Numbers in English: A Complete Guide for Learners

Numbers are limitless, but they shouldn’t scare you, because we will help you see all the patterns, starting from basic and progressing to advanced topics. Let’s tap into the very start of the world of figures!

From 1 to 10

You set off your number journey at this point — learning from 0 to 10. Read these examples, listen to the numbers, and repeat them to check your understanding and pronunciation.

Each number in English follows simple rules. They remain the same. You don’t need to change their form based on gender or other characteristics. No friction, straightforward usage.

From 10 to 20

The formation of this group has some patterns. The first part resembles the 1-10 category a lot (leaving out eleven and twelve). 

From thirteen to nineteen, words have identical endings — teen. You can easily memorize connecting them to the word teenager. 

From 21 to 100

English numbers from 21 to 99 should be written with a hyphen (-) between two digits, so it looks like this: Twenty-one, not twenty one.

Be aware of some tricky words. Learners often make mistakes with the following words: Forty, fifty, and eighty, because they are spelled in a different way than the numbers from 1 to 10.

Large figures are divided into several categories, having their own small distinctions, such as article usage and various versions of reading. Read the full list to understand how to write numbers in English.

Hundreds

Look at the first line. Is it similar to your language? In English, it is very common to say a hundred instead of one hundred. Both variations are correct, but one hundred is more formal.

Having covered numbers 1 to 100, let’s move on to larger figures.

Thousands

In informal speech, the natives from the UK and the USA sometimes say fifteen hundred instead of one thousand and five hundred. But formal writing requires you to choose the second variation.

Millions and billions

When writing digits, separate them with commas. In the UK, people also write spaces between different groups of numbers.

Consider that creating phrases with the word dollar requires a singular verb that follows after it:    A million dollars is a big sum of money.  When numbers are coupled with any other nouns (people, flowers, watches), the verb is plural:    A million books are sold by our story every year. 

You use them a lot in daily life, such as  when going to the shop and asking how much something costs or checking how many work hours are left for the day. All the English numbers we highlighted above are related to cardinals. 

Remember that:

• They don’t require the article the unless it is something specific:

  The family went to Rome for seven days. — Not specific days.

  The seven days we spent in Brazil were special. — Specific days, the days in Brazil.  

• You use them in decimals and percentages:

  The distance is seven point six miles.

  Seventy percent of the work was finished yesterday.

• With a meaning before 11, use numbers in words in English. After 11, write numbers, especially if you write about millions, billions, and so on:

  I drank three glasses of milk.

  The deadline to complete this project is 25 days. 

This type of number is very common in English. You use it to talk about the order of things and events, including:

• dates;
• instructions:
• orders;
• floors, buildings, streets.

Listen to their pronunciation and read the instances to spot patterns. 

The distinctions you could notice:

• All numbers maintain the same form; we just need to add several endings like st, nd, rd, or th. The exceptions are: first, second, third, fifth, ninth, twelfth, and twentieth. There are some minor changes. 
• Starting from the 21st, you need to change only the last digit, even if the number is    one thousand two hundred thirty-fourth  (1,234).
• The hyphen (-) is used in ordinal numbers in English as well.

This is a more advanced topic that is largely used in math, statistics, measurement, and proportions. Sings and forms add a layer of complexity; however, the reading is quite simple if you practice with enough examples.

Dive deep into the thorough explanation to know how to spell numbers in English as well.

Fractions

A fraction consists of two numbers. The top one is called the numerator, and the bottom is the denominator. In math, they are presented by digits (5/10, 4/6, 8/16). We’re here today to determine how to write them in words in exams and articles.

Typically, the first number is cardinal (three, four, seven) and the second is ordinal (thirds, eighths, sevenths). The hyphen (–) is between two numbers. 

There is a list of common fractions native speakers use in daily life:

• ½ — a half of something.

  I have finished half of the cake. 

• ¼ – a quarter.

  We have passed a quarter of the way. 

• ¾ – three-quarters.

  I’ve done three-quarters of the tasks.

Decimals

They are common for statistics, money, and percentages, so it is very important to understand how they are used, because they are significant for confident daily conversations. 

Written as digits with a decimal point, these numbers can be both adjectives and nouns. In informal speech, people mostly use fractions. 

In the table below, you will find examples of different ways of reading for decimals based on the context. We chose the English number 0.1 to show how reading differs. 

Let’s focus on the most common use:

0.1 →   one tenth

0.25 →   quarter

0.33 →   one-third

0.5 →   half

0.66 →   two-thirds

0.75 →   three-quarters

1.25 →   one and a quarter

1.5 →   one and a half

1.75 →   one and three-quarters

You encounter percentages in math, statistics, and science, as well as in topics related to money. There are different versions of writing that sometimes include fractions and decimals, but don’t allow these forms to confuse you. 

Remember:

• With the basic numbers, you need only to say it with the word percent:    twenty-seven percent  (27%). 

  Digit	Word	Example
  10%	ten percent	The shop offers a ten percent discount.
  55%	fifty-five percent	Fifty-five percent of students failed exams.
  100%	one hundred percent	One hundred percent of tickets were sold.

• You use the word percent with a number and percentage without it.

  Percent	Percentage
  Forty percent of visitors buy our products.	A high percentage of people travel abroad.
  Seventy percent of flights are fully booked.	A low percentage of apartments are sold this year.

Daily manipulations with figures sometimes break grammar rules when counting in English. Below, you will find full explanations of how to read dates in English, as well as pronunciation and spelling for years, phone numbers, and prices, which are too specific and can’t be guessed.

Dates

To talk about dates, use ordinal numbers in English (first, second, third). Based on where you are, you can choose between these two versions:

• British. Day + month, use articles. 

  My vacation starts on the first of September. 

• American. The month comes first, the day follows it. 

  The celebration is on July fourth. 

Years

A clear point separates the two categories of years. Everything that goes before 1999 is pronounced one way, with two two-digit numbers. With those years that start with 2000, you can select between two options:

Before 1999

Split a number into two pairs of digits:

After 2000

Say two thousand and number:

Or you can approach them in the same way as in the first example:

Phone numbers

Thinking of how to pronounce phone numbers in English, first, you need to choose between British and American formats. Also, there are particular distinctions when you want to deal with an international number. However, one aspect is the same for each: pronounce each digit separately in each case.

US: (495) 024-3033 —    four nine five, zero two four, three zero three three.

Use parentheses () and hyphens (–) when writing US phone numbers. Divide numbers into three sections.

UK: 059 048 0482 —    zero five nine, zero four eight, zero four eight two.

Separate digits with spaces. Group numbers into two or three sections.

International: +44 948 850 5938 —    plus four four nine four eight five zero five nine three. eight

Add the code of the country the person you are calling is in. 

Prices

Decimals are used in writing and telling prices, however, without points. In the USA and UK, currency signs are usually placed before the number ($5), while in some other countries, they are positioned after (10$). 

Use cardinal numbers as in these examples:

The sandwich costs $3.50. —   Three dollars fifty cents.

The stock is worth €5.69. —   Five euros sixty-nine cents.

I paid £1.20 for a bottle of water. —   One pound and twenty pence. 

With so many types of information that can be conveyed with numbers in English, from 1 to 100 and beyond, mistakes are unavoidable at the beginning. However, you can limit their occurrence in sentences if you get acquainted with some typical errors.

Confusing thirteen and thirty 

These two numbers are similar, except for the ending, so it is easy to mistake them at the beginning.

Forgetting about ordinals’ endings

When you name an object’s order, add suitable endings and choose the right forms.

Wrong year reading

Above, you have seen the correct reading rules for years, but sometimes learners misunderstand them, pronouncing them digit by digit or saying the whole number, including thousands and hundreds.

Reading money as decimals

Money indeed belongs to decimals, but it follows special pronunciation rules applied only to it.  

These simple exercises will allow you to check your understanding of the grammar. Pass the test and look at the answers. If you are not sure about the correct option, check its section once more.

These small tricks will help you cheat on this layered topic and learn how to operate with all numbers in English quickly.

Tip 1. Create associations 

Stories from your life and common phrases from popular culture can help you stick numbers in English, from 1 to 100, to your memory. It is like when you add a specific meaning to a number, building connections between different words. 

Tip 2. Practice with exercises 

Interactive activities make everything faster, from recognizing partners to polishing weak areas. Applications, such as Koto English, allow you to discover all the nuances of numbers, including those that are not in student books, but are common for native speakers.

Tip 3. Read statistics in English

Grasping more complicated topics, fractions, and decimals will be easier if you listen to real English speech in context and pay attention to how they are used in real life. Then, write your own sentences.

Tip 4. Learn number connections 

Reading examples from the tables above, you have probably noticed that there are many similar ways the numbers work. There is no need to learn each number separately, as units repeat in tens so that you can see them as single units:    Twenty-one ,   thirty-two ,    forty-three , and so on.

You will learn all the numbers by following a specific sequence. First, make sure that you don’t mess with cardinals and ordinals, and understand how and when to use them. Second, move on to fractions, decimals, and percentages, and practice them with real-life examples.

Learn English on platforms like Koto, which are key to small details that help you grasp rules and advance your knowledge to have natural and worry-free conversations with native speakers.