Writing and Saying Large Numbers in English

Writing and Saying Large Numbers in English

Desjatova L.V.

We use different words to describe numbers depending on how many digits (numbers) they contain. We can also refer to the number of digits for simple generalisations. For example, 10,000 is five digits, so we refer to it as in the tens of thousands, but we may also call it a five figure number.

Saying a large number

We say large numbers by listing the numbers in order of size, biggest first. When reading a single number, all the number labels should be singular, for example 10,400 is ten thousand four hundred .
We describe three digit numbers in hundreds, then tens. Generally, in British English we usually connect large numbers with double or single digit figures with and, but in American English and is not used. Note that hundreds, thousands and millions are not connected to each other with and, though.
For example:
345 is three hundred and forty-five (three hundred forty five in American English ).
59,321 is fifty nine thousand, three hundred and twenty one. (not fifty nine thousand and three hundred…)

Hundreds and thousands

Expressing Numbers in English

•If a number is in the range 21 to 99, and the second digit is not zero, we should write the number as two words separated by a hyphen:
25 twenty-five
57 fifty-seven
89 eighty-nine
•Numbers over 100 are generally written in figures. However if you want to say them aloud or want to write them in words rather than figures you put 'and' in front of the number expressed by the last two figures. For example:
203 two hundred and three (AmE: two hundred three)

Numbers in English

Expressing Numbers in English

Numbers between 1000 and 1,000,000 are usually said or written in words as:
1,803 one thousand, eight hundred and three
(AmE: one thousand, eight hundred three)
1,963 one thousand, nine hundred and sixty-three
(AmE: one thousand, nine hundred sixty-three)
2,840 two thousand, eight hundred and forty
(AmE: two thousand, eight hundred forty)
Four-figure numbers ending in 00 can also be said or written as a number of hundreds..
For example, 1800 can be said or written as "eighteen hundred“.

Expressing Numbers in English

If the number 1963 is being used to identify something, it is said as "one nine six three". We always say each figure separately like this with telephone numbers. If a telephone number contains a double number, we use the word "double":
561 6603 five six one [pause] double six 'oh' three
(AmE: five six one [pause] six six 'oh' three)

Saying years

We normally say a year in two parts. In the case of years ending in "00", we say the second part in "hundred":
1058 ten fifty-eight
1706 seventeen hundred and six (or 'seventeen oh six’)
1865 eighteen sixty-five
1900 nineteen hundred
There are two ways of saying years ending in "01" to "09" before 2000.
For example:
"1901" can be said as "nineteen oh one" or "nineteen hundred and one". The year 2000 is read "two thousand", 2006 "two thousand and six" (AmE: two thousand six). Post-2010 dates are often said as normal (2010 would be "twenty ten").

Flight numbers

We pronounce a flight number in two parts or digit-by-digit.
For example:
110 one ten (or 'one one oh')
1248 twelve forty-eight
2503 twenty-five oh three
3050 three oh five oh (or 'three zero five zero', 'thirty fifty')

Expressing millions

1,412,605 one million four hundred (and) twelve thousand six hundred (and) five
2,760,300 two million seven hundred (and) sixty thousand three hundred

Remember: The British use 'and' before tens and ones but the Americans usually leave the 'and' out.

Special Notes:

1. In American English, the order of large numbers is
thousand, million, billion, trillion, etc. (1,000; 1,000,000;
1,000,000,000; 1,000,000,000,000; etc.)
In American English a thousand million is a billion,
but in British English, a thousand million is a milliard.
2. When saying large numbers, do not make thousand, million, billion, trillion, etc. plural.

Ways of expressing the number 0

Notes:
1. We use zero to express some numerical values such as temperatures, taxes, and interest rates.
2. We can pronounce "0" like the letter "o", when we are reading out numbers figure by figure
(e. g. telephone number, flight number, credit card number, etc.)

Ways of expressing the number 0

Let's practice!

Тест

Щелкните кнопку Тест для редактирования этого теста

Naming large numbers exercise

Suggested Answers

4,567 – four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven
342 – three hundred and forty-two
98,745 – ninety-eight thousand, seven hundred and forty-five
120,005 – one hundred and twenty thousand and five
5,000 – five thousand, or five k, g or grand

Suggested Answers

34,230 – thirty four thousand, two hundred and thirty
873,120 – eight hundred and seventy three thousand, one hundred and twenty
10,043 – ten thousand and forty three
7,340,200 – seven million, three hundred and forty thousand, two hundred
5,500 – five thousand, five hundred or fifty-five hundred

Suggested Answers

24 – two dozen
4,567,090 – four million, five hundred and sixty seven thousand and ninety
67,000 – sixty seven thousand, sixty seven k, grand or g
92,000,031 – ninety two million and thirty one
1,000,010,000,023 – one trillion, ten million and twenty three