Ordinal Numbers Explanation

Ordinal numbers or ‘numbers’ are used for stating the quantity of something as well as counting. When we need to know “how many” we count. Numbers can be written with letters or in number form. It’s important to memorize some numbers like those in your address or your phone number.

Let’s take a look at the number box below.

Number	Word	Number	Word	Number	Word	Number	Word
1	One	11	Eleven	21	Twenty-one	40	Forty
2	Two	12	Twelve	22	Twenty-two	50	Fifty
3	Three	13	Thirteen	23	Twenty-three	60	Sixty
4	Four	14	Fourteen	24	Twenty-four	70	Seventy
5	Five	15	Fifteen	25	Twenty-five	80	Eighty
6	Six	16	Sixteen	26	Twenty-six	90	Ninety
7	Seven	17	Seventeen	27	Twenty-seven	100	One hundred
8	Eight	18	Eighteen	28	Twenty-eight	1000	One thousand
9	Nine	19	Nineteen	29	Twenty-nine	10,000	Ten thousand
10	Ten	20	Twenty	30	Thirty	100,000	One hundred thousand
						1,000,000	One million

For numbers that are higher than or more than one hundred, there are two ways to write the number - with ‘and’ and without ‘and’. Both forms are acceptable.

For example:

225 can be written ‘Two hundred and twenty-five’ or ' Two hundred twenty-five’.

Some whole numbers between 1000 and 10,000 can also be written in two ways:

1100 - Eleven hundred or One thousand one hundred

1200 - Twelve hundred or One thousand two hundred

1300 - Thirteen hundred or One thousand three hundred

1400 - Fourteen hundred or One thousand four hundred

1500 - Fifteen hundred or One thousand five hundred

1600 - Sixteen hundred or One thousand six hundred

1700 - Seventeen hundred or One thousand seven hundred

1800 - Eighteen hundred or One thousand eight hundred

1900 - Nineteen hundred or One thousand nine hundred

2000 - Two thousand NOT twenty hundred

2100 - Twenty-one hundred or Two thousand one hundred

3200 - Thirty-two hundred or Three thousand two hundred

4300 - Forty-three hundred or Four thousand three hundred

etc…

Numbers such as 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000, 7000, 8000, 9000 are NOT usually written as ‘the number + hundred’.

In English, we use commas to separate numbers after 10,000.

For example:

10,000 - 25,000 - 50,000 - 100,000 - 525,000 - 1,000,000 - 2,575,500 - 25,000,00

Practice:

Lesson One