Numbers appear everywhere in English—dates, prices, addresses, ages, phone numbers, measurements, math, and small talk. If you want to understand daily conversations, read signs, handle travel tasks, or work in English, you need a strong foundation.

This complete guide to numbers in English covers everything: pronunciation, spelling, tricky patterns, big numbers, fractions, decimals, math vocabulary, phone numbers, years, and useful expressions. It’s designed for real-world use, not just classroom memorization.

Even a yak can do math when the numbers are explained clearly.

Basic Cardinal Numbers (1–20)

Cardinal numbers are used to count things: one, two, three…

Number	Word	Pronunciation (simple)
1	one	wuhn
2	two	too
3	three	three
4	four	for
5	five	fyv
6	six	six
7	seven	SEV-en
8	eight	ayt
9	nine	nyn
10	ten	ten
11	eleven	uh-LEV-en
12	twelve	twelv
13	thirteen	ther-TEEN
14	fourteen	for-TEEN
15	fifteen	fif-TEEN
16	sixteen	six-TEEN
17	seventeen	sev-en-TEEN
18	eighteen	ayt-TEEN
19	nineteen	nyn-TEEN
20	twenty	TWEN-tee

Note:

13–19 all end with -teen, which often causes listening problems.
Native speakers sometimes reduce “fourteen” and “forty,” so be careful:
- fourteen → for-TEEN
- forty → FOR-tee

Numbers 21–100 (Tens and Combinations)

Tens

20 — twenty
30 — thirty
40 — forty (NOT “fourty”)
50 — fifty
60 — sixty
70 — seventy
80 — eighty
90 — ninety

21–99 Pattern

Use “tens + ones”:

21 → twenty-one
36 → thirty-six
58 → fifty-eight
94 → ninety-four

Hyphens are common in writing: fifty-one, seventy-two, etc.

Numbers 100 and Beyond

100–999

100 → one hundred
101 → one hundred one (US) / one hundred and one (UK)
256 → two hundred fifty-six (US)
742 → seven hundred forty-two

Thousands

1,000 → one thousand
5,600 → five thousand six hundred
12,500 → twelve thousand five hundred

Millions, Billions, Trillions

1,000,000 → one million
3,400,000 → three point four million OR three million four hundred thousand
1,200,000,000 → one point two billion

Table for reference:

Number	Word
1,000	thousand
1,000,000	million
1,000,000,000	billion
1,000,000,000,000	trillion

Big Numbers Tip

Group numbers into threes (thousands, millions, billions) to make reading easier.

Example:
5,492,300 → five million four hundred ninety-two thousand three hundred.

Ordinal Numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th…)

Ordinal numbers describe order: first, second, third…

Number	Ordinal	Use Case
1	first	“My first day.”
2	second	“The second floor.”
3	third	“The third chapter.”
4	fourth	“The fourth week.”
5	fifth	irregular spelling
8	eighth	drop the ‘t’ sound
9	ninth	remove the ‘e’
12	twelfth	unusual spelling
21	twenty-first	same pattern as 1st
32	thirty-second	same pattern as 2nd

English ordinals:

1st → first
2nd → second
3rd → third
4th+ → -th endings

Fractions in English

Fractions use cardinal + ordinal:

1/2 → one half
1/3 → one third
1/4 → one fourth / one quarter
2/3 → two thirds
3/4 → three quarters
5/8 → five eighths

Examples:

“Add one half cup of sugar.”
“I finished two thirds of the book.”

Decimals

Use “point” for decimals:

2.5 → two point five
3.14 → three point one four
0.75 → zero point seven five
12.01 → twelve point zero one

Percentages

Use “percent”:

5% → five percent
25% → twenty-five percent
100% → one hundred percent
0% → zero percent

Examples:

“Sales increased by 20 percent.”
“I’m 100 percent sure.”

Years in English

Years follow special pronunciation patterns.

Year	How to Say It
1999	nineteen ninety-nine
2000	two thousand
2001	two thousand one
2024	twenty twenty-four OR two thousand twenty-four
1600s	the sixteen hundreds

Phone Numbers in English

Key patterns:

Read each number separately:
- 395-2107 → three nine five, two one zero seven
For “0,” both oh and zero are common.
For repeated numbers:
- 555 → “five five five” or “triple five”

Example:

902-766-3000 → nine oh two, seven six six, three thousand

Money and Prices

Currency symbols vary, but patterns are similar.

$3.50 → three fifty / three dollars and fifty cents
$40 → forty dollars
£12 → twelve pounds
€5.20 → five euros twenty

When decimals are clear:

$1.99 → one ninety-nine

Addresses

English uses numbers frequently in addresses:

42 Maple Street
Apartment 1102
8th Avenue (eighth avenue)

Math Vocabulary

Useful English math terms:

plus → +
minus → –
times → ×
divided by → ÷
equals → =
total / sum
half / third / quarter
percentage
average

Example:

“Six times four equals twenty-four.”

Common Expressions with Numbers

These appear in daily conversation:

“I’m twenty-something.”
“It costs five bucks.”
“Give me a sec.” (a second = a short moment)
“I’m 100 percent sure.”
“Top ten list.”
“One in a million.”
“At the eleventh hour.” (last minute)

Idioms with numbers:

Expression	Meaning
on cloud nine	extremely happy
catch-22	impossible situation
at sixes and sevens	confused / disorganized
two-faced	dishonest
one-size-fits-all	universal solution

Spelling Tips for Tricky Numbers

Learners often make mistakes with:

forty (not fourty)
eighth (no “t” sound in the middle)
twelfth (weird spelling)
ninety (not ninty)

Memorize these four carefully.

Mini Practice Exercises

Exercise 1: Write the Numbers

Write these in words:

47
302
5,600
0.75
38%

Exercise 2: Convert to Numerals

Nine hundred sixty-two
Twelve thousand five hundred
Three point one four
One half
Thirty-three million

Exercise 3: Listening Challenge (Self-Practice)

Say these out loud:

14 and 40
18 and 80
19 and 90

This helps with the common teen vs. ty listening problem.

Yak’s Final Chewables

Numbers are the backbone of English communication—from prices to dates to years to phone numbers. Once you master cardinal numbers, ordinal numbers, big numbers, decimals, fractions, and the patterns for dates and prices, English becomes much easier.

Practice numbers in real life: your birthday, your address, your bills, your receipts, your calendar. The more your brain sees numbers in context, the more natural they feel.

Even a yak can count confidently with the right guide.