Numbers in English

Phone Numbers:

We normally give telephones by saying each individual number in it:

Our phone number is two six three, three eight four seven. (263-3847)

When there is a zero (0) in our telephone number, we often say O like the name of the letter O.
e.g. 505-1023 = five-O-five, one-O-two-three.

If a phone number contains two of the same numbers together, we usually say double (number).
If a phone number contains three of the same numbers together, we usually say triple (number)
e.g. (212-8555) two one two, eight triple five.

The above rules for telephone numbers also apply to fax numbers.

To ask for someone’s telephone number we say:

What’s your phone number? It’s 555-2565.

What is Woodward Chile’s phone number? It’s 481-2240.

We don’t normally say: What’s your telephone number? (Though it IS grammatically correct)

When you reply, you can give just your telephone number OR say: It’s + (your phone number).


There are two main types of numbers:

Cardinal Numbers – 1 (one), 2 (two) etc. (Used mainly for counting)
Ordinal Numbers – 1st (first), 2nd (second) etc. (Used mainly for putting things in a sequence)

Cardinal Numbers

Cardinal numbers are normally used when you:

  1. count things: I have two brothers. There are thirty-one days in January.
  2. give your age: I am thirty-three years old. My sister is twenty-seven years old.
  3. give your telephone number: Our phone number is two-six-three, three-eight-four-seven. (481-2240)
  4. give years: She was born in nineteen seventy-five (1975). America was discovered in fourteen ninety-two

Notice how we divide the year into two parts. This is the form for year up to 1999. For the year 2000 and on, we say two thousand (2000), two thousand and one (2001), two thousand and two (2002) etc.

Cardinal numbers from 1 through 1,000,000
1 one 11 eleven 21 twenty-one 31 thirty-one
2 two 12 twelve 22 twenty-two 40 forty
3 three 13 thirteen 23 twenty-three 50 fifty
4 four 14 fourteen 24 twenty-four 60 sixty
5 five 15 fifteen 25 twenty-five 70 seventy
6 six 16 sixteen 26 twenty-six 80 eighty
7 seven 17 seventeen 27 twenty-seven 90 ninety
8 eight 18 eighteen 28 twenty-eight 100 a/one hundred
9 nine 19 nineteen 29 twenty-nine 1,000 a/one thousand
10 ten 20 twenty 30 thirty 1,000,000 a/one million

*Instead of saying One Hundred, you can say A hundred.

e.g. (127) one hundred and twenty-seven OR (127) a hundred and twenty-seven.

The same rule applies for one thousand (a thousand) and one million (a million)

Notice that you need to use a hyphen (-) when you write the numbers between 21 and 99.

With long numbers, we usually divide them into groups of three which are divided by a comma. e.g. 5000000 (5 million) is normally written as 5,000,000

Ordinal Numbers

You can normally create Ordinal numbers by adding -TH to the end of a Cardinal Number.

Ordinal numbers are normally used when you:

  1. give a date: My birthday is on the 27th of January. (Twenty-seventh of January)
  2. put things in a sequence or order: Liverpool came second in the football league last year.
  3. give the floor of a building: His office is on the tenth floor.
  4. have birthdays: He had a huge party for his twenty-first birthday.

Ordinal Numbers from 1 through 1,000,000
1 st first 11 th eleventh 21 st twenty-first 31 st thirty-first
2 nd second 12 th twelfth 22 nd twenty-second 40 th fortieth
3 rd third 13 th thirteenth 23 rd twenty-third 50 th fiftieth
4 th fourth 14 th fourteenth 24 th twenty-fourth 60 th sixtieth
5 th fifth 15 th fifteenth 25 th twenty-fifth 70 th seventieth
6 th sixth 16 th sixteenth 26 th twenty-sixth 80 th eightieth
7 th seventh 17 th seventeenth 27 th twenty-seventh 90 th ninetieth
8 th eighth 18 th eighteenth 28 th twenty-eighth 100 th one hundredth
9 th ninth 19 th nineteenth 29 th twenty-ninth 1,000 th one thousandth
10 th tenth 20 th twentieth 30 th thirtieth 1,000,000 th one millionth

Form – Spelling of Ordinal Numbers

Just add th to the cardinal number:
four – fourth
eleven – eleventh

Exceptions:
one – first
two – second
three – third
five – fifth
eight – eighth
nine – ninth
twelve – twelfth

In compound ordinal numbers, note that only the last figure is written as an ordinal number:

421st = four hundred and twenty-first
5,111th = five thousand, one hundred and eleventh

Figures
When expressed as figures, the last two letters of the written word are added to the ordinal number:

first = 1st
second = 2nd
third = 3rd
fourth = 4th
twenty-sixth = 26th
hundred and first = 101st

Titles
In names for kings and queens, ordinal numbers are written in Roman numbers. In spoken English, the definite article is used before the ordinal number:

Charles II – Charles the Second
Edward VI – Edward the Sixth
Henry VIII – Henry the Eighth

The Number 0

We normally say ‘zero’ for the number ‘0′. BUT when we give our telephone number, we often say O like the name of the letter O.
e.g. 505-1023 = five-O-five, one-O-two-three

Fractions and Decimals

We use ordinal numbers (at the end position) to talk about fractions.
1/2 – a half
1/3 – a third
2/3 – two thirds
1/4 – a quarter (a fourth)
3/4 – three quarters (three fourths)
1/5 – a fifth
2/5 – two fifths
1/6 – a sixth
5/6 – five sixths
1/7 – a seventh
1/8 – an eighth
1/10 – a tenth
7/10 – seven tenths
1/20 – a twentieth
47/100 – forty-seven hundredths
1/100 – a hundredth
1/1,000 – a thousandth

Notice that for 1/4, you can say a quarter OR a fourth.

IF we have a whole number with a fraction, we use the word AND between the two parts.
e.g. 2 3/5 = two and a three-fifths

For parts of whole numbers, we use a decimal point (and NOT a comma).
e.g. 2 1/2 (two and a half) = 2.5 (two point five)

If there is more than one number after the decimal point, we say each number individually.
e.g. 3,456.789 = three thousand, four hundred and fifty-six point seven eight nine.

The exception to this rule is when we are talking about dollars and cents (or pound and pence)
e.g. $21.95 = twenty-one dollars, ninety-five (cents). Saying the word cents at the end is optional