When you are learning a new language, there seem to be innumerable words! But you can count on us to help. One set of important words in English is vocabulary for numbers. Here are the basics!

Numbers from 1-10 in English

The number one tip for learning the numbers is that you should start small. Here are the words for the numbers 1 through 10.

Digit English
1 one
2 two
3 three
4 four
5 five
6 six
7 seven
8 eight
9 nine
10 ten

The number words in English do not change with different nouns. For example, you can say I have two pizzas and I have two children. However, if you only have one of something, you might not say one unless you want it to be clear that you have just one. Instead of I have one pizza, you'll more often say I have a pizza. If the noun begins with a vowel, you'll use the form an: I have an eggplant.

Numbers from 10-20 in English

Once you get past 10 in English, there are the slightly odd numbers 11 and 12. The word eleven originally meant “one left over (from ten)” in Old English and twelve meant “two left over.” 

After the word twelve, English numbers have a rather transparent pattern: quantity above 10 + -teen. For example, 16 is sixteen, or six + -teen (6+10). Notice that the words for 13 and 15 are slightly different from what you'd expect from the pattern—these number words have changed a bit over time!

Digit English
10 ten
11 eleven
12 twelve
13 thirteen
14 fourteen
15 fifteen
16 sixteen
17 seventeen
18 eighteen
19 nineteen
20 twenty

In English, if you are 20-years-old, you would say I am twenty. If you are older than 12 but younger than 20, you are considered to be a teenager or in your teens. 

Numbers from 20-100 in English

For the numbers higher than 20, there are more patterns to look for. For the tens words (30, 40, 50, etc), the English words have the ending -ty (as in thirty for 30 and forty for 40). The other numbers above 20 are compound words: twenty-one for 21 (20+1), twenty-two for 22 (20+2), twenty-three for 23 (20+3), etc. 

Digit English
10 ten
20 twenty
21 twenty-one
22 twenty-two
23 twenty-three
30 thirty
31 thirty-one
40 forty
41 forty-one
50 fifty
51 fifty-one
60 sixty
70 seventy
80 eighty
90 ninety
100 one hundred / a hundred

Just as with one of something, when you have 100 of an item, you can say a hundred instead of one hundred. The use of one hundred is more precise, while a hundred is somewhat vague. For example I have a hundred emails to respond to may mean that you simply have a lot of emails in your inbox.

Numbers from 100 to 1000 in English

For numbers above 100, English sometimes uses the word and to join them, as in one hundred and one Dalmatians for the number 101.

As with 1 and 100, you can say one thousand or a thousand for 1,000. When you use one thousand, you are indicating a precise quantity.

Digit English
100 one hundred / a hundred
101 one hundred one / one hundred and one
200 two hundred
300 three hundred
400 four hundred
500 five hundred
600 six hundred
700 seven hundred
800 eight hundred
900 nine hundred
1,000 one thousand / a thousand

Numbers from 1,000 to 1,000,000

In English, a comma is placed after the thousands numeral, while many other languages use a period. For example, in English you write There are 22,500 students at the university. If a number is only four digits long, the comma is not required, but it is used sometimes for clarity. 

Here are the English words for 1,000 to 1,000,000: 

Digit English
1,000 one thousand / a thousand
1,001 one thousand and one / a thousand and one
1,100 one thousand, one hundred / eleven hundred
1,150 one thousand, one hundred and fifty / eleven hundred and fifty / eleven fifty
2,000 two thousand
3,000 three thousand
10,000 ten thousand
10,100 ten thousand, one hundred
10,150 ten thousand, one hundred and fifty
20,000 twenty thousand
30,000 thirty thousand
100,000 one hundred thousand / a hundred thousand
101,000 one hundred and one thousand
101,100 one hundred and one thousand, one hundred
200,000 two hundred thousand
300,000 three hundred thousand
1,000,000 one million / a million
1,100,000 one million, one hundred thousand / one point one million

More numbers in English

For really large numbers, you might encounter some differences depending on the dialect of English! For the number with nine zeros—1,000,000,000—you'll hear billion in U.S. English but a thousand million in British English. In U.S. English, the number with 12 zeros is a trillion but is called a billion in the U.K…. which, of course, can lead to confusion! Unless you are a scientist or a mathematician, you may just want to use a synonym for a lot for these quantities. 

Ordinal numbers in English

In addition to these cardinal numbers, you'll also need ordinal numbers. Ordinal numbers are the way of referring to numbers in a particular sequence or order—for example, first place or eighteenth century.

Most ordinal numbers in English have the ending -th, but there are a few other patterns to know.

  • Numbers ending in 1: Any number that ends in one uses the word first for the ordinal number. This comes from the Old English word meaning “foremost.” You'll see these numbers abbreviated with the ending -st, like 1st, 21st, and 431st. Note that if the number ends in eleven, you'll instead use -th: 11th, 111th, 3,711th, etc.
  • Numbers ending in 2: Any number that ends in two uses the word second for the ordinal number, from the Latin word meaning “following.” These are abbreviated with the digit and the ending -nd. Here also, there is an exception: You'll use -th for numbers ending in twelve: 12th, 112th, 812th, etc.
  • Numbers ending in 3: Any number that ends in three uses the word third for the ordinal number. These numbers are abbreviated with the digit and the ending -rd. Again, thirteen will be an exception that uses -th: 13th, 113th, 513th, etc.
Ordinal ending Digit English
-st 1st first
21st twenty-first
-nd 2nd second
22nd twenty-second
-rd 3rd third
23rd twenty-third
-th 4th fourth
5th fifth
6th sixth
7th seventh
8th eighth
9th ninth
10th tenth
11th eleventh
12th twelfth
13th thirteenth
14th fourteenth
15th fifteeth
16th sixteenth
17th seventeenth
18th eighteenth
19th nineteenth
20th twentieth
24th twenty-fourth
25th twenty-fifth

Overview of numbers in English

Here’s an overview of the most important number words in English.

Digit English cardinal number English ordinal number
1 one first (1st)
2 two second (2nd)
3 three third (3rd)
4 four fourth (4th)
5 five fifth (5th)
6 six sixth (6th)
7 seven seventh (7th)
8 eight eighth (8th)
9 nine ninth (9th)
10 ten tenth (10th)
11 eleven eleventh (11th)
12 twelve twelfth (12th)
13 thirteen thirteenth (13th)
14 fourteen fourteenth (14th)
15 fifteen fifteenth (15th)
16 sixteen sixteenth (16th)
17 seventeen seventeenth (17th)
18 eighteen eighteenth (18th)
19 nineteen nineteenth (19th)
20 twenty twentieth (20th)
21 twenty-one twenty-first (21st)
22 twenty-two twenty-second (22nd)
23 twenty-three twenty-third (23rd)
24 twenty-four twenty-fourth (24th)
30 thirty thirtieth (30th)
40 forty fortieth (40th)
50 fifty fiftieth (50th)
60 sixty sixtieth (60th)
70 seventy seventieth (70th)
80 eighty eightieth (80th)
90 ninety ninetieth (90th)
100 one hundred / a hundred (one) hundredth (100th)
101 one hundred one / one hundred and one (one) hundred and first (101st)
200 two hundred two hundredth (200th)
300 three hundred three hundredth (300th)
327 three hundred twenty-seven / three hundred and twenty-seven three hundred and twenty-seventh (327th)
400 four hundred four hundredth (400th)
500 five hundred five hundredth (500th)
600 six hundred six hundredth (600th)
700 seven hundred seven hundredth (700th)
800 eight hundred eight hundredth (800th)
900 nine hundred nine hundredth (900th)
1,000 one thousand / a thousand one thousandth (1000th)
4,580 four thousand, five hundred eighty / four thousand, five hundred and eighty four thousand, five hundred and eightieth (4580th)
10,000 ten thousand ten thousandth (10,000th)
14,642 fourteen thousand, six hundred forty-two / fourteen thousand, six hundred and forty-two fourteen thousand, six hundred and forty-second (14,642nd)
100,000 one hundred thousand / a hundred thousand (one) hundred thousandth (100,000th)
930,021 nine hundred thirty thousand twenty-one / nine hundred thirty thousand and twenty-one nine hundred thirty thousand and twenty-first (930,021st)
1,000,000 one million / a million one millionth (1,000,000th)

Now you have about a hundred new words for the numbers in English. So for the millionth time, go study!