Numbers in English | EF | Saudi Arabia

The cardinal numbers (one, two, three, etc.) are adjectives referring to quantity, and the ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc.) refer to distribution.

Number
Cardinal
Ordinal

1
one
first

2
two
second

3
three
third

4
four
fourth

5
five
fifth

6
six
sixth

7
seven
seventh

8
eight
eighth

9
nine
ninth

10
ten
tenth

11
eleven
eleventh

12
twelve
twelfth

13
thirteen
thirteenth

14
fourteen
fourteenth

15
fifteen
fifteenth

16
sixteen
sixteenth

17
seventeen
seventeenth

18
eighteen
eighteenth

19
nineteen
nineteenth

20
twenty
twentieth

21
twenty-one
twenty-first

22
twenty-two
twenty-second

23
twenty-three
twenty-third

24
twenty-four
twenty-fourth

25
twenty-five
twenty-fifth

26
twenty-six
twenty-sixth

27
twenty-seven
twenty-seventh

28
twenty-eight
twenty-eighth

29
twenty-nine
twenty-ninth

30
thirty
thirtieth

31
thirty-one
thirty-first

40
forty
fortieth

50
fifty
fiftieth

60
sixty
sixtieth

70
seventy
seventieth

80
eighty
eightieth

90
ninety
ninetieth

100
one hundred
hundredth

500
five hundred
five hundredth

1,000
one thousand
thousandth

1,500
one thousand five hundred, or fifteen hundred
one thousand five hundredth

100,000
one hundred thousand
hundred thousandth

1,000,000
one million
millionth

Examples

• There are twenty-five people in the room.
• He was the fourteenth person to win the award.
• Six hundred thousand people were left homeless after the earthquake.
• I must have asked you twenty times to be quiet.
• He went to Israel for the third time this year.

Reading decimals

Read decimals aloud in English by pronouncing the decimal point as “point”, then read each digit individually. Money is not read this way.

Written
Said

0.5
point five

0.25
point two five

0.73

point seven three

0.05

point zero five

0.6529

point six five two nine

2.95

two point nine five

Reading fractions

Read fractions using the cardinal number for the numerator and the ordinal number for the denominator, making the ordinal number plural if the numerator is larger than 1. This applies to all numbers except for the number 2, which is read “half” when it is the denominator, and “halves” if there is more than one.

Written
Said

1/3
one third

3/4
three fourths

5/6
five sixths

1/2
one half

3/2
three halves

Pronouncing percentages

Percentages are easy to read aloud in English. Just say the number and then add the word “percent”.

Written
Pronounced

5%
five percent

25%
twenty-five percent

36.25%
thirty-six point two five percent

100%
one hundred percent

400%
four hundred percent

Reading sums of money

To read a sum of money, first read the whole number, then add the currency name. If there is a decimal, follow with the decimal pronounced as a whole number, and if coinage has a name in the currency, add that word at the end. Note that normal decimals are not read in this way. These rules only apply to currency.

Written
Spoken

25$
twenty-five dollars

52€
fifty-two euros

140₤
one hundred and forty pounds

$43.25
forty-three dollars and twenty-five cents (shortened to “forty-three twenty-five” in everyday speech)

€12.66
twelve euros sixty-six

₤10.50
ten pounds fifty

Pronouncing measurements

Just read out the number, followed by the unit of measurement, which will often be abbreviated in the written form.

Written
Spoken

60m
sixty meters

25km/h
twenty-five kilometers per hour

11ft
eleven feet

2L
two liters

3tbsp
three tablespoons

1tsp
one teaspoon

Pronouncing years

Reading years in English is relatively complicated. In general, when the year is a four digit number, read the first two digits as a whole number, then the second two digits as another whole number. There are a few exceptions to this rule. Years that are within the first 100 years of a new millenium can be read as whole numbers even though they have four digits, or they can be read as two two-digit numbers. Millennia are always read as whole numbers because they would be difficult to pronounce otherwise. New centuries are read as whole numbers of hundreds. We do not use the word “thousand”, at least not for reading years within the past 1000 years.

Years that have just three digits can be read as a three digit number, or as a one digit number followed by a two-digit number. Years that are a two digit number are read as a whole number. You can precede any year by the words “the year” to make your meaning clear, and this is common for two and three digit years. Years before the year 0 are followed by BC, pronounced as two letters of the alphabet.

Interestingly, these rules apply to reading street addresses as well.

Written
Spoken

2014
twenty fourteen or two thousand fourteen

2008
two thousand eight

2000
two thousand

1944
nineteen forty-four

1908
nineteen o eight

1900
nineteen hundred

1600
sixteen hundred

1256
twelve fifty-six

1006
ten o six

866
eight hundred sixty-six or eight sixty-six

25
twenty-five

3000 BC
three thousand BC

3250 BC
thirty two fifty BC

How to say 0

There are several ways to pronounce the number 0, used in different contexts. Unfortunately, usage varies between different English-speaking countries. These pronunciations apply to American English.

Pronunciation
Usage

zero
Used to read the number by itself, in reading decimals, percentages, and phone numbers, and in some fixed expressions.

o (the letter name)
Used to read years, addresses, times and temperatures

nil
Used to report sports scores

nought
Not used in the USA

Examples

Written
Said

3.04+2.02=5.06
Three point zero four plus two point zero two makes five point zero six.

There is a 0% chance of rain.
There is a zero percent chance of rain.

The temperature is -20⁰C.
The temperature is twenty degrees below zero.

You can reach me at 0171 390 1062.
You can reach me at zero one seven one, three nine zero, one zero six two

I live at 4604 Smith Street.
I live at forty-six o four Smith Street

He became king in 1409.
He became king in fourteen o nine.

I waited until 4:05.
I waited until four o five.

The score was 4-0.
The score was four nil.