Saying Numbers, Decimals, Percentages, Dates, Large Numbers
SAYING NUMBERS
Zero
(UK) Oh
(UK) Nought
44
Four four
(UK) Forty-four
(UK) Double four
555
Five five five
(UK) Treble five
(UK) Triple Five
(UK) Five double five
LARGE NUMBERS
You can say “one hundred” or “a hundred.” Both are correct.
Don’t add “s” to “hundred,” “thousand,” or “million.”
100
One hundred
A hundred
1000
One thousand
A thousand
1000000
One million
A million
101
One hundred and one
1200
One thousand, two hundred
1,300,000
One million, three hundred thousand
200
Two hundred (No “s” at the end.)
3000
three thousand
40,000,000
Forty million (Commas are used to separate long rows of
figures.)
FURTHER EXAMPLES
In UK English, add “and” before the last two numbers to say
numbers higher than one hundred. In US English, this is considered informal.
2,876
Two thousand, eight hundred and seventy-six. (“And” goes
before “seventy-six.”)
54,041
Fifty-four thousand and forty-one
100,922
One hundred thousand, nine hundred and twenty-two
296,308
Two hundred and ninety-six thousand, three hundred and eight
1,098,283
One million, ninety-eight thousand, two hundred and
eighty-three
DATES
In the US, people often describe dates by writing cardinal
numbers and saying ordinal numbers. In the UK, people use ordinal numbers to write
and say dates.
His birthday is on
May 18
(US) (The number is written after the month in US English.)
May the 18th (UK) (May the eighteenth)
The 18th of May (UK) (the eighteenth of May)
FRACTIONS
You might see fractions written out as words. Aside from
“half” (1 ⁄2) and “quarter” (1 ⁄4), the bottom number of a fraction is written
or spoken as an ordinal number
1/4
a quarter
1/3
a third (Use ordinal numbers for the bottom of a
fraction.)
½
a half
3/5
three-fifths (Use cardinal numbers for the top of a
fraction.)
1 ½
one and a half (Use “and” to link a whole number and a
fraction.)
DECIMALS
Decimals are always written as numbers, not words. The
decimal point is spoken as “point,” and all numbers after the decimal point are
spoken separately.
0.5
Point five
Nought point five (UK)
Zero point five
1.7
one point seven
3.97
three point nine-seven (This is not said as “three
point ninety-seven.”)
PERCENTAGES
The % symbol is written and spoken as “percent.” “Per cent”
is also sometimes written in UK English. Percentages are normally written as
numbers, not words.
1% one percent
99% ninety-nine percent
55.5% fifty-five point five percent
100% one hundred percent
