Numbers and counting in English (2024)

Formingand expressingnumbers in written and spoken language

See also:Expressing the date inEnglish .....

1. Cardinalnumbers

Cardinal numbers are the numbers that we use forcounting or designating quantity : English-speakers use them every day- one two three fouretc. In terms of grammar, they belong to the category of determiningadjectives.

From 0 to 100 - From zero toa hundred

The number 0is variously expressed as nought (in British English) or zero (in allforms of English) : in the middle of a series ofdigits, it may also be pronounced "oh". Everyone has heard ofJames Bond, also known as 007. That is pronounced "oh-oh-seven" or"double-oh-seven", but never "nought-nought-seven" nor"zero-zero-seven".

Here are the important cardinal numbers between one anda hundred, which can serve as models for other numbers.

Watch out for spelling: fourteenbut forty.

Numbers from 101 to 999 - three-digit numbers

Important:the examples and rules below illustrate Britishusage.
In the USA,the word andis normally omitted.
A hyphen (-) is normally used in numbers between 21 and 99, whetherthese stand alone or are part of a larger number.

From these examples, all other three-digit numbers in English can beformed.

Notes :

The word "hundred", except as a round number (a number ending in 00), is always followedby "and",both in spoken British English and in written English when long numbersare writtenout aswords.

The word hundrednever takes an "s"as part of a cardinal number.
For numbers between 100 and 199, one normally says "ahundred" and not "onehundred".
Theexpression "onehundred" is used only to put emphasis on the figure one(i.e. one, not two nor three), or to stress the word.

Example:
I counted one hundredand twenty planes (and not 220 nor 320)

Numbers from 1000 to 1,000,000

• Apart from round numbers (numbers ending in 00)long numbers above 1000 are normally written in figures, not inwords. They are written in words here as a means to show how they areused in spoken English.

Notes

Reminder: these examples and rules reflect usage in British English.
In the USA,the word andis usually omitted.
So in American English 250,000 is expressedas Two hundred fiftythousand.

• After 1000, if the word "hundred"does notoccur in the number, it is the word thousandwhich is followed by and.
• Apart from round numbers (1000, 7000 etc) there willalways be an andsomewhere in the number.

Examples;1018 = One thousand andeighteen
(or in US English : One thousand eighteen)
43,003 = forty-three thousandand three
56,100 = fifty-six thousand onehundred

Otherwise the word thousandis not followed by and,but the word hundredis.

Examples;1708 = One thousandsevenhundred and eight
25,864 = Twenty-five thousandeight hundred and sixty-four

• In numbers from 1100 to 1199, the singlehundred will be pronounced oneand not a.
• Four-digit numbers below 2000 (and rarely above) maysometimes also be expressed starting with "eleven hundred", "twelvehundred", etc.

Examples;
1100 = Onethousand one hundredorEleven hundred
22,100 =twenty-twothousand onehundred.
654,122 = Six hundred and fifty-four thousand, onehundred andtwenty-two

• The word hundredis always followed by "and"once it is followed by another digit, and even if it occurs more thanonce in the number.
• As cardinal numbers, neither hundrednor thousandever take a plural "s". (More)
• Whether writing long numbers in English, whether in figuresor in words, it is normal to put a commaevery threedigits.The comma is optional with four-digit numbers.

Examples;
44,399 Forty-four thousand, three hundred and ninety-nine
637,316 = Six hundred andthirty-seven thousand,three hundred andsixteen.

Numbers greater than a million

The same principles apply.
The number simply starts with a quantity of millions, for example
One million...
or Twenty-fivemillion...
or Eight hundred andtwenty million...
Two billion

Examples;
1,002,018 = One million two thousand and eighteen
1,001,116 = One million one thousand one hundred and sixteen.
736,654,121 = Seven hundred and thirty-six million, six hundred andfifty-four thousand, one hundred and twenty-one

The word hundredis always followed by "and"unless it is round (with "00"), no matter how often it occurs in thenumber.

Other points to remember:

Figures can be expressed differently when they refer to dates andtelephone numbers, or when they are after a decimal point.

► Goingfurther: Numbers used as pronouns:See