English Numeral

There are two main types of numerals: cardinal and ordinal.

Cardinal Numerals

Cardinal numerals are the numbers we use for counting or indicating how many of something there are. For example:

• 1 – one

• 2 – two

• 10 – ten

• 50 – fifty

• 100 – one hundred (can be said as “a hundred”)

If you are writing out numerals from 21 to 99, use a hyphen, unless they end with a zero:

• 21 – twenty-one

• 59 – fifty-nine

• 80 – eighty

Talking about bigger numbers can be a bit more difficult. Here are some examples:

• 120 – one hundred [and] twenty

• 350 – three hundred [and] fifty

• 1,000 – one thousand (can be said as “a thousand”)

• 28,916 – twenty-eight thousand nine hundred [and] sixteen

• 3,000,000 – three million

• 17,000,500,000 – seventeen billion, five hundred thousand

In English, numbers are grouped based on powers of ten:

• Ones (1-9)

• Tens (10-99)

• Hundreds (100-999)

• Thousands (1,000 – 999,999)

• Millions (1,000,000 – 999,999,999)

• Billions (1,000,000,000 – 999,999,999,999)

• Trillions (1,000,000,000,000 – 999,999,999,999,999)

Each unit represents 10 times the size of the previous one, and commas divide numbers into groups of three digits for readability.

How to Use Cardinal Numbers

We use cardinal numbers in many ways, including:

• To count objects: I have three books.

• To talk about age: She’s twenty years old.

• To tell time: It’s eight o’clock. (8:00)

• To talk about years: I was born in 1998.

• To say a phone number or address: My phone number is 694-3855.

Ordinal Numerals

Ordinal numerals are used to show the order or position of something in a list or sequence. The first three ordinal numbers (and all ordinals that end in these numbers) are irregular:

• 1st – first

• 2nd – second

• 3rd – third

• 23rd – twenty-third

To form all other ordinal numbers, we add -th to the end. For example:

• 4th – fourth

• 6th – sixth

• 10th – tenth

• 20th – twentieth

• 35th – thirty-fifth

How to Use Ordinal Numbers

Here are the main ways we use ordinal numbers.

• To talk about positions in a sequence:

He finished in first place in the race.

This is my third time visiting London.

• To talk about floor or street numbers:

I live on the second floor.

They live on 51st Street.

• To talk about dates:

My birthday is on the 5th of May.

We’re having a party on January 23rd.

• To talk about birthdays, anniversaries, etc.:

We’re celebrating her 30th birthday.

Tomorrow is the second anniversary of starting our business.

• To talk about centuries:

We’re living in the 21st century.