Cardinal Numbers (Hoofdtelwoorden)
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)
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
Exercise on spelling cardinal numbers
Ordinal Numbers (Rangtelwoorden)
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
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
Exercise on spelling ordinal numbers
The decimal point
Use a point (and not a comma) for decimals.
Use commas only when writing thousands.
10,001 = ten thousand and
one
10.001 = ten point oh oh one
Oh (0)
We say oh:
in telephone numbers
67 01 38 - six seven oh one three eight
(hotel)room numbers
room 206 - I’m in room two oh six.
after a decimal point
5.03 - five point oh three
Nought (0)
We say nought:
before the decimal point
0.02 - nought point oh two
We say zero:
for the number - the number zero
for temperature
5°C - five degrees below zero
Calculating
10 + 4 = 14
Ten plus four is (equals) fourteen.
10 – 4 = 6
Ten minus four is (equals) six.
10 x 4 = 40
Ten times four is (equals) forty.
10 : 4 = 2½
Ten divided by four is (equals) two and a half
+ = add
= substract
x = multiply
: = divide
1% = one per cent
0,5 % = half of a per cent
3½ = three and a half
2¾ = two and three quarters
0,25 % = a quarter of one per cent
0,75 % = three quarters of one per cent
Fractions/ breuken 1/2 a / one half 1/3 a / one third 1/4 a / one quarter 1/5 a / one fifth 1/6 a / one sixth 1/7 a / one seventh 1/8 an / one eighth 1/9 a / one ninth 1/10 a / one tenth 1/11 a / one eleventh 2/3 two thirds 3/4 three quarters 4/5 four fifths 5/6 five sixths 123/456 123 over 456 1 1/2 one and one half 1 1/3 one and one third 1 1/4 one and one quarter 1 1/5 one and one fifth 1 2/3 one and two thirds 1 3/4 one and three quarters 1 4/5 one and four fifths 2 3/5 two and three fifths 3 5/6 three and five sixths Decimal numbers 0.75 zero point seven five 0.5 zero point five 0.33 zero point three three 0.25 zero point two five 0.20 zero point two zero 0.166 zero point one six six 0.125 zero point one two five 0.11 zero point one one 0.101 zero point one zero one 0.100 zero point one zero zero 0.09 zero point zero nine 0.006 zero point zero zero six 1.1 one point one 2.002 two point zero zero two Negative numbers -1 negative / minus one -2 negative / minus two -3 negative / minus three
Y year M month D day W week YYYY (the year)... 1000 one thousand 1776 seventeen (hundred) seventy-six 1789 seventeen (hundred) eighty-nine 1800 eighteen hundred 1900 nineteen hundred 1901 nineteen (hundred) (O) one 1910 nineteen (hundred) ten 1912 nineteen (hundred) twelve 1949 nineteen (hundred) forty-nine 1996 nineteen (hundred) ninety-six 2000 two thousand 2001 two thousand (and) one The four seasons spring summer autumn / fall winter Months --01 January --02 February --03 March --04 April --05 May --06 June --07 July --08 August --09 September --10 October --11 November --12 December Days of the week -W-1 Monday -W-2 Tuesday -W-3 Wednesday -W-4 Thursday -W-5 Friday -W-6 Saturday -W-7 Sunday --MM-DD Day-month (in English) Month-day (in American English) --MM-01 the first of... ... first --MM-02 the second of... ... second --MM-03 the third of... ... third --MM-28 the twenty-eighth of... ... twenty-eighth --MM-29 the twenty-ninth of... ... twenty-ninth --MM-30 the thirtieth of... ... thirtieth --MM-31 the thirty-first of... ... thirty-first --01-01 1 January January 1 --01-02 2 January January 2 --01-03 3 January January 3 --01-31 31 January January 31 --02-01 1 February February 1 --02-02 2 February February 2 --02-28 28 February February 28 --02-29 29 February (leap year only) February 29 (leap year only) --03-01 1 March March 1 --03-31 31 March March 31 --04-01 1 April April 1 --04-30 30 April April 30 --05-01 1 May May 1 --05-31 31 May May 31 --06-01 1 June June 1 --06-30 30 June June 30 --07-01 1 July July 1 --07-31 31 July July 31 --08-01 1 August August 1 --08-31 31 August August 31 --09-01 1 September September 1 --09-30 30 September September 30 --10-01 1 October October 1 --10-31 31 October October 31 --11-01 1 November November 1 --11-30 30 November November 30 --12-01 1 December December 1 --12-31 31 December December 31 YYYY-MM-DD day-month-year (in English) month-day-year (in American English) 2003-05-12 Monday, 12 May 2003 Monday, May 12, 2003 YYYY-MM month-year 2003-05 May 2003