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English Number Grammar

This document provides information on how to write and pronounce numbers in English. It discusses cardinal and ordinal numbers, as well as how to say numbers that include fractions, dates, currency, percentages, and more. Cardinal numbers are written as words up to 12, and "teen" numbers from 13 to 19. Ordinal numbers use the "-th" suffix starting from fourth onwards. Fractions use a hyphen and decimal numbers use a point. Numbers should be grouped in sets of three with commas when they have four or more digits.

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Israel Perdomo
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120 views

English Number Grammar

This document provides information on how to write and pronounce numbers in English. It discusses cardinal and ordinal numbers, as well as how to say numbers that include fractions, dates, currency, percentages, and more. Cardinal numbers are written as words up to 12, and "teen" numbers from 13 to 19. Ordinal numbers use the "-th" suffix starting from fourth onwards. Fractions use a hyphen and decimal numbers use a point. Numbers should be grouped in sets of three with commas when they have four or more digits.

Uploaded by

Israel Perdomo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ENGLISH NUMBER GRAMMAR

Cardinal numbers:

From 1 to 12:
one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve.
From 13 to 19:
These numbers end in –teen and the sound is /ti:n/
thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen.
20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90:

These numbers end in –ty and the sound is /ti/


twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety
To express tenths:
You write a hyphen (-) after the tenth and then the unit:
twenty-one (21), twenty-two (22), twenty-three (23) ...

forty-one (41), fifty-two (52), ninety-eight (98)...


To express hundreds:
a/one hundred (100), two hundred (200) ....
To join hundreds with tenths:
You use and.
two hundred and fifty-five (255) ...)
To express thousands:
a/one thousand (1000), two thousand (2000)...
To express millions:
a/one million (1,000,000), two million (2,000,000) ...
Examples:
a / one hundred and two (102)
three hundred and twelve (312)
five thousand and ten (5,010)
two million, five hundred thousand (2,500,000)
six thousand, two hundred and seventy - nine ( 6,279)
two thousand, two hundred and twenty -two (2,222)
three thousand, three hundred and thirty -three (3,333)
One hundred and eighty-one (181)
One thousand, two hundred and fifty-four (1254)
sixty-five (65)
five hundred and sixty-seven (567)
ENGLISH NUMBER GRAMMAR

ORDINAL NUMBERS
First, second and third are:

1st = first

2nd = second
3rd = third

When you express ordinal numbers in writing, you use the cardinal number followed by the last two
letters of the word for the ordinal number.

Examples:
1st (first)
2nd (second)
3rd (third)
4th (fourth)
20th (twentieth)
23rd (twenty-third)
40th fortieth
62nd sixty-second
81st eighty-first

The ending of ordinal numbers from fourth (4th) to nineteenth (19th) is -th 4th
fourth

5th fifth
6th sixth
7th seventh
8th eighth
9th ninth
10th tenth
11th eleventh
12th twelfth
13th thirteenth
14th fourteenth
15th fifteenth
16th sixteenth
17th seventeenth
ENGLISH NUMBER GRAMMAR
18th eighteenth
19th nineteenth

Tenths, hundreds, thousands and millions also end in –th. Those cardinal numbers which end
in –y (20, 30, …) are changed into –ieth (20th, 40th, …) and so is the pronunciation changed
/ieθ/. The /θ/ sounds as in the word thing.

20th twentieth
30th thirtieth
40th fortieth
80th eightieth

In hundred, thousand and million you add -th in writing and the sound /θ/ (as
in thing)

100th hundredth hʌndrədθ


1000th thousandth θaʊzənθ
1.000.000th millionth mɪljənθ

The tenths are joined with a hyphen (-) just like cardinal numbers, but only the units take
–th (or –st as in first (1st), -nd as in second (2nd) or –rd as in third (3rd) 21st twenty-first

22nd twenty-second
23rd twenty-third
24th twenty-fourth
Examples:
It is common to use a space to separate thousands, when we are writing numbers. But there are
many conventions:

General: 23 456 768


Br / US: 23,456,768
Continental Europe: 23.456.768

For decimal fractions, the British and the Americans use point:
Br / US: 23. 33 ( you must read twenty-three point thirty-three)
ENGLISH NUMBER GRAMMAR
Now look at the following figures and observe how they are said in English:

A sum of money: £ 22.30 (Notice that a point is used to express sums of


money, but it is not pronounced) (twenty-two pounds, thirty)

An address: 24 Park Avenue : (twenty-four Park Avenue)

A maths operation: 20 + 33 = 53 (twenty plus thirty-three is fifty three or twenty and thirty three
are / make fifty three)

60 – 21 = 39 (sixty minus twenty-one is / leaves thirty-nine)


7 x 3 = 21 (seven times three is twenty-one)
9 : 3 = 3 (nine divided by three is three)

A date: 16th February 1971 (February the sixteenth, nineteen seventy


one)
June 2nd, 1906 (June the second, nineteen-o-six)

A speed: 205 km/h (two-hundred and five kilometres the hour)

A big number: 624,112,350 (always remember to put and after any hundred) (six hundred and
twenty-four million, one hundred and twelve thousand, three-hundred and fifty).

Computer numbers (common for business accounts and cheques). They are said in pairs, with
double numbers as follows:

45673289: four-five, six-seven, three-two, eight nine


45663277: four-five, double-six (six-six), three-two, doubleseven (seven-seven)

A percentage: 8.2% (eight point two percent)

A distance: 51.25 km (fifty-one point twenty-five kilometres)

A football score: 4-1 (four –one)


ENGLISH NUMBER GRAMMAR
Time: 3:30 (three, thirty or half past three)
5:15 (five, fifteen or a quarter past five)
8:50 (eight,fifty or ten to nine)
10:45 (ten, forty-five or a quarter to eleven)
12:00 (twelve o’ clock / midday / midnight)

A phone number: When telephoning or giving a telephone number: -


use only single numbers up to nine

- pronounce 0 as o /ou/ or zero


- give the same number as ‘double’ or simply repeated 0614
299935 (o-six-one-four, two-nine-nine-nine-three-five)

Body measurements:
-Height (traditional Br E) 5.8 ft (five foot eight)
(metric) 1.64 m (a metre, sixty-four)
-Weight (traditional Br E) 11.5 st (eleven stones, five pounds)
(metric) 79 kg (seventy-nine kilos)

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