English numerals

Here are examples of how to name numbers in English.

Cardinal numbers

0	zero / nought / oh
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, one should 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, except that the word hundred remains singular regardless of the number preceding it (obviously, one may on the other hand say "Hundreds of people flew in", or the like)

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, with the number of thousands followed by the word "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
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 (British English) nine hundred ninety-nine thousand (American English)
1,000,000	one million

In informal English, exact numbers larger than one million are seldom named, except perhaps 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. The second column method is used much more often in American English than British English. The third column is used in British English, but rarely in American English (although the use of the second and third columns is not necessarily directly interchangeable between the two regional variants).

	"How many marbles do you have?"	"What is your house number?"	"Which bus goes to the high street?"
101	"A hundred and one."	"One-oh-one." Here, "oh" is used for the digit zero.	"One-oh-one."
109	"A hundred and nine."	"One-oh-nine."	"One-oh-nine."
110	"A hundred and ten."	"One-ten."	"One-one-oh."
117	"A hundred and seventeen."	"One-seventeen."	"One-one-seven."
120	"A hundred and twenty."	"One-twenty."	"One-two-oh."
152	"A hundred and fifty-two."	"One-fifty-two."	"One-five-two."
208	"Two hundred and eight."	"Two-oh-eight."	"Two-oh-eight."
334	"Three hundred and thirty-four."	"Three-thirty-four."	"Three-three-four."

Note: When writing a check (cheque), the number 100 is always written "one hundred". It is never "a hundred".

Note that in American English, it is non-standard to use the word and before tens and ones. It is instead used as a verbal delimiter when dealing with compound numbers. Thus, instead of "three hundred and seventy-three", Americans usually say (and write) "three hundred seventy-three". For details, see American and British English differences.

Here are some approximate large numbers in American English:

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 1000 times 1 billion, or 1 million times 1 million)

In British English, 1,000,000,000 is a thousand million or, rarely, a milliard. Traditionally, British English has followed the 'long scale' or European numbering system, although in recent years the 'short scale' (American) usage has become increasingly common. For example, the UK Government and BBC websites use the short-scale values exclusively, with 1,000,000,000 being termed a billion.

Often, large numbers are written with half-spaces instead of commas to separate thousands. Thus, a million is 1 000 000. In Commonwealth English, it can also be a point (.), but then, the decimal point becomes a comma.

Ordinal numbers

Here are some ordinal numbers.

0th	zeroth (see below for usage)
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

Zeroth has no informal meaning, and may be considered mathematical or computer science jargon.

Ordinal numbers such as 21^st, 33^rd, etc, 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 are not usually written in words. They are written using digits and letters as described below. Here are some rules that should be borne in mind. The suffixes -th, -st, -nd and -rd are usually written raised above the number itself (as superscript).

• If the ten's digit of a number is 1, then write "th" after the number. For example: 13^th, 19^th, 112^th, 9311^th.
• If the ten's digit is not equal to 1, then use the following table:

If the unit's 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

• For example: 2^nd, 7^th, 20^th, 23^rd, 52^nd, 135^th, 301^st.

Dates

Years before 2000 are read as follows:

1066	ten sixty-six
1492	fourteen ninety-two
1500	fifteen hundred
1502	fifteen oh two (note the "oh" for zero) or fifteen hundred and two
1776	seventeen seventy-six
1990	nineteen ninety

The year 2000 is read "two thousand".

Miliarty and civilian time might also be considered:

• 20:00 "twenty hundred hours"
• 20:01 "twenty oh five hours"
• 20:59 "twenty fifty-nine hours"

Years after 2000 have no set system as of yet for expressing them; however, the second form of zeroth-decade year pronunciation is more common (that is, 2003 to be said as "two thousand and three"), and post-2010 dates are often said as normal (2010 would be "twenty ten").

Note that years are only exceedingly rarely read as ordinal numbers, as "[...] in the one thousand one hundred and ninety-seventh year of our Lord" (that is, 1197), and this is considered archaic.

Dates sometimes do not use "st", "nd", etc, after the day of the month; however, it is always pronounced with this suffix.

• Examples:
  • I am writing this example on Jan. 2, 2003 (January second, two thousand and three).
  • The Twin Towers were destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001 (September eleventh, two thousand and one).

In British English, written dates with numbers have the date before the month (thus, as in most European date systems, day/month/year, eg 13/01/2000). When the month is spelt out, there are two options:

• the date is before the month and the ordinal suffix is appended (the 1^st of October 1848); in writing, the and especially of are sometimes left out from the date, peculiarly so when it stands alone, such as when writing cheques or the like (1^st October 1848)
• the date is after the month and, usually, but not always, no ordinal suffix is appended (September 4, 2006); in writing, the is always omitted, but it must be vocalised in British English (September the fourth, two thousand and six).

There is seldom a comma before the year, though it does appear, especially if the month comes first. If month names are abbreviated, they are not normally followed by a full-stop (thus, Aug (not Aug.) for August).

Compare:

• Today is 29^th January 2004. (Read: Today is the twenty-ninth of January, two thousand and four.)
• Today is the 29^th of January 2004. (the same)
• March 1 was known as the kalends of March in ancient Rome. (Read: March the first was known ...)
• We signed the documents on June 10, 1969. (Read: ... on June the tenth, nineteen sixty-nine)
• The European Union will fully accept its new members on 01/05/2004. (Read: ... on the first of May, two thousand and four)

Fractions and decimals

Here are some common fractions:

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 (wiki: &frac12)
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

Alternatively, and for greater numbers, one may say for 1/2 "one over two", for 5/8 "five over eight", and so on.

Numbers with a decimal point are usually read as a whole number, then "point", then separate digits: it is not correct to read "0.12" as "zero point twelve".

• For example:
  • 0.002 is "zero point zero zero two"
  • 3.1416 is "three point one four one six"
  • 99.3 is "ninety-nine point three" (notice the usage of "ninety")

Some English speakers will say nought for the symbol 0. Thus, 0.002 becomes "nought point nought nought two". Sometimes, oh is also used (oh point oh oh two).

Very often, if the whole number is 0, it is not actually said in speech. Thus, "point nought nought two", "point zero zero two" or "point oh oh two".

The decimal point is sometimes in writing placed at the top of the line and sometimes at the centre (0·002), and is sometimes replaced by a decimal comma, especially in international publications.

• Fractions together with an integer are read as follows:
  • 1 1/2 is "one and a half"
  • 6 1/4 is read as "six and a quarter"
  • 7 5/8 is "seven and five eighths"

See also English-language numerals.

Whether to use digits or words

According to your friendly neighborhood copy editor and/or English teacher, the numbers zero through nine should be "written out" – meaning instead of "1" and "2", one would write "one" and "two".

Example: "I have two apples." (Correct)

Example: "I have 2 apples." (Incorrect)

After "nine", one can head straight back into the 10, 11, 12, etc., although some write out the numbers until "twelve".

Example: "I have 28 grapes." (Correct)

Example: "I have twenty-eight grapes." (Incorrect)

Another common usage is to write out any number that can be expressed as one or two words, and use figures otherwise.

Examples:

"There are six million dogs." (Correct)

"There are 6,000,000 dogs." (Incorrect)

"That is one hundred and twenty-five oranges." (Incorrect)

"That is 125 oranges." (Correct)

Numbers at the beginning of a sentence should also be written out.

The above rules are not always used. In literature, larger numbers might be spelled out.

Specialised Numbers

When dealing with sport, results are read as in the following examples:

• 1–0 – one nil
• 0–0 – nil nil
• 2–2 – two two (or two to two or two all)
• 2–1 – two one (or two to one)

Tennis sometimes uses "love" for zero, from French l'oeuf (the egg), owing to zero's shape.

When stressing nothingness, other terms are used for 0: zero, zilch, nada, null, zip. This is true especially in combination with one another: "You know nothing – zero, nada, zilch!"

See also

• English-language numerals
• List of numbers