Cardinal numbers (one, two, three…) tell us how many. English builds them from a small set of words: you only need to learn 0–20, the tens (30, 40…) and the words hundred, thousand and million. Everything else is a combination.
Numbers 0–20
| Number | Word |
|---|---|
| 0 | zero |
| 1 | one |
| 2 | two |
| 3 | three |
| 4 | four |
| 5 | five |
| 6 | six |
| 7 | seven |
| 8 | eight |
| 9 | nine |
| 10 | ten |
| 11 | eleven |
| 12 | twelve |
| 13 | thirteen |
| 14 | fourteen |
| 15 | fifteen |
| 16 | sixteen |
| 17 | seventeen |
| 18 | eighteen |
| 19 | nineteen |
| 20 | twenty |
The tens: 30 to 100
| Number | Word |
|---|---|
| 30 | thirty |
| 40 | forty |
| 50 | fifty |
| 60 | sixty |
| 70 | seventy |
| 80 | eighty |
| 90 | ninety |
| 100 | one hundred |
Careful with the sound: thirteen /θɜːˈtiːn/ has the stress on -teen, while thirty /ˈθɜːti/ has it on the first syllable. The same difference applies to 14/40, 15/50, 16/60, 17/70, 18/80 and 19/90.
Numbers 21–99: use a hyphen
Join the tens and the ones with a hyphen (-): twenty-one, forty-five, ninety-nine.
| Number | Word |
|---|---|
| 21 | twenty-one |
| 34 | thirty-four |
| 45 | forty-five |
| 58 | fifty-eight |
| 67 | sixty-seven |
| 72 | seventy-two |
| 89 | eighty-nine |
| 99 | ninety-nine |
Hundreds, thousands and millions
Say the smaller number first, then the unit: two hundred, five thousand, three million. The units stay in the singular after a number (two hundred, not two hundreds). In British English we add and before the last two digits: one hundred and one. American English often leaves it out.
| Number | Word |
|---|---|
| 101 | one hundred and one |
| 250 | two hundred and fifty |
| 999 | nine hundred and ninety-nine |
| 1,000 | one thousand |
| 1,500 | one thousand five hundred |
| 2,026 | two thousand and twenty-six |
| 10,000 | ten thousand |
| 100,000 | one hundred thousand |
| 1,000,000 | one million |
| 2,500,000 | two million five hundred thousand |
Spelling and writing numbers
- In sentences, numbers up to ten (sometimes up to twenty) are usually written in words: I have three brothers. Larger numbers are written in digits: The town has 12,000 inhabitants.
- Do not start a sentence with digits: Twenty people came.
- English uses a comma for thousands (1,000) and a dot for decimals (3.5) – the opposite of Polish.
- Cheques and formal documents write numbers in words: one thousand two hundred and fifty pounds.
Common mistakes
- two hundreds people → two hundred people (no -s after a number). But: hundreds of people (an indefinite number).
- fourty → forty (no u). ninety → keep the e. eight → eighth (only one t).
- a thousand / one thousand are both fine; a hundred and one hundred too.
- Mixing up billion: in modern English it means 1,000,000,000 (not a million million).
Frequently asked questions
Do I say “and” in numbers?
In British English yes: 101 is “one hundred and one”. In American English you can say “one hundred one”. Never use “and” for the digits of a decimal.
How do I say 0?
It depends: “zero” (general and maths), “nought” (British), “oh” /əʊ/ (phone numbers and years like 2005) and “nil” (sport scores).
What is the difference between a billion in British and American English?
Today both use billion = 1,000,000,000. Older British English used it for a million million.