Rules for reading and writing numbers in English

Rules for reading and writing numbers in English

Numbers are a necessary part of our lives and spread all over the world, and their correct written and spoken form in English is the basis for understanding and communication. Whether you use numbers in scientific research, in business, or just in everyday life, it’s important to know how to write and pronounce them. In this article, we will look at the basic rules for reading and writing numbers in English, and we will also provide examples to help you better understand these rules.

1. zero

The number zero in English is read as “ˈzɪərəʊ”. It can be used to denote zero in any number.

2. Numbers from 1 to 9

Numbers from 1 to 9 are denoted by one letter: “one” (1), “two” (2), “three” (3), “four” (4), “five” (5), “six” (6) , “seven” (7), “eight” (8), “nine” (9).

3. Dozen

Dozens are mostly formed by combining a number and the ending “ty”. For example, 10 – “ten”, 20 – “twenty”, 30 – “thirty”, 40 – “forty”, 50 – “fifty”, 60 – “sixty”, 70 – “seventy”, 80 – “eighty”, 90 – “ninety”.

4. Numbers from 11 to 19

The numbers 11 to 19 are mostly formed by combining the numbers 1 to 9 and the word “teen”. For example, 11 – “eleven”, 12 – “twelve”, 13 – “thirteen”, 14 – “fourteen”, 15 – “fifteen”, 16 – “sixteen”, 17 – “seventeen”, 18 – “eighteen”, 19 – “nineteen”.

5. Hundreds

Hundreds are formed by combining the number and the word “hundred”. For example, 100 – “one hundred”, 200 – “two hundred”, 300 – “three hundred”, etc.

6. Thousands

Thousands are formed by combining the number and the word “thousand”. For example, 1000 – “one thousand”, 2000 – “two thousand”, 3000 – “three thousand”, and so on.

6. Millions

Millions are formed by combining the number and the word “million”. For example, 1,000,000 is “one million”, 2,000,000 is “two million”, 3,000,000 is “three million”, and so on.

7. Billions

Billions are formed by combining the number and the word “billion”. For example, 1,000,000,000 is “one billion”, 2,000,000,000 is “two billion”, 3,000,000,000 is “three billion”, and so on.

There are also the terms “trillion” for 10¹², “quadrillion” for 10¹⁵, “quintillion” for 10¹⁸, and others. However, the use of such large numbers in speech is quite rare. British English and some other varieties of English may use the term “milliard” instead of “billion”, but this is rare in modern usage.

Writing numbers as numbers or words can depend on the context and style of the text. Scientific and technical texts usually use numbers, while more artistic texts may use words. However, headings, subheadings, and important numbers (such as the price of an item) usually use numbers. Even when words are used, numbers are usually used to record dates and times. For example, “5:30 pm” or “June 3, 2022“. Using the correct terms and forms of writing numbers will help make the text clear and understandable for readers. In numerals greater than a thousand, a comma or a space is used in writing: 1,200 and 1,200.

Decimals and fractional numbers

Decimals in English are marked with a point  (.) rather than a comma, as in some other languages. For example, the number “3.14” is read as “three point one four“. Note that a fraction can have a noun, for example, “0.5 dollar” is read as “fifty cents“.

0.1	(nought) point one
0.25	(nought) point two five
0.33	(nought) point three three
2.35	two point three five
1/7	one seventh
2/7	two sevenths
1/2	one half
1/4	one quarter

Percentages in English

Also, English often uses the (%) sign after a number to indicate percentages, for example, “50%” is read as “fifty percent“.

• 90% of all households have a television
• Nine out of ten households have a television
• Nine tenths of all households have a television

The use of percentages in the English language is very common and has many interesting features. Here are a few of them:

1. The percents are used in business, economics and finance to show changes in prices, profits, losses, etc. For example, if a stock has risen by 10%, it means that its value has increased by 10% from the initial price
2. The percents are also used in science and medicine to show the frequency of certain events. For example, if a doctor says that a patient has a 25% risk of getting a certain disease, that means that 25 out of 100 people can get that disease
3. There are many expressions in the English language that use percentages. For example, “give it 110%” means doing something with maximum effort, and “the 1%” refers to the richest and most influential people in society
4. The percents are also used in culture and art. For example, in movies you can often hear the expression “Rotten Tomatoes rating” – this is the percentage of positive reviews about the film on the Rotten Tomatoes website

Percentages are an important element of the English language, used in various areas of life, even in everyday communication.

Basic mathematical signs in English

Mathematical expressions are an important part of mathematics and are used in many scientific disciplines and practical areas. The English language has a specific set of symbols used to represent mathematical expressions such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

The main mathematical signs in the English language and their pronunciation:

Sign	Name
+	plus
–	minus
×	times
÷	divided by
=	equals

In addition, there are also some other signs that can be used in mathematical expressions:

Sign	Name
()	brackets
{}	braces
[]	square brackets
/	slash

For example, the mathematical expression “5 + 7 × (6 ÷ 3)” in English will be read as “five plus seven times (six divided by three)”.

Mathematical expressions are an important part of the English language as they are used in various contexts such as scientific research, business and finance. Knowing the basic mathematical symbols and their pronunciation can help in the correct understanding and use of mathematical expressions in English.