbers 20, 40, 50.
Since -teen and -ty have similar pronunciations, it is important pronounce the endings clearly numerals to avoid misunderstanding and distortion of information.
Two-digit numbers are usually hyphenated:
22 — twenty-two
48 — forty eight
For naming hundreds we use the word hundred, and thousand — thousand, and these words are in the singularwhen we know exact amount hundreds and thousands:
100 — one hundred 1000 — one thousand 500 — five hundred
5000 — five thousand
Using the words hundreds and thousands is only possible if we do not know the exact quantities:
Hundreds of books — hundreds of books
Thousands of people — thousands of people
A million in English is million, and a billion is billion. These words are also used in singular with exact number… Hundreds, thousands, millions, and billions can separated by commas for a better perception of the whole number:
1,259,126 — one million two hundred and fifty-nine thousand one hundred twenty-six 6,241,491,960 — six billion two hundred and forty one million, four hundred and ninety-one thousand, nine hundred and sixty millions of people — millions of people
billions of dollars — billions of dollars
Ordinals
These numbers answer the questions “Which one? What is the order?«, Indicate the place of a certain subject in the quantitative series. Ordinal numbers are formed using the -th suffix, which is added in most cardinal numbers, with the exception of three:
| 1 — one | 1st — (the) first |
| 2 — two | 2nd — (the) second |
| 3 — three | 3rd — (the) third |
The ordinal number is preceded by the definite article the if there is no other determinant. Adding -th to numbers is usually straightforward, but there are a few «problematic» numbers that have some spelling changes when -th is added:
| 5 — five | 5th — (the) fifth |
| 8 — eight | 8th — (the) eighth |
| 9 — nine | 9th — (the) ninth |
| 12 — twelve | 12th — (the) twelfth |
In addition, in the numbers denoting dozens of, final letter y changes to ie before adding -th:
twenty — twentieth fifty — fiftieth
ninety — ninetieth
Ordinal numbers of two-digit, three-digit, etc. numbers are formed by adding -th to the last numeral:
35th — the thirty-fifth 78th — the seventy-eighth
257th — the two hundred and fifty-seventh
Using the AND conjunction in numerals
Should I or should I not say and? We come across different options and so on to the end and cannot understand when we need the union and in numbers. And it turns out that you say and, then you skip. To clear your mind, consider when and is used in numbers.
And is not used in two-digit numbers less than a hundred:
75 — seventy-five 24 — twenty-four
98 — ninety-eight
And is used after the word hundred, if it is followed by dozens of:
132 — one hundred and thirty two 718 — seven hundred and eighteen
304 — three hundred and four
And is used after the word thousand, if it is followed by dozens of, without hundreds:
1086 — One thousand and eighty six 6007 — Six thousand and seven
4020 — four thousand and twenty
If after the word thousand followed by hundreds (a number greater than one hundred or equal to one hundred), then and not used:
2589 — two thousand five hundred eighty nine 5100 — five thousand one hundred
9634 — nine thousand six hundred thirty four
In American English (AmE) and is often overlooked, so you can see numbers with hundred, thousand without and.
The word and in numerals is always unstressed, and its pronunciation is reduced to [ən], [nd], [n].
And is used when reading common fractions (common fractions or simple fractions):
1 1/2 — one and a half
3 2/3 — three and two thirds
You will learn how to correctly name simple and decimal fractions in the next article.
Source: https://enginform.com/article/pogovorim-o-chislitelnih
Ordinal Numerals
»Theory» Grammar »Ordinal numbers
Ordinal numbers in English denote a number when counting, and answer the question «Which?»
Formation of ordinal numbers in English
Ordinal numbers are formed by adding an ending –Th to the cardinal number:
four — fourth (four — fourth)
eleven — eleventh (eleven — eleventh)
Exceptions:
one — first two — second three — third five — fifth eight — eighth nine — ninth
twelve — twelfth (twelve — twelfth)
When forming ordinal numbers ending in -Y (that is, all numbers denoting tens, starting with 20), the final y changing to i, and before the end –Th is added e:
eighty — eightieth (eighty — eightieth)
ninety — ninetieth (ninety — ninetieth)
Note that in complex ordinal numbers, the ending –Th only has the last digit:
421st — four hundred and twenty first
5,111th — five thousand, one hundred and eleventh
When ordinal numbers are written as a number, usually the last two letters of the corresponding ordinal number are added to the number:
first = 1st second = 2nd third = 3rd fourth = 4th twenty sixth = 26th
hundred and first = 101st
The use of ordinal numbers in English
Ordinal numbers are almost always used with the definite article. the… Sometimes a personal pronoun can be used instead of an article.
For example:
We are the first to answer. We are the first to answer.
It is the second book.
This is the second book.
It is my twenty first son.
This is my twenty-first son.
When ordinal numbers are used as part of a court name, title, then the numbers in this case are usually written in Roman numerals. Pronunciation uses the definite article.
For example: Charles II — Charles the Second
Henry VIII — Henry the Eighth
Source: http://www.correctenglish.ru/theory/grammar/ordinal-numerals/
How to write numbers and numerals | Articles in English on Study.ru
When we write a text in English, in which numbers are found, we often ask ourselves the question: In which case should we use numbers, and in which case — words? For example, should you write «6» or «six»? In general, native English speakers adhere to 10 rules that are good to know.
1.Number or numeral
First you need to clearly understand what a number is and what a numeral is. A number is an abstract, abstract concept, and a numeral is a symbol that denotes it. «Five», «5» и «V» — symbols used to represent a number. In other words, it is like a person and his name.
2. Write small numbers in words
Small numbers like integers less than 10 should be written in words — «Three», «nine»… Writing them with numbers will match the style of instant messaging, which is likely to contradict the style of your text — semi-formal or official.
3 general rule
As for the other rules, then the opinions of experts differ. But most still believe that numbers consisting of one word should be written in words, and those consisting of two words — in numbers. For example, «Twelve», «twenty» but «24».
4.Numbers and punctuation marks
In English, a comma is always placed before the thousands place. For example, it is customary to write — The size of Alaska is 571,951 square miles, not «571951 square miles».
The decimal point is used — «8.3»… On the European continent, there is an opposite system — the thousandth place is separated by a dot, and a comma is put in decimal fractions.
According to the International System of Measures, it is necessary to observe the interval after three consecutive digits. For example, $ 137 200… The same procedure exists for the registration of telephone numbers — 900 421 706.
5. Don’t start a sentence with a number.
For example, the following option is considered correct — Four score and seven years ago. The following spelling will be incorrect — 4 score and 7 years ago. In some cases, you will have to change the sentence and write «Fans bought 400,000 copies the first day.» instead «400,000 copies were sold the first day.»
6. Writing centuries and years
Write centuries and decades in words. For example, The eighties or The nineteenth century.
7. Interest and recipes
If we are talking about everyday records, then it is permissible to use numbers — «4% of the children»
Source: https://www.study.ru/article/grammar/kak-pisat-chisla-i-chislitelnye
Quantitative
Learn the following English cardinal numbers from 1 to 20 to 100:
| 1 — one [wʌn] 2 — Two [tu:] 3 — three [θri:] 4 — four [rɔ:] 5 — five [faɪv] 6 — six [sɪks] 7 — seven [sevn] 8 — eight [eɪt] 9 — nine [naɪn] 10 — th [ten] 11 — eleven [ɪˊlevn] 12 — twelve [twelv] 13 — thirteen [θǝ: ˊtɪ: n] 14 — fourteen [ˊFɔ: ˊtɪn] 15 — fifteen [ˊFifˊtɪn] | 16 — sixteen [ˊSɪksˊtɪ: n] 17 — seventeen [ˊSevnˊtɪ: n] 18 — eighteen [ˊEɪˊtɪ: n] 19 — nineteen [ˊNaɪnˊtɪ: n] 20 — Twenty [ˊTwentɪ] 30 — thirty [ˊΘǝ: tɪ] 40 — forty [ˊFɔ: tɪ] 50 — fifty [ˊFɪftɪ] 60 — sixty [ˊSɪkstɪ] 70 — seventy [ˊSevntɪ] 80 — eighty [eɪtɪ] 90 — ninety [ˊNaɪntɪ] 100 — one hundred [ˊWʌnˊhʌndrɪd] 1000 — one thousanf [ˊWʌnˊθauzǝnd] |
Remember! Two-digit numbers are formed in the same way as in Russian: 22 — twenty two — twenty two, 48 — forty eight forty eight.
Please note that, unlike the Russian language, the digits of multi-digit numbers are separated comma 5,550,000, and the decimal fraction of an integer is point: 7.5.
Remember! Between hundreds (thousands, if there are no hundreds) and tens in any digit, when reading, the union and is always put.
246 — two hundred and forty six;
405 — four hundred and five;
3,525,250 — three million five hundred and twenty five thousand two hundred and fifty.
Please note that the numbers have no endings —sif they are used with a number: five thousand, but thousands of people.
Ordinal
Ordinals in English are formed by adding —th to cardinal numbers:
- ten — ten — tenth [tenθ] — tenth.
But:
- one — first [fǝ: st]
- two — second [ˊsekǝnd]
- three — third [θǝ: d].
When forming ordinal numbers, the following changes also occur:
- five — fifth [fifθ]
- eight — eighth [eitθ]
- nine — ninth [nainθ]
- twelve — twelfth [twelfθ].
For numbers starting from 20.the final —у changes to —ie front —th:
- twenty — twentieth
- thirty — thirtieth.
Note! In compound numbers, only the last digit takes the form of an ordinal number:
- 23 — twenty-third;
- 587 — five hundred and eighty seventh.
Fractional
Simple fractions in English are expressed by cardinal numbers in the numerator and ordinal numbers in the denominator. If the number in the numerator is more than one, then the denominator is added —s:
2/3 — two thirds; 23/4 — two and three fourths.
Remember:
- 1/2 reads a half [hʌ: f]
- 1/4 reads a quarter [kwɔ: tǝ].
Decimal fractions the point is read — point [point]. Zero naught reads [nɔ: t]. After the dot, each digit is read separately:
- 0.5034 — naught point five naught three four;
- 5.4 — five point four;
- 2.003 — two point naught naught (zero zero) three.
Dates
The year is denoted by cardinal numbers. In English, when read, the number is halved, and each half is read as a separate word:
- 1917 — nineteen seventeen,
if the second digit from the right is zero, then it is read as [ou]:
- 1905 — nineteen [ou] five.
Dates are designated by ordinal numbers.
For example:
November 1917, 7 — November 1917, XNUMX = the seventh of November nineteen seventeen.
March 1807, XNUMX — On the fifth of March eighteen [ou] seven.
How to write ordinal numbers in English
Hello dear friends!
When you start to boldly master English and have already learned to count, it’s time to move on. What if you need to know which train from this platform goes to London: the first or the third? Or you make an appointment for a specific date. Or maybe you wanted to take part in a traditional activity for the British — horse racing? What horse should you bet on: eighth or twelfth? For all this, you need to know how ordinal numbers are written in English. Today I will help you with this.
One rule and few exceptions
Let me remind you that ordinal numbers are those that answer the question “Which one? Which the?» and indicate the order of items when counting. Their education is very simple. You just need to add the ending -th to the cardinal number. For example, four — fourth (four — fourth), ten — tenth (ten — tenth). It’s Peter’s fourth car.
By the way, did you repeat the last lesson about articles?
Formation of ordinal numbers
However, there are exceptions, that is, those words that do not obey the general rule. When ordinal numbers are formed, in this case, the very basis of the word or its part changes. I bring to your attention a list of them. And if you are not sure how they are read, a table with transcription in Russian letters:
| cardinal number | Ordinal number | Transcription |
| One (1) | First | Fest |
| Two (2) | Second | Second |
| Three (3) | Third | Sed |
| Fives (5) | Fifth | Fifs |
| Eight (8) | Eighth | Aits |
| Nine (9) | Ninth | Nines |
| Twelve (12) | Twelfth | Thuelfs |
As you noticed, «first», «second» and «third» completely change their basis when forming from a cardinal number. «Fifth» and «Twelfth» change v to f and get rid of e. The «eighth» only adds h, and the «ninth» also removes e.
What to do with large numbers
Dozens have one rule — y changes to ie. For example, twenty is twentieth (twenty — twentieth), sixty — sixtieth (sixty — sixtieth).
Remember how the to particle is used with verbs?
Please note that compound numbers (those that consist of more than one number. You can read more about them in the article «Quantitative Numbers in English») add the ending only to the last digit. For example, twenty-seven — twenty-seventh (twenty-seventh), one hundred and forty-two — one hundred and forty-eighth (one hundred forty-eighth),
With the pronunciation, everything is also simple. We act according to the quantitative rules. That is, where you need to put and (between a hundred and ten) — we put: seven hundred and tenth (four hundred and tenth). Hundreds, thousands, millions and tens also do not have a plural, that is, the ending -s is not added to them. Compare: five thousand and thirtieth — five thousands and thirtieth.
When too lazy to write a lot
When we figured out the pronunciation, now let’s see how they are spelled. It is not always for us to display a huge number of letters, of course, there are also abbreviations. You can write a number as a digit, and denote that it is ordinal by signing th at the top for those that obey the general rules. Thirty-seventh — 37th, sixth — 6th. For those that do not end with th, remember the abbreviations: first — 1st, second — 2nd, third — 3rd.
When do you need the
All of us at school memorized these numbers at once with the definite article the, and teachers strongly advised to always put it. Indeed, speaking of dates, without him nowhere: I was born on the 18th of February (I was born on February 18). However, there are exceptions here as well. It all depends on the context.
Subscribe to my blog. Find even more useful articles and rules, and you will also receive as a gift a basic phrasebook in three languages, English, German and French. Its main plus is that there is Russian transcription, therefore, even without knowing the language, you can easily master colloquial phrases.
When ordinal numbers mean «one more, another» the indefinite article a should be used. A third man came into the office.
Source: https://vivaeurope.ru/languages/english/ordinalnumbers
Numbers in English — rules of use
Pre-Intermediate
Just as in Russian, English numerals are divided into quantitative (those with which we count objects and designate their quantity) and ordinal (those with which we determine the place of an object in a certain queue).
However, English numerals have a number of distinctive features. For example, in Russian writing, we separate every three digits in the number with a dot (234.986.564), and in fractions, integers and parts — with a comma (1,5). How are numbers written in English, you ask? We will answer, Everything is exactly the opposite !!!
In addition, for some reason, English language students write a currency sign (in our case, it is a dollar or a pound) after the amount. Probably, the law of analogy is at work here, because the reduction of rubles / r. We bet after the amount for sure! Again, English numerals behave exactly differently, that is the $ and £ signs are written up to the amount.
For example: $ 2.0 billion or $ 1,981,364
It’s the same story with interest. Russian percentages are usually denoted as%. At least two other methods will be selected for English.
In any case, the following quick reference will help you deal with another difficulty of the English language — ordinal and cardinal numbers.
English numerals
Not a single day of our life is complete without numbers. We look at bus numbers while standing at a bus stop, make a list of groceries, find out the time and pay for purchases, dictate phone numbers and even check the percentage of charge on our mobile device.
That is why, when starting the study of any foreign language, special attention should be paid to numerals.
Without them, how can you tell your interlocutor about how old you are, what grade you got on the test, what time your classes start and other useful information?
In this article we will talk about the numerals of the most common foreign language for Russian speakers — English. How are English numbers classified and what unique features are they endowed with?
Basic characteristics of numerals
Before starting a detailed study of species classifications and groups of numerals, let’s figure out the exact definition of this part of speech in order to avoid further mistakes and misunderstandings.
So, the English numeral name (or the numeral) represents that part of speech, which is a quantitative indicator of objects or phenomena, carrying out their numbering. Drawing an analogy with Russian numerals, one can see that their English brothers are also divided into two large groups — quality (cardinal numerals) and ordinal (ordinal numerals).
Let’s see what are the differences between one group and another. Cardinal numbers simply show how many items we have. For example, it can be translated into the Russian equivalent as follows: “I have five apples”.
In English, numerals will answer the question “How many?”. Ordinal numbers in both English and Russian denote the ordinal number of an object or phenomenon. For example, “the fourth apple”.
These numbers will answer the question “Which?”.
To clearly see the difference between these two groups, let’s compare them:
- “I have two (cardinal) delicious candies” — I have two delicious candies;
- “I ate the second (ordinal) candy” — I ate the second candy.
Let’s fix the result with a couple more examples:
- “My apartment is on the eighth (ordinal) floor” — my apartment is on the eighth floor;
- “My house has eight (cardinal) floors” — my house has eight floors.
Features of cardinal numbers
Of course, in order not to get into a mess when using English numbers in speech and writing, we must know the pronunciation and spelling of each number well. At the first stage, you will need to learn at least a quantitative series from one to twelve. They are most commonly used in writing and speaking. It is these numbers that are located on any standard dial, and in order, for example, to tell the time to an English-speaking passer-by, you need to know the numbers well.
Simple cardinal numbers
Suppose that you have already learned the numbers from 1 to 12. It is quite easy to work with them, and they will not cause any special difficulties in composing numbers. But starting from 13, the task becomes a little more complicated.
You should remember that when composing a numeral name for numbers from thirteen to nineteen, you must add the ending -teen- to the word to the number from 3 to 9, respectively. For example, seven (seven) + -teen- = seventeen (seventeen). Not that hard, right? The only thing we want to draw your attention to is the number thirteen.
In writing, it will look like this: thirteen, although the number three in English is written as “three”.
Practice well in composing the names of the numbers with each digit from 1 to 19. Come up with simple sentences in order to better consolidate the material and understand the specifics of the work. After the material is fully assimilated, we can begin to study the following, more complex cardinal numbers.
Working with dozens
So, let’s pay attention to tens from 20 to 90 (that is, 30, 40, 50, and so on). Writing them is slightly different from working with the rest of the numbers. When converting such numbers (from 2 to 9) into a cardinal number, add -ty- to the end of the stem of the word. How it works? Very simple!
Take, for example, the number 5 — five. We add our ending -ty- and we get not five, but fifty: five + -ty- = fifty. We advise you not to be lazy and repeat the pronunciation and spelling of every ten from 20 to 90 several times, because more serious work lies ahead for you. Are you sure you know the spelling and origin of all dozens by heart? Fine! Let’s move on to studying compound numbers.
Compound cardinal numbers
The principle of drawing up cardinal numbers in English is similar to the formation of their Russian equivalents. This means that when compiling, we must simply combine the required ten and the quantitative indicator of units.
Let’s look at an example: we have the number “forty-five”, we got it by connecting ten “forty” and ones “five” (45 = 40 + 5). The same method works in English writing.
- Forty (forty) (For + ty) + five (five) = Forty five.
Of course, English, like any other language, has its own complexities and exceptions to the rules. It is good that the world has long had auxiliary tables that make it easier to work with words-exceptions and contribute to their accelerated memorization. Pay attention to the tutorials and flashcards, they will help you learn all the material you need in no time.
Ordinal numbers in English
To give objects certain numerical characteristics, we again need an additional ending, or rather, a suffix. This time the suffix -th- will come to our rescue. So, let’s look at a few examples:
- six (six) — sixth (sixth);
- forty-six (forty-six) — forty-sixth (forty-sixth).
- “I saw two beautiful stars” (I saw two beautiful stars) — “I took second place in Boxing competitions” (I took second place in boxing competitions);
Source: http://top100lingua.ru/blog/grammatika/chislitelnye-anglijskogo-jazyka
Ordinal numbers in English
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All kinds of numbers, numbers, dates, times, as well as words denoting the amount of something are called numerals. English learners need to know as much as possible about these words, as they are almost impossible to do without.
As in Russian, in English, numbers are subdivided into those that indicate the number of objects in the count, and those that indicate their order. You can read about the quantitative numbers of the English language in the corresponding article on our blog. And now we will talk about ordinal numbers.
How ordinal numbers are spelled in English
We use ordinal numbers not only in oral speech, but also in writing. Therefore, it is important to know not only how they are pronounced, but also how they are spelled. To do this, you need to remember just a few rules.
- If we designate an ordinal number with a digit, the corresponding ending is added to it.
- 1 — first — 1st;
- 5 — fifth — 5th;
- 10 — tenth — 10th.
When writing dates, the article the and the preposition of are often omitted, but are always spoken orally. Read more about writing dates in British and American English in our article.
We write: The anniversary is on 5th May. — Anniversary of the fifth of May.
We speak: The anniversary is on the fifth of May. — Anniversary of the fifth of May. - All compound ordinal numbers from 21 to 100 in English are hyphenated.
- 21st — twenty-first;
- 32nd — thirty-second;
- 43rd — forty-third;
- 77th — seventy-seventh;
- 99th — ninety-ninth.
- Ordinal numbers with more than two digits are written in separate words. The word and appears between hundreds and tens.
- 335th — three hundred and thirty-fifth;
- 421st — four hundred and twenty-first;
- 5,111th — five thousand, one hundred and eleventh.
It is worth remembering these simple rules, and you will not make mistakes in the spelling of ordinal numbers.
A Guide to Writing Out Numbers in Words in English
Asides for a few standard guidelines, spelling out numbers rather than using numerals is largely a matter of personal preference. The key is to remember to be consistent. Ie: Don’t spell out numbers half of the time and use figures the other half, it becomes confusing for anyone who might be reading your work.
When it comes to deciding whether or not to write numerical numbers or to write numbers in words, there are a few schools of thought, although none are considered to be concrete or ‘written in stone.’ For example, the APA stylebook recommends the numbers zero through nine be spelled out and that all numbers after nine be written numerically from ten through one million. Here are a few examples of how you might write out numbers exceeding 999,999: 2 million, 25 million, 30,123,321 or 3.8 billion.
The Chicago Manual of Style, on the other hand, suggests that writers spell out number zero through one hundred and use numerals after that point – the exception being whenever whole numbers in combination with hundred, thousand, hundred thousand, million, billion etc. are present. Here are a few examples: seven thousand, eight hundred, thirty million or 801, 2,507 and 32,456,098.
The topic of writing numbers in English can be a complex one, and as we discussed early, there are multiple view points on what is correct and what is ‘passable’, there are several exceptions and really no consistency amongst written work found in blogs, books, newspapers, and magazines.
In the section below, we will go over a few of the ‘common rules’ that the general population of writers agree on.
If you experience anxiety writing your paper, you’d better ask for professional help with your assignment:
Putting Numbers in Words
We learned earlier that there really are no black and white rules when it comes to deciding whether or not to write out numbers numerically or to spell them out phonetically. In fact, it is all really a matter of personal preference. That being said, however, there are a few ‘habits’ that the majority of those who write in English have adopted, they are:
- Always spell out any number that occurs at the begging of a sentence.
For example, Seventeen high school students won the community service award.
Nineteen Eighty-three was the year he was born.
Note: If you are following AP guidelines, years are never spelled out. Example: 1983 was the year he was born.
- Hyphenate every compound number from twenty-one to ninety-nine.
For example, Twenty-one kids in my class went on the school trip.
- Hyphenate all factions that are written out.
For example, I ran one-quarter of the way home.
- If there are more than four digits, always use commas.
For example, 1,017 books
- There is no need to use a decimal or a dollar sign when writing our sums that are less than one dollar.
For example, he had twenty-five cents in his pocket.
- Do not include the word ‘dollar’ is there is a dollar sign.
For example, I was paid $650 for one week of work.
- To simplify things, use noon and midnight instead of 12:00 AM or 12:00 PM
Note: AM and PM can also be written as A.M. and P.M. or a.m. and p.m. or am and pm.
- It is acceptable to use numerals for the time of day.
For example, we will eat dinner at 6:00 PM.
- Mixed fractions are always written out numerically unless they are at the start of a sentence.
For example, We anticipate a 4 1/5 percent increase in cost. - Always use the simplest way to express large numbers.
For example, it is easier to write twenty-five hundred than it would be two thousand five hundred.
- When using decimals, add a zero in front of the decimal point to make prevent confusion.
For example, the price of gas rose 0.48 percent last year.
- Whenever you are writing out a number that has three or more digits, there is no need to write the word and. However, you should use the word andto indicate or express decimal points.
For example, Five hundred thirty-four dollars and forty-two cents.
- When writing out numbers over 999, you do not need to use a comma.
For example, two thousand four hundred and two.
- This is how you would typically use numerals to indicate or express a date.
The 25th of September, 1982.
April 3, 2001
- When decades are spelled out, they are not capitalized.
For example, he was a child of the seventies and raised in the eighties.
- Whenever you express decades using numerals, it is easier to add an apostrophe at the start of the number and not before the s.
For example, during the ’70s more women entered the workforce.
You will also find that it is also considered to be acceptable to place the apostrophe before the s instead of before the number. For example, during the 70’s more women entered the workforce.
Writing Numbers in Different Citation Styles
As a general rule of thumb, the majority of people choose to spell out numbers phonetically if they can be expressed in two or less words and will write the number out using numerals for numbers that are longer than three words. The exception to this comes from those following a specific citation style (MLA or APA, for examples) in these instances, you would follow the formatting guidelines outlined in the style book.
Here are a few to help you:
- Using APA Style for Writing Out Numbers: https://academiccoachingandwriting.org/academic-writing/academic-writing-blog/ii-using-apa-style-in-academic-writing-words-or-numerals
- Using MLA Style for Writing Out Numbers: https://www.mlanet.org/page/mla-style-manual-numbers-and-dates
- Using AP Style for Writing Out Numbers: https://writingexplained.org/ap-style/ap-style-numbers
- Using Chicago Style for Writing Out Numbers: https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/Numbers.html
When to Spell out Numbers
As we learned earlier, there really is no ‘must follow rule’ when it comes to spelling out numbers phonetically, however, best practices would tell us that it is advisable to write out numbers in words when they are:
- between zero and nine. (Example, one – two – three – four – five – six – seven – eight – nine)
- come after one million. (Example, two million – two million forty-five thousand)
- found at the start of a sentence. (Example, Nineteen forty-seven was the year he was born)
Most prefer to spell out numbers phonetically only until number nine and after one million. What if this wasn’t the case? What if you had to spell out numbers all of the time? If that were the case, and you were choosing to write out the numbers one to one hundred five (105), it would look like this:
- one
- two
- three
- four
- five
- six
- seven
- eight
- nine
- ten
- eleven
- twelve
- thirteen
- fourteen
- fifteen
- sixteen
- seventeen
- eighteen
- nineteen
- twenty
- twenty-one
- twenty-two
- twenty-three
- twenty-four
- twenty-five
- twenty-six
- twenty-seven
- twenty-eight
- twenty-nine
- thirty
- thirty-one
- thirty-two
- thirty-three
- thirty-four
- thirty-five
- thirty-six
- thirty-seven
- thirty-eight
- thirty-nine
- forty
- forty-one
- forty-two
- forty-three
- forty-four
- forty-five
- forty-six
- forty-seven
- forty-eight
- forty-nine
- fifty
- fifty-one
- fifty-two
- fifty-three
- fifty-four
- fifty-five
- fifty-six
- fifty-seven
- fifty-eight
- fifty-nine
- sixty
- sixty-one
- sixty-two
- sixty-three
- sixty-four
- sixty-five
- sixty-six
- sixty-seven
- sixty-eight
- sixty-nine
- seventy
- seventy-one
- seventy-two
- seventy-three
- seventy-four
- seventy-five
- seventy-six
- seventy-seven
- seventy-eight
- seventy-nine
- eighty
- eighty-one
- eighty-two
- eighty-three
- eighty-four
- eighty-five
- eighty-six
- eighty-seven
- eighty-eight
- eighty-nine
- ninety
- ninety-one
- ninety-two
- ninety-three
- ninety-four
- ninety-five
- ninety-six
- ninety-seven
- ninety-eight
- ninety-nine
- one hundred
- one hundred one
- one hundred two
- one hundred three
- one hundred four
- one hundred five
Writing Numbers Numerically
Similar to the example above, here is what the number 1 through 105 look like when written out numerically.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 20
- 21
- 22
- 23
- 24
- 25
- 26
- 27
- 28
- 29
- 30
- 31
- 32
- 33
- 34
- 35
- 36
- 37
- 38
- 39
- 40
- 41
- 42
- 43
- 44
- 45
- 46
- 47
- 48
- 49
- 50
- 51
- 52
- 53
- 54
- 55
- 56
- 57
- 58
- 59
- 60
- 61
- 62
- 63
- 64
- 65
- 66
- 67
- 68
- 69
- 70
- 71
- 72
- 73
- 74
- 75
- 76
- 77
- 78
- 79
- 80
- 81
- 82
- 83
- 84
- 85
- 86
- 87
- 88
- 89
- 90
- 91
- 92
- 93
- 94
- 95
- 96
- 97
- 98
- 99
- 10
- 101
- 102
- 103
- 104
- 105
Ways of Spelling out the Date
Another area where people struggle is determining the best (or most commonly accepted) way to write out dates and years. There are multiple reasons for this; first, the format that people use when writing out the date varies from country to country. Second, people struggle with comma placement when it comes to writing the date.
Grammarly.com has an excellent blog article on how to best write the date. It covers topics like:
- How to Write the Year,
- How to Write the Month and Day,
- How to Write Dates with Days of the Week,
- How to Write Centuries,
- How to Write Decades,
- Writing Dates as Numerals
Here are a few examples of how you might write the date:
- 1990
- 1991
- 1992
- 1993
- 1994
- 1995
- August 1, 1999
- August 30, 1999
- January 18, 2011
- the 30thof August, 1999
- the ‘80s
- Monday, July 30, 2018
- Tuesday, July 31, 2018
- Wednesday, August 1, 2018
- Thursday, August 2, 2018
- two thousand eighteen
- nineteen nighty-four
- The eighties
- ‘80s
Writing out Money
There are a few things that you can do to express monetary value or cost. Here are some examples:
- The apple cost sixty-two cents.
- The apple cost $0.62
- One dollar fifty cents
- $1.50
- $100
- $101.05
- One hundred dollars five cents
- $2
- $2.25
- two and ¼ dollars
- thirty-two cents
- $0.32
Remember, unless you are following a specific style guide (MLA or APA number for example) there really are no ‘must follow’ rules when it comes to writing out numbers, years, dates, etc. The most important thing is to maintain consistency throughout your writing. Avoid switching from one format to the next, without having a valid reason for doing so as this will only confuse anyone who happens to be reading your work and also diminishes the quality of your paper.
If you need further information on how to write out numbers either phonetically or numerically, here are a few links to help:
- https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/articles/how-to-write-numbers/
- http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/grammar-rules-and-tips/rules-for-writing-numbers.html
- https://www.dailywritingtips.com/10-rules-for-writing-numbers-and-numerals/
- http://www.scribendi.com/academy/articles/when_to_spell_out_numbers_in_writing.en.html
- https://www.ole.bris.ac.uk/bbcswebdav/courses/Study_Skills/grammar-and-punctuation/index.html
1. The basics: important numbers in English and how to combine them to write out longer compound numbers.
1.1. What are the most important numerals and numbers in English?
- 1 = one (the lowest cardinal number; half of two;) Ex: one nation, one car, one piece of the mechanism.
Idioms containing one: at one = in a state of agreement; one and all = everyone; one by one = singly and successively; one for the road = a final alcoholic drink taken just before departing from a party (hopefully not drinking and driving). - 2 = two (equivalent to the sum of one and one; one less than three;) Ex: two cars, two pieces of the mechanism. Not to be confused with: to, too.
Idioms containing two: in two = into two separate parts; put two and two together = draw a correct conclusion. - 3 = three (equivalent to the sum of one and two; one more than two;) Ex: three cars, three pieces of the mechanism. Not to be confused with: tree.
Idioms containing three: three sheets in the wind = intoxicated. - 4 = four (equivalent to the sum of two and two; one more than three;) Ex: four cars, four pieces of the mechanism. Not to be confused with: for, fore.
Idioms containing four: the four corners of the earth = the most distant or remote regions. - 5 = five (equivalent to the sum of two and three; one more than four;) Ex: five cars, five pieces of the mechanism.
Idioms containing five: take five = take a brief respite; give me five = shake hands with me. - 6 = six (equivalent to the sum of three and three; one more than five;) Ex: six cars, six pieces of the mechanism.
Idioms containing six: six feet under = dead and buried. - 7 = seven (equivalent to the sum of three and four; one more than six;) Ex: seven cars, seven pieces of the mechanism.
Idioms containing seven: at sixes and sevens = in disorder or confusion. - 8 = eight (equivalent to the sum of four and four; one more than seven;) Ex: eight cars, eight pieces of the mechanism.
Idioms containing eight: behind the eight ball (eightball) = in uncomfortable situation. - 9 = nine (equivalent to the sum of four and five; one more than eight;) Ex: nine cars, nine pieces of the mechanism.
Idioms containing nine: dressed to the nines = looking one’s best. - 10 = ten (equivalent to the sum of five and five; one more than nine;) Ex: ten cars, ten pieces of the mechanism.
Idioms containing ten: count to ten = calm down.
- — — — — —
- 11 = eleven (one and ten)
- 12 = twelve (two and ten)
- 13 = thirteen (three and ten)
- 14 = fourteen (four and ten)
- 15 = fifteen (five and ten)
- 16 = sixteen (six and ten)
- 17 = seventeen (seven and ten)
- 18 = eighteen (eight and ten)
- 19 = nineteen (nine and ten)
- — — — — —
- 20 = twenty (two tens)
- 30 = thirty (three tens)
- 40 = forty (four tens)
- 50 = fifty (five tens)
- 60 = sixty (six tens)
- 70 = seventy (seven tens)
- 80 = eighty (eight tens)
- 90 = ninety (nine tens)
- — — — — —
- 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
- — — — — —
- 1,000 = one thousand
- 10,000 = ten thousand
- 100,000 = one hundred thousand
- 1,000,000 = one million
- 10,000,000 = ten million
- 100,000,000 = one hundred million
- 1,000,000,000 = one billion
- 10,000,000,000 = ten billion
- 100,000,000,000 = one hundred billion
- 1,000,000,000,000 = one trillion, etc.
1.2. Combine the words in the list above to construct English words of longer compound numbers
- Let’s see how to write 65 out:
- 6 is in the tens place and 5 is in the ones place.
- 65 = 60 + 5 = six tens + five ones = sixty + five = sixty-five.
- Notice the hyphen (or the minus sign) between sixty and five.
- Let’s see how to write 1,765 out:
- 1 is in the thousands place, 7 is in the hundreds place, 6 is in the tens place and 5 is in the ones place.
- 1,765 = 1,000 + 700 + 60 + 5 = one thousands + seven hundreds + six tens + five ones = one thousand + seven hundred + sixty + five = one thousand seven hundred sixty-five.
- Notice the hyphen (or the minus sign) between sixty and five.
2. How to convert natural numbers (positive integers) to (US) American English words, how to write them out?
2.1. To know how to write a number in words it’s important to know the place value of each digit.
- For example, the number 12,345 has a 1 in the ten thousands place, a 2 in the thousands place, a 3 in the hundreds place, a 4 in the tens place and a 5 in the ones place.
- 12,345 in words =
- = one ten thousands (10,000) + two thousands (2,000) + three hundreds (300) + four tens (40) + five ones
- = ten thousands (10,000) + two thousands (2,000) + three hundreds (300) + four tens (40) + five ones
- = ten thousand + two thousand + three hundred + forty + five
- = (ten + two) thousand + three hundred + forty-five
- = twelve thousand + three hundred + forty-five
- = twelve thousand three hundred forty-five.
2.2. Notes:
- 1: Note the hyphen (or the minus sign) in «thirty-four» above. Technically, it’s correct to hyphenate all compound numbers from twenty-one (21) through ninety-nine (99).
- 2: In American English, when writing out natural numbers of three or more digits, the word «and» is not used after «hundred» or «thousand». So it is «one hundred twenty-three» and not «one hundred and twenty-three», though you may hear a lot of people using the last, informally.
In British English, the word «and» is used after «hundred» or «thousand» in numbers of three or more digits. - 3. Do not use commas when writing out numbers above 999: so it is «one thousand two hundred thirty-four» and not «one thousand, two hundred thirty-four». For clarity, use commas when writing figures of four or more digits: 1,234, 43,290,120, etc.
3. How to convert decimals to (US) American English words?
To know how to write a decimal number in words it’s important to know the place value of each digit, before and after the decimal point (decimal mark).
- This task is a little bit more complicated than converting an integer, because with a decimal number we have to worry also about the names of the places after the decimal point (decimal mark).
- Let’s take an example: the decimal number 987.123456, made of numerals from 1 to 9. Notice that for this example’s sake, every digit in this number is unique, so I can explain it better.
4. Steps to take in order to convert decimal numbers to (US) American English words.
Step 1: What are the names of the places after the decimal mark:
- 1 is in the tenths place
- 2 is in the hundredths place
- 3 is in the thousandths place
- 4 is in the ten thousandths place
- 5 is in the hundred thousandths place
- 6 is in the millionths place;
Step 2: How to spell out the number after the decimal mark, as an integer: 123,456?
- Using the explanations from the previous points above, 123,456 =
- = one hundred thousands (100,000) + two ten thousands (20,000) + three thousands (3,000) + four hundreds (400) + five tens (50) + six ones (6)
- = one hundred thousands + two ten thousands + three thousands + four hundreds + five tens + six
- = one hundred thousand + twenty thousand + three thousand + four hundred + fifty + six
- = (one hundred + twenty + three) thousand + four hundred + fifty + six
- = one hundred twenty-three thousand four hundred fifty-six.
Step 3: What is the name of the smallest place (the place farthest to the right from the decimal mark)?
- In our number, it’s the millionths place.
Step 4: Spell out the whole number after the decimal, followed by the name of the smallest place:
- 0.123456 = one hundred twenty-three thousand four hundred fifty-six millionths;
Step 5, final: Connect everything before and after the decimal mark with an «and»:
- 987 = nine hundreds + eight tens + seven ones = nine hundred + eighty + seven = nine hundred eighty-seven;
- 987.123456 = nine hundred eighty-seven and one hundred twenty-three thousand four hundred fifty-six millionths.
5. When to write numbers out using words?
- Spell out all numbers beginning a sentence, «Forty years ago today,…» Not «40 years ago today,…».
- The Chicago Manual of Style calls for the numbers zero through one hundred to be written out — this would include forms like «one hundred million».
- Using words to write short numbers makes your writing look clean and classy. In handwriting, words are easy to read and hard to mistake for each other. Writing longer numbers as words isn’t as useful, but it’s good practice while you’re learning.
- Otherwise, clarity should matter, for example when two numbers are used in a row: «They needed five 2-foot copper pipes to finish the job. «. «There were 15 six-foot tall men on the basketball team roster. «.
- Be consistent within a sentence. Do not write «… one million people…» but «… 1,000,000 cars…», stick to one or another, but not both.
CONVERTER: cardinal, integer and decimal numbers to (US) American English words, write numerals out using letters instead of numerals
Using words to write numbers when writing something in English makes your work look classy and clean. More importantly, it makes your writing readable and eliminates the hurdle of reading numbers and words together. In handwriting, words are not just easy to write but also difficult to mistake for each other. Even though longer numbers that have a lot of zeros at the end are not as useful as writing shorter numbers, it is still an important skill to learn for a student.
English is the most common, if not the universal, language used in institutes specifically for teaching purposes. Therefore, a student must learn how to convert numbers to words in English when writing something that involves the use of numbers. If you struggle to write numbers in words on a daily basis, then you may need to hire a private tutor online to help you out. In the beginning, roman numerals were used to represent mathematical numbers when writing, such as 1-I, 2-II, 3-III, and 4-IV, etc. However, now the preferred way of representing numbers is to write them in English words.
Before you learn how to spell numbers in words or you start using them in English, you must get familiar with the basics. The precondition to learning how to spell numbers in words is to know how to count to ninety-nine.
Counting From One to Ninety Nine
Let’s start with one to nine because that is where it all starts. These few numbers make up the whole empire of maths. So, it is important to know how to write them in English before you learn something else. Once, your grasp on them is strong, learning the rest of the numbers feels like a piece of cake:
| Number | Word |
| 1 | One |
| 2 | Two |
| 3 | Three |
| 4 | Four |
| 5 | Five |
| 6 | Six |
| 7 | Seven |
| 8 | Eight |
| 9 | Nine |
Now that you know how to write the first nine numbers in words, for example, how do you write 1 or 7 in words, it is time for you to move on to learning how to write numbers from ten to nineteen.
The key to learning and remembering this set of numbers is to keep one simple observation in mind that most of the numbers (except ten, eleven, and twelve) are just their basic spelling (from one to nine) with the word “teen” at their end.
For instance, “Fourteen” (14) is just a combination of four and ten and means “four plus ten” (4 + 10). So, if you are worried about how to write 13 or 12 in words, this small and simple hack has got your back.
Moreover, learning all the words from one to twenty will enable you to spell higher numbers in words. Another reason to learn every number from one to twenty in English is that every number word’s spelling (from one to twenty) is different from other numbers.
| Numbers | Words |
| 10 | Ten |
| 11 | Eleven |
| 12 | Twelve |
| 13 | Thirteen |
| 14 | Fourteen |
| 15 | Fifteen |
| 16 | Sixteen |
| 17 | Seventeen |
| 18 | Eighteen |
| 19 | Nineteen |
Once you know how to write from one to twenty in words, you can then proceed to learn about the rest of the numbers because your base is now strong. You can, at this point, learn to write any number you want in English whether it is how to write 50 in words, how to write 20 in words, or how to write 100.
The next step for you is to count from twenty to ninety in tens. Here is a demonstration of how to spell 20, 30, 40, 50, and so on all the way up to 100 in English.
One little hack for you here is that all these numbers, spelled in ten, end in the letters ‘ty’ except for 100.
| Numbers | Words |
| 20 | Twenty |
| 30 | Thirty |
| 40 | Forty |
| 50 | Fifty |
| 60 | Sixty |
| 70 | Seventy |
| 80 | Eighty |
| 90 | Ninety |
Combining Words to Write More Numbers
You can write any number from one to hundred if your basics are strong. Let’s see an example of the number 56:
- 56 is written with two numbers: 5 and 6
- 6 is in the ones place and it is written as it is.
- 5 is in the tens place and so it is written as fifty.
- Write fifty and six together and add a hyphen between them.
- So, 56 = fifty-six
Then you have the hundreds which are easy to write if you remember the basic numbers and their spellings. All you need to do is add the word ‘hundred’ after each number.
| Numbers (Hundreds) | Words |
| 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 |
With the knowledge to write from one to hundred, any student can write any number higher than hundred. You just have to write the hundreds place, and then the rest of the numerical.
For example:
- 130 will be one hundred thirty
- 405 will be four hundred five
- 666 will be six hundred sixty-six
- 809 will be eight hundred eighty-nine
Writing Long Numbers
Before you start writing longer numbers, it is important for you to understand place values. Based on where a digit is situated in a number it can mean something different, so you can’t mess up the place of the digit if you want to get the number right. Here are the first nine place values:
| Numbers | Place Values |
| 1 | the ones place |
| 10 | the tens place |
| 100 | the hundreds place |
| 1,000 | the thousands place |
| 10,000 | the ten thousands place |
| 100,000 | the hundred thousands place |
| 1,000,000 | the millions place |
| 10,000,000 | the ten millions place |
| 100,000,000 | the hundred millions place |
When writing higher numbers, you’ve to add commas. To add a comma, count three digits, starting from the right and add a comma. Repeat this to separate the number in groups of three.
For instance,
1200567 will be 1,200,567.
You can also add a period instead of a comma; if that is how the numbering system works where you live.
Writing Fractions in Words
If the denominator is the number 2, then such fractions are written as halves. So, 12is written as “one-half“, 23 is “two-halves“ and 192 is “nineteen-halves“, etc.
For the number 3 as denominator, the fractions are written as “third-thirds“. For 4, the fractions are “fourth/fourths“. And for 27, the fractions are “twenty-sevenths“, etc.
Writing Mixed Numbers in Words
Mixed numbers are numbers that have a whole number and a fraction together. Let’s look at an example to see how you can write a mixed number:
Consider 745 as the sample number. When writing it in words, it will be “seven and four-fifths“.
Conclusion
There you have it. A comprehensive guide to working out how to spell numbers in words. Follow our guide and you will become the best at writing numbers in words in your class.
Best of luck!
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