LoginCardinal Numbers
When we want to refer to quantity, we use numbers. These numbers are called 'cardinal numbers.'
What Are Cardinal Numbers?
Cardinal numbers are numbers used to represent the quantity or count of things, people, or objects. They are used for counting and measuring, and are the most basic type of numbers.
How to Say Numbers: 0-10
The following table shows how the cardinal numbers between 1 and 10 are expressed:
| Numbers | Wrtitten Form |
|---|---|
| 0 | zero |
| 1 | one |
| 2 | two |
| 3 | three |
| 4 | four |
| 5 | five |
| 6 | six |
| 7 | seven |
| 8 | eight |
| 9 | nine |
| 10 | ten |
Number 0
The number 0 has many names:
- zero
When we talk about the number itself or when we are reading percentages and decimals, we say zero.
| Example | How to Read |
|---|---|
| .02 | point-zero-two |
| 0.8% | zero-point-eight percent |
| a number greater than or equal to 0. | greater than or equal to zero. |
- oh
'Oh' is another name for the number 0. It is used when saying phone numbers, years, addresses, temperatures, time, etc.
| Example | How to Read | |
|---|---|---|
| Address | 709 Main St | seven-oh-nine Main Street |
| Time | 4:05 | four-oh-five |
| Phone number | 555-4307 | five-five-five-four-three-oh-seven |
| Temperature | 306F | three-oh-six Fahrenheit |
- nil
Nil is used in sports scores.
Germany sent Spain home after a 4-nil victory.
- nought
Nought is the British English equivalent of zero. It is used instead of zero in several ways.
A million is 1 with 6
- love
'Love' is the name of the number zero in tennis scores.
How to Say Numbers: 11-20
cardinal numbers
Eleven, twelve, and twenty have individual forms. But other numbers from 14 to 19 have a similar pattern. Please note the peculiarities of spelling. Let's get to it:
cardinal number + teen
- four + teen → fourteen
- six + teen → sixteen
- seven + teen → seventeen
- nine + teen → nineteen
Exceptions in spelling:
- three + teen →
thir teen - five + teen →
fif teen - eight + teen →
eigh teen
| Numbers | Written Form |
|---|---|
| 11 | eleven |
| 12 | twelve |
| 13 | thirteen |
| 14 | fourteen |
| 15 | fifteen |
| 16 | sixteen |
| 17 | seventeen |
| 18 | eighteen |
| 19 | nineteen |
| 20 | twenty |
How to Say Numbers: The Tens
The tens have special names which you should memorize, however, they have a pattern. Please note the exceptions in spelling. Let's get to it:
cardinal number + ty
- six + ty → sixty
- seven + ty → seventy
- nine + ty → ninety
Exceptions in spelling:
- three + ty →
thir ty - four + ty →
for ty - five + ty →
fif ty - eight + ty →
eigh ty
| Numbers | Written Form |
|---|---|
| 30 | thirty |
| 40 | forty |
| 50 | fifty |
| 60 | sixty |
| 70 | seventy |
| 80 | eighty |
| 90 | ninety |
How to Say Numbers: 21-99
After 20, use the tens (twenty, thirty, etc.) followed by numbers one through nine.
Hyphenate all compound numbers between twenty-one and ninety-nine.
| Numbers | Written Form |
|---|---|
| 21 | twenty-one |
| 22 | twenty-two |
| 23 | twenty-three |
| 24 | twenty-four |
| 25 | twenty-five |
| 26 | twenty-six |
| 27 | twenty-seven |
| 28 | twenty-eight |
| 29 | twenty-nine |
Look at some more examples:
- 33 → thirty-three
- 98 → ninety-eight
- 54 → fifty-four
- 76 → seventy-six
- 42 → forty-two
How to Say Numbers: Three-digit Numbers
For 100, we can either use the definite article 'a' or 'one'.
- one hundred
- a hundred
For three-digit numbers, use the following pattern:
numbers one through nine + hundred + (and) + cardinal numbers
| Numbers | Written Form |
|---|---|
| 255 | Two hundred fifty-five |
| 813 | Eight hundred thirteen |
| 309 | Three hundred and nine |
| 476 | Four hundred seventy-six |
| 507 | Five hundred seven |
| 684 | Six hundred eighty four |
| 799 | Seven hundred ninety-nine |
Warning
Do not pluralize 'hundred,' 'thousand, etc.
300 → three s')
4,000 → four s')
How to Say Numbers: Four-digit Numbers
Four-digit numbers are formed using any digits from 0-9, but the number should begin with digit 1 or a number greater than 1. To write numbers beyond 1,000 (one thousand) you can follow the same pattern as the three-digit numbers:
Tip!
When writing four-digit numbers, we use a comma to separate the thousands place from the hundreds place. This is because the comma indicates the end of the first period (ones) and the beginning of the second period (thousands). For example, 3210 is written as 3,210.
| Numbers | Written Form |
|---|---|
| 3,467 | three thousand four hundred sixty-seven |
| 7,843 | seven thousand eight hundred forty-three |
| 3,485 | three thousand four hundred eighty-five |
| 1,209 | one thousand two hundred nine |
| 4,581 | four thousand five hundred eighty one |
| 5,673 | five thousand six hundred seventy-three |
How to Say Numbers: Five-digit Numbers
In math, every digit in a number has a place value. Place value is the value of a digit in a number on the basis of its position in the number. Understanding the place value of digits in numbers helps in writing numbers in their expanded form.
| Tens of thousands | Thousands | Hundreds | Tens | Ones |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 |
In 24568:
- 2 is in ten thousands place and its place value is 20,000
- 4 is in thousands place and its place value is 4,000
- 5 is in hundreds place and its place value is 500
- 6 is in tens place and its place value is 60
- 8 is in ones place and its place value is 8
How to Say Numbers: Six-digits and Higher
The International numeral system is used worldwide in which we count in the order of ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands, millions, and so on. In this place value chart, the numbers are grouped into periods of ones, thousands, millions, and so on, and they are separated by a comma every 3 digits, starting from the right side.
| places | number of digits | |
|---|---|---|
| Millions | hundred millions | 9 |
| ten millions | 8 | |
| millions | 7 | |
| Thousands | hundred thousands | 6 |
| ten thousands | 5 | |
| thousands | 4 | |
| Ones | hundreds | 3 |
| tens | 2 | |
| ones | 1 |
- 2,450,000 – two million four hundred fifty thousand
- 27,805,234 - twenty-seven million eight hundred five thousands two hundred thirty-four
- 934,700,000 – nine hundred thirty-four million seven hundred thousand
- 589,432,420 - five hundred eighty-nine million four hundred thirty-two thousand four hundred twenty
Names of Large Numbers
- Million
- Billion
- Trillion
- Quadrillion
- Quintillion
- Sextillion
- Septillion
- Octillion
- Nonillion
- Decillion
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