THE NUMBERS

Cardinal numbers

Cardinal numbers in English say how many people or things there are.

1 - one 2 - two 3 - three 4 - four 5 - five

6 - six 7 - seven 8 - eight 9 - nine 10 - ten
11 - eleven 12 - twelve 13 - thirteen 14 - fourteen 15 - fifteen
16 - sixteen 17 - seventeen 18 - eighteen 19 - nineteen 20 - twenty

For example:
There are five books on the desk.
Gina is twelve years old.
I am going to the cinema with two friends.

Numbers bigger than 20

Use a hyphen (-) between compound numbers.

21 – twenty-one 22 – twenty-two 29 – twenty-nine
31 – thirty-one 32 – thirty-two 36 – thirty-six
43 – forty-three 48 – forty-eight 54 – fifty-four
56 – fifty-six 62 – sixty-two 63 – sixty-three
77 – seventy-seven 79 – seventy-nine 81 – eighty-one
82 – eighty-two 95 – ninety - five 99 – ninety-nine

Numbers bigger than 100

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Use a hyphen (-) between compound numbers and the word and.

Use either the definite article a or one for 100.

112 a/one hundred and twelve

222 two hundred and twenty-two
345 three hundred and forty-five
463 four hundred and sixty-three
580 five hundred and eighty
654 six hundred and fifty-four
768 seven hundred and sixty-eight
897 eight hundred and ninety-seven
959 nine hundred and fifty-nine

Numbers bigger than 1,000

Use a hyphen between compound numbers and the word and.

Use either the definite article a or one for 1,000.

1,121 a/one thousand one hundred and twenty-one

2,356 two thousand three hundred and fifty-six
3,962 three thousand nine hundred and sixty-two
4,875 four thousand eight hundred and seventy-five
5,233 five thousand two hundred and thirty-three
6,078 six thousand and seventy-eight
7,540 seven thousand five hundred and forty
8,439 eight thousand four hundred and thirty-nine
9,684 nine thousand six hundred and eighty-four
Separate three digits with a comma (,). For example: It weighed 8,000 pounds.

The number 0

There are different words for the number 0.

oh single digits (telephone numbers, 2006: twenty-oh-six

code, years) 54780: five – four – seven – eight – oh
zero measurements (temperature) -5 ºC: five degrees Celsius below zero

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 nil results in sports The match ended 2 – 0 (two-nil).

The dates in numbers

We normally split up the year in tens.

For example: 1985 is split up in 19 and 85 (nineteen eighty-five).

From 2000 until 2009 the year is normally not split up. Yet, 2010 is split up in 20 and 10
(twenty-ten).

1900 nineteen hundred

1901 nineteen hundred and one
nineteen-oh-one
1995 nineteen ninety-five
2000 two thousand
twenty hundred
2002 two thousand (and) two
twenty oh-two
2010 two thousand (and) ten
twenty ten

Complete dates

Dates in English are usually expressed by saying the month, the day and the year.
Use the preposition in with the year. For example: He was born in 1999.
Use the preposition in with the month too. For example: She was born in August, 2016.
Use the preposition on in the complete sentence. For example: It happened on May 14th,
2006. (This should be read: It happened on the fourteenth of May of two thousand and
six).

Ordinal numbers

We add –th to the cardinal numbers in order to form the ordinal numbers. For example:
six  sixth. And we add the last two letters of the written word to the figure. For example:
fourth  4th
Numbers in words: The ordinal numbers 1st (first), 2nd (second), and 3rd (third) are
irregular. Be careful with the spelling of the words for 5th, 8th, 9th and 12th, and the words
ending in –y.

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 cardinal numbers ordinal numbers
1 one 1st first
2 two 2nd second
3 three 3 rd
third
4 four 4th fourth
5 five 5th fifth
6 six 6th sixth
7 seven 7 th
seventh
8 eight 8th eighth
9 nine 9th ninth
10 ten 10th tenth
11 eleven 11 th
eleventh
12 twelve 12th twelfth
13 thirteen 13th thirteenth
14 fourteen 14th fourteenth
15 fifteen 15 th
fifteenth
16 sixteen 16th sixteenth
17 seventeen 17th seventeenth
18 eighteen 18th eighteenth
19 nineteen 19 th
nineteenth
20 twenty 20th twentieth
21 twenty-one 21st twenty-first
22 twenty-two 22nd twenty-second
23 twenty-three 23rd twenty-third

Fractions and decimals

Fractions

We use ordinal numbers for the denominator.

For example: 1/3 is read one third.
For example: 2 3/5 is read two and three fifths.

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But we also have a few exceptions.
When we use 1/2 is read one half.
And when we use 1/4 is read one quarter.

Decimals

We use cardinal numbers for decimals.

For example: 3.8 is read three point eight
For example: 4.25 is read four point twenty-five

Roman numbers

Roman numbers are seldom used. They are used for the names of kings and queens and we
use the ordinal numbers to pronounce them. For example: Elizabeth II is said
Elizabeth the Second and Louis XIV is said Louis the Fourteenth.

ACTIVITIES

Decide whether the following words belong to cardinal numbers or ordinal numbers.

1. eighteen → _______________________

2. seven → _______________________

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3. twenty → _______________________

4. sixteenth → _______________________

5. thirty-fourth → _______________________

6. fifteenth → _______________________

7. seventeen → _______________________

8. thirty-second → _______________________

9. thirtieth → _______________________

10. thirty → _______________________

Use the correct words for the numbers in brackets. Write the cardinal or ordinal numbers
in word forms into the gaps.

1. I have breakfast at ____________ o'clock. (6)

2. My brother is in his ____________ term at university. (6)

3. Jamie is ____________ years old. (10)

4. Today is the____________ of April. (10)

5. It costs only ____________ pound. (1)

6. I am so happy, that he won the ____________ prize. (1)

7. It takes ____________ hours to get from London to Cairo by air. (5)

8. It's the ____________ day of our holiday in Florida. (5)

9. He scored ____________ goals in____________ games. (3)/(2)

10. It was his ____________ goal in the last ____________ games. (3)/(2)

Write the date into the gaps the way it is spoken in English. Write the numbers in words.

a) 22 – Nov: ________________________

b) 1 – Jan: ________________________

c) 12 – Jul: ________________________

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d) 5 – Sep: ________________________

e) 21 – Mar: ________________________

f) 4 – Oct: ________________________

g) 2 – Apr: ________________________

h) 3 – May: ________________________

Write the date into the gaps the way it is written in English. Write the numbers in words.

a) 25 – Aug: ________________________

b) 23 – Oct: ________________________

c) 8 – Apr: ________________________

d) 14 – Jan: ________________________

e) 31 – Dec: ________________________

f) 2 – Feb: ________________________

g) 30 – Jul: ________________________

h) 13 – Sep: ________________________

Complete the following sentences using the ordinal numbers.

1. April is the ____________ month of the year.

2. June is the ____________ month of the year.

3. January is the ____________ month of the year.

4. July is the ____________ month of the year.

5. February is the ____________ month of the year.

6. September is the ____________ month of the year.

7. May is the ____________ month of the year.

8. December is the ____________ month of the year.

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9. March is the ____________ month of the year.

10. August is the ____________ month of the year.

11. November is the ____________ month of the year.

12. October is the ____________ month of the year.

Write the numbers as words into the gaps.

a) 1,000 ____________________________________

b) 3/4 ____________________________________

c) 3.1 ____________________________________

d) 555 ____________________________________

e) 5/8 ____________________________________

f) 4,065 ____________________________________

g) 3 1/3 ____________________________________

h) 133 ____________________________________

i) 0 ____________________________________

j) 3,033 ____________________________________

k) 1/2 ____________________________________

l) 3.75 ____________________________________

m) 103, 006 ____________________________________