Numbers

English Grammar, Third edition (2011)

Reference Section

R41 The uses of cardinal numbers, ordinal numbers, and fractions have been explained in Chapter 2 (2.208 to 2.249). The use of ordinals to express dates is explained in paragraph 4.88. Lists of numbers and details about how to say and write numbers and fractions are given below.

Cardinal numbers

R42 Here is a list of cardinal numbers. The list shows the patterns of forming numbers greater than 20.

0	zero, nought, nothing, oh	5	five
1	one	6	six
2	two	7	seven
3	three	8	eight
4	four	9	nine
10	ten	60	sixty
11	eleven	70	seventy
12	twelve	80	eighty
13	thirteen	90	ninety
14	fourteen	100	a hundred
15	fifteen	101	a hundred and one
16	sixteen	110	a hundred and ten
17	seventeen	120	a hundred and twenty
18	eighteen	200	two hundred
19	nineteen	1000	a thousand
20	twenty	1001	a thousand and one
21	twenty-one	1010	a thousand and ten
22	twenty-two	2000	two thousand
23	twenty-three	10,000	ten thousand
24	twenty-four	100,000	a hundred thousand
25	twenty-five	1,000,000	a million
40	forty	2,000,000	two million
50	fifty	1,000,000,000	a billion

R43 When you say or write in words a number over 100, you put and before the number expressed by the last two figures. For example, 203 is said or written two hundred and three and 2840 is said or written two thousand, eight hundred and forty.

Four hundred and eighteen men were killed and a hundred and seventeen wounded.

And is often omitted in American English.

…one hundred fifty dollars.

R44 If you want to say or write in words a number between 1000 and 1,000,000, there are various ways of doing it. For example, the number 1872 can be said or written in words as

eighteen hundred and seventy-two

one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two

one eight seven two

eighteen seventy-two

Note that you cannot use a instead of one for the second way.

The third way is often used to identify something such as a room number. With telephone numbers, you always say each figure separately like this.

The last way is used if the number is a date.

R45 Unlike some other languages, in English when numbers over 9999 are written in figures, a comma is usually put after the fourth figure from the end, the seventh figure from the end, and so on, dividing the figures into groups of three. For example, 15,500 or 1,982,000. With numbers between 1000 and 9999, a comma is sometimes put after the first figure. For example 1,526.

When a number contains a full stop, the number or numbers after the full stop indicate a fraction. For example, 2.5 is the same as two and a half.

Ordinal numbers

R46 Here is a list of ordinal numbers. The list shows the patterns of forming ordinal numbers greater than 20.

1st	first	26th	twenty-sixth
2nd	second	27th	twenty-seventh
3rd	third	28th	twenty-eighth
4th	fourth	29th	twenty-nineth
5th	fifth	30th	thirtieth
6th	sixth	31st	thirty-first
7th	seventh	40th	fortieth
8th	eighth	41st	forty-first
9th	nineth	50th	fiftieth
10th	tenth	51st	fifty-first
11th	eleventh	60th	sixtieth
12th	twelfth	61st	sixty-first
13th	thirteenth	70th	seventieth
14th	fourteenth	71st	seventy-first
15th	fifteenth	80th	eightieth
16th	sixteenth	81st	eighty-first
17th	seventeenth	90th	ninetieth
18th	eighteenth	91st	ninty-first
19th	nineteenth	10oth	hundredth
20th	twentieth	101st	hundred and first
21st	twenty-first	200th	two hundredth
22nd	twenty-second	1000th	thousandth
23rd	twenty-third	1,000,000th	millionth
24th	twenty-fourth	1,000,000,000th	billionth
25th	twenty-fifth

R47 As shown in the above list, ordinals can be written in abbreviated form, for example in dates or headings, or in informal writing. You write the last two letters of the ordinal after the number expressed in figures. For example, first can be written as 1st, twenty-second as 22nd, hundred and third as 103rd, and fourteenth as 14th.

…on August 2nd.
…the 1st Division of the Sovereign’s Escort.

Fractions and percentages

R48 You can write a fraction in figures, for example ¹/₂, ¹/₄, ³/₄, and ²/₃. These correspond to a half, a quarter, three-quarters, and two-thirds respectively.

R49 Fractions are often given in a special form as a number of hundredths. This type of fraction is called a percentage. For example, three-hundredths, expressed as a percentage, is three per cent. It can also be written as three percent or 3%. A half can be expressed as fifty per cent, fifty percent, or 50%.

About 60 per cent of our students are women.
Ninety percent of most food is water.

Before 1960 45% of British trade was with the Commonwealth.

You can use percentages on their own as noun phrases when it is clear what they refer to.

Ninety per cent were self employed.
…interest at 10% per annum.