English Numbers

Ordinal numbers

Table of Ordinal Numbers

Ordinal Numbers from 1 through 1,000,000

1

st

first

11

th

eleventh

21

st

twenty-first

31

st

thirty-first

2

nd

second

12

th

twelfth

22

nd

twenty-second

40

th

fortieth

3

rd

third

13

th

thirteenth

23

rd

twenty-third

50

th

fiftieth

4

th

fourth

14

th

fourteenth

24

th

twenty-fourth

60

th

sixtieth

5

th

fifth

15

th

fifteenth

25

th

twenty-fifth

70

th

seventieth

6

th

sixth

16

th

sixteenth

26

th

twenty-sixth

80

th

eightieth

7

th

seventh

17

th

seventeenth

27

th

twenty-seventh

90

th

ninetieth

8

th

eighth

18

th

eighteenth

28

th

twenty-eighth

100

th

one hundredth

9

th

ninth

19

th

nineteenth

29

th

twenty-ninth

1,000

th

one thousandth

10

th

tenth

20

th

twentieth

30

th

thirtieth

1,000,000

th

one millionth

Form

Spelling of Ordinal Numbers

Just add th to the cardinal number:

• four - fourth
• eleven - eleventh

Exceptions:

• one - first
• two - second
• three - third
• five - fifth
• eight - eighth
• nine - ninth
• twelve - twelfth

In compound ordinal numbers, note that only the last figure is written as an ordinal number:

• 421st = four hundred and twenty-first
• 5,111th = five thousand, one hundred and eleventh

Figures

When expressed as figures, the last two letters of the written word are added to the ordinal number:

• first = 1st
• second = 2nd
• third = 3rd
• fourth = 4th
• twenty-sixth = 26th
• hundred and first = 101st

Titles

In names for kings and queens, ordinal numbers are written in Roman numbers. In spoken English, the definite article is used before the ordinal number:

• Charles II - Charles the Second
• Edward VI - Edward the Sixth
• Henry VIII - Henry the Eighth

Cardinal Numbers

Table of Cardinal Numbers

Cardinal numbers from 1 through 1,000,000

1	one	11	eleven	21	twenty-one	31	thirty-one
2	two	12	twelve	22	twenty-two	40	forty
3	three	13	thirteen	23	twenty-three	50	fifty
4	four	14	fourteen	24	twenty-four	60	sixty
5	five	15	fifteen	25	twenty-five	70	seventy
6	six	16	sixteen	26	twenty-six	80	eighty
7	seven	17	seventeen	27	twenty-seven	90	ninety
8	eight	18	eighteen	28	twenty-eight	100	a/one hundred
9	nine	19	nineteen	29	twenty-nine	1,000	a/one thousand
10	ten	20	twenty	30	thirty	1,000,000	a/one million

Separation between hundreds and tens

Hundreds and tens are usually separated by 'and' (in American English 'and' is not necessary).

110 - one hundred and ten
1,250 - one thousand, two hundred and fifty
2,001 - two thousand and one

Hundreds

Use 100 always with 'a' or 'one'.

100 - a hundred / one hundred

'a' can only stand at the beginning of a number.

100 - a hundred / one hundred
2,100 - two thousand, one hundred

Thousands and Millions

Use 1,000 and 1,000,000 always with 'a' or 'one'.

1,000 - a thousand / one thousand
201,000 - two hundred and one thousand

Use commas as a separator.

57,458,302

The Number 1,000,000,000

In English this number is a billion. This is very tricky for nations where 'a billion' has 12 zeros. 1,000,000,000,000 in English, however, is a trillion.

But don't worry, these numbers are even a bit problematic for native speakers: for a long time the British 'billion' had 12 zeros (a number with 9 zeros was called 'a thousand million'). Now, however, also in British English 'a billion' has 9 zeros. But from time to time this number still causes confusion (just like this paragraph, I'm afraid). ;o)

Singular or Plural?

Numbers are usually written in singular.

two hundred Euros
several thousand light years

The plural is only used with dozen, hundred, thousand, million, billion, if they are not modified by another number or expression (e.g. a few / several).

hundreds of Euros
thousands of light years

English Numbers - (IPA - phonetic transcription)

Cardinal NumbersOrdinal Numbers 1 through 10one [wʌn]first [fəːst]two [tuː]second [ˈsɛk(ə)nd]three [θriː]third [θəːd]four [fɔː]fourth [fɔːθ]five [fʌɪv]fifth [fɪfθ]six [sɪks]sixth [sɪksθ]seven [ˈsɛv(ə)n]seventh [ˈsɛv(ə)nθ]eight [eɪt]eighth [eɪtθ]nine [nʌɪn]ninth [nʌɪnθ]ten [tɛn]tenth [tɛnθ] 11 through 19eleven [ɪˈlɛv(ə)n]eleventh [ɪˈlɛv(ə)nθ]twelve [twɛlv]twelfth [twɛlfθ]thirteen [ˈθəːtiːn]thirteenth [ˈθəːtiːnθ]fourteen [ˈfɔːtiːn]fourteenth [ˈfɔːtiːnθ]fifteen [ˈfɪftiːn]fifteenth [ˈfɪftiːnθ]sixteen [ˈsɪkstiːn]sixteenth [ˈsɪkstiːnθ]seventeen [ˈsɛv(ə)ntiːn]seventeenth [ˈsɛv(ə)ntiːnθ]eighteen [ˈeɪtiːn]eighteenth [ˈeɪtiːnθ]nineteen [ˈnʌɪntiːn]nineteenth [ˈnʌɪntiːnθ] 20 through 100twenty [ˈtwɛnti]twentieth [ˈtwɛntiːθ]thirty [ˈθəːti]thirtieth [ˈθəːtiːθ]forty [ˈfɔːti]fortieth [ˈfɔːtiːθ]fifty [ˈfɪfti]fiftieth [ˈfɪftiːθ]sixty [ˈsɪksti]sixtieth [ˈsɪkstiːθ]seventy [ˈsɛv(ə)nti]seventieth [ˈsɛv(ə)ntiːθ]eighty [ˈeɪtiː]eightieth [ˈeɪtiːθ]ninety [ˈnʌɪnti]ninetieth [ˈnʌɪntiːθ]hundred [ˈhʌndrəd]hundredth [ˈhʌndrədθ] 1000 and 1,000,000thousand [ˈθaʊz(ə)nd]thousandth [ˈθaʊz(ə)ndθ]million [ˈmɪljən]millionth [ˈmɪljənθ]