Cardinal Numbers in English (Basic, A-Level)
In this lesson, you will learn the cardinal numbers in English.
Cardinal numbers are the numbers you use to count people and things: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and so forth.
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The Units
The basic units used for counting from 0 to 9 are
0. zero
1. one
2. two
3. three
4. four
5. five
6. six
7. seven
8. eight
9. nine
The 10s
Unique Names for 10–12
The numbers from 10–12 are a little different.
10. ten
11. eleven
12. twelve
The Teens
The numbers from 13 to 19 are called the teens because they end in -teen. The “teen” syllable is stressed.
By the way, adolescents are called “teenagers” because their ages are in the teens (13, 14, 15, and so on).
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13. thirteen
14. fourteen
15. fifteen
16. sixteen
17. seventeen
18. eighteen
19. nineteen
From 20 to 90
Starting with 20, the tens end in -ty.
The teens and 10’s sound similar. Make sure to stress the syllable before ”-ty”.
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20. twenty (”two” but “twenty”)
30. thirty (”three” but “thirty”)
40. forty (”four” but “forty”)
50. fifty (”five” but “fifty”)
60. sixty
70. seventy
80. eighty (drop one T)
90. ninety
Adding Units to 20
See the pattern when you add single numbers to 20:
21. twenty-one
22. twenty-two
23. twenty-three
24. twenty-four
25. twenty-five
26. twenty-six
27. twenty-seven
28. twenty-eight
29. twenty-nine
30s - 90s
For 30, 40, 50, and so on, follow the same pattern you see for the 20s. See some examples:
31. thirty-one
32. thirty-two
43. forty-three
54. fifty-four
65. sixty-five
66. sixty-six
77. seventy-seven
87. eighty-seven
98. ninety-eight
99. ninety-nine
Attention! Notice these irregularities.
two - twelve - twenty
three - thirteen - thirty
four - fourteen - forty (no U)
five - fifteen - fifty
The Hundreds (100s)
There are three ways to say 100: hundred, a hundred, and one hundred.
- When you say 100 by itself, you can say “hundred,” “one hundred,” or “a hundred.”
- When you use 100 with a noun, you must use “a” or “one” with it. For example, you write “100 people,” but you read “one hundred people” or “a hundred people.”
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The numbers between 100 and 900 are pretty simple. You just count the hundreds:
100. one hundred
200. two hundred
300. three hundred
400. four hundred
500. five hundred
600. six hundred
700. seven hundred
800. eight hundred
900. nine hundred
Adding Numbers to the Hundreds
You can simply add the numbers after hundred. Here are some examples:
203. two hundred three
215. two hundred fifteen
311. three hundred eleven
325. three hundred twenty-five
427. four hundred forty-seven
570. five hundred seventy
683. six hundred eighty-three
791. seven hundred ninety-one
820. eight hundred twenty
999. nine hundred ninety-nine
You can say “two hundred three” or “two hundred and three.” In the United States, it is more common to say “two hundred two” (without “and”).
The Thousands (1000s)
For 1,000 to 999,000, you just count how many 1000s you have. Here are some examples:
1,000. one thousand
2,000. two thousand
10,000. ten thousand
17,000. seventeen thousand
29,000. twenty-nine thousand
Adding Numbers to the 1000s
Of course, you can then add other numbers to that:
38,001. thirty-eight thousand one
46,209. forty-six thousand two-hundred nine
259,618. two hundred fifty-nine thousand six hundred eighteen
895,183. eight hundred ninety-five thousand one hundred eighty-three
999,999. nine hundred ninety-night thousand nine hundred ninety-nine
Large Numbers
Useful Large Numbers
Large numbers from 1,000,000 (one million) can be represented by 10n to show the number of zeros in the number.
You read 10n as 10 to the power of n or 10 to the nth power. For example, 2,000,000 can be represented as 2×106, two times 10 to the power of six (or 10 to the sixth power).
Large numbers from one million can be represented by 10 to the power of N (or 10 to the nth power) to show the number of zeros in the number. For example, 2,000,000 can be represented as two times 10 to the power of six (or 10 to the sixth power).
Large numbers are as follows:
106 (1,000,000). one million
3×106 (3,000,000). three million
1×107 (10,000,000). ten million
108 (100,000,000). one hundred million
109 (1,000,000,000). one billion
Large numbers are as follows:
10 to the power of 6. One followed by six zeros. One million
3 times 10 to the power of 6. Three followed by six zeros. Three million
1 times 10 to the power of 7. Ten million
10 to the power of 8. One hundred million
10 to the power of 9. One billion
As you can see, the number get very long because of so many zeros. Let’s stick powers of 10 only:
1010. ten billion
1011. one hundred billion
1012. one trillion
1013. ten trillion
1014. one hundred trillion
Of course, you could keep counting forever, but such high numbers are not very useful in everyday life. For more information on very large numbers, see Very Large Numbers in English.
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