Numbers in English: Cardinals and Ordinals

Learn the numbers in English with this list of ordinal and cardinal numbers. Learn units, tens, hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.

Updated on 20/12/25

Numbers in English can sometimes be a headache for students. This is because, well, there are infinite numbers and numerous exceptions here and there. However, once these exceptions are known, it is very easy to follow the patterns and know how to write and read any number in English. Therefore, in today’s very extensive post, I am going to teach you how to write and read almost any number, whether cardinal (quantities) or ordinal (order), in the English language.

So, let’s go!

Cardinal numbers in English

Numbers from 0 to 10

The numbers from one to ten are unique, meaning there is no pattern for constructing them. Therefore, although it is obvious, it is necessary to know them perfectly, as they will also be the base for the rest of the numbers.

0 – 10	IN ENGLISH
0	zero
1	one
2	two
3	three
4	four
5	five
6	six
7	seven
8	eight
9	nine
10	ten

Numbers from 11 to 20

The numbers from eleven to twenty are also unique in a way, although they do follow a certain pattern between thirteen and nineteen, as these end in -teen. This is why we call adolescents teenagers.

11 – 20	IN ENGLISH
11	eleven
12	twelve
13	thirteen
14	fourteen
15	fifteen
16	sixteen
17	seventeen
18	eighteen
19	nineteen
20	twenty

Numbers from 21 to 30

From twenty onwards, we start with a very simple pattern: ten + hyphen + number from 1 to 9. And so on until we reach the next ten.

21 – 30	IN ENGLISH
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
30	thirty

Numbers from 31 to 40

The same happens with the rest of the tens as with twenty. We simply use the ten, a hyphen, and the corresponding unit number (1-9).

31 – 40	IN ENGLISH
31	thirty-one
32	thirty-two
33	thirty-three
34	thirty-four
35	thirty-five
36	thirty-six
37	thirty-seven
38	thirty-eight
39	thirty-nine
40	forty

Numbers from 41 to 50

41 – 50	IN ENGLISH
41	forty-one
42	forty-two
43	forty-three
44	forty-four
45	forty-five
46	forty-six
47	forty-seven
48	forty-eight
49	forty-nine
50	fifty

Numbers from 51 to 60

51 – 60	IN ENGLISH
51	fifty-one
52	fifty-two
53	fifty-three
54	fifty-four
55	fifty-five
56	fifty-six
57	fifty-seven
58	fifty-eight
59	fifty-nine
60	sixty

Numbers from 61 to 70

61 – 70	IN ENGLISH
61	sixty-one
62	sixty-two
63	sixty-three
64	sixty-four
65	sixty-five
66	sixty-six
67	sixty-seven
68	sixty-eight
69	sixty-nine
70	seventy

Numbers from 71 to 80

71 – 80	IN ENGLISH
71	seventy-one
72	seventy-two
73	seventy-three
74	seventy-four
75	seventy-five
76	seventy-six
77	seventy-seven
78	seventy-eight
79	seventy-nine
80	eighty

Numbers from 81 to 90

81 – 90	IN ENGLISH
81	eighty-one
82	eighty-two
83	eighty-three
84	eighty-four
85	eighty-five
86	eighty-six
87	eighty-seven
88	eighty-eight
89	eighty-nine
90	ninety

Numbers from 91 to 100

91 – 100	IN ENGLISH
91	ninety-one
92	ninety-two
93	ninety-three
94	ninety-four
95	ninety-five
96	ninety-six
97	ninety-seven
98	ninety-eight
99	ninety-nine
100	one hundred

Numbers from 100 to 200

When we reach one hundred, we start with another very simple pattern: one hundred + and + number (1 – 99). It is standard practice when saying a number with hundreds to use «and» between the hundred and the ten, provided there is at least one unit. Thus, for 101 we say «one hundred AND one», for example. This also applies to hundreds of thousands, hundreds of millions, etc. (E.g.: 120,235: one hundred and twenty thousand, two hundred and thirty-five).

Let’s look at all the numbers between 100 and 200. With this list, you can already apply the same to the rest of the numbers with hundreds, tens, and units.

100 – 150	IN ENGLISH	151 – 200	IN ENGLISH
100	one hundred	151	one hundred and fifty-one
101	one hundred and one	152	one hundred and fifty-two
102	one hundred and two	153	one hundred and fifty-three
103	one hundred and three	154	one hundred and fifty-four
104	one hundred and four	155	one hundred and fifty-five
105	one hundred and five	156	one hundred and fifty-six
106	one hundred and six	157	one hundred and fifty-seven
107	one hundred and seven	158	one hundred and fifty-eight
108	one hundred and eight	159	one hundred and fifty-nine
109	one hundred and nine	160	one hundred and sixty
110	one hundred and ten	161	one hundred and sixty-one
111	one hundred and eleven	162	one hundred and sixty-two
112	one hundred and twelve	163	one hundred and sixty-three
113	one hundred and thirteen	164	one hundred and sixty-four
114	one hundred and fourteen	165	one hundred and sixty-five
115	one hundred and fifteen	166	one hundred and sixty-six
116	one hundred and sixteen	167	one hundred and sixty-seven
117	one hundred and seventeen	168	one hundred and sixty-eight
118	one hundred and eighteen	169	one hundred and sixty-nine
119	one hundred and nineteen	170	one hundred and seventy
120	one hundred and twenty	171	one hundred and seventy-one
121	one hundred and twenty-one	172	one hundred and seventy-two
122	one hundred and twenty-two	173	one hundred and seventy-three
123	one hundred and twenty-three	174	one hundred and seventy-four
124	one hundred and twenty-four	175	one hundred and seventy-five
125	one hundred and twenty-five	176	one hundred and seventy-six
126	one hundred and twenty-six	177	one hundred and seventy-seven
127	one hundred and twenty-seven	178	one hundred and seventy-eight
128	one hundred and twenty-eight	179	one hundred and seventy-nine
129	one hundred and twenty-nine	180	one hundred and eighty
130	one hundred and thirty	181	one hundred and eighty-one
131	one hundred and thirty-one	182	one hundred and eighty-two
132	one hundred and thirty-two	183	one hundred and eighty-three
133	one hundred and thirty-three	184	one hundred and eighty-four
134	one hundred and thirty-four	185	one hundred and eighty-five
135	one hundred and thirty-five	186	one hundred and eighty-six
136	one hundred and thirty-six	187	one hundred and eighty-seven
137	one hundred and thirty-seven	188	one hundred and eighty-eight
138	one hundred and thirty-eight	189	one hundred and eighty-nine
139	one hundred and thirty-nine	190	one hundred and ninety
140	one hundred and forty	191	one hundred and ninety-one
141	one hundred and forty-one	192	one hundred and ninety-two
142	one hundred and forty-two	193	one hundred and ninety-three
143	one hundred and forty-three	194	one hundred and ninety-four
144	one hundred and forty-four	195	one hundred and ninety-five
145	one hundred and forty-five	196	one hundred and ninety-six
146	one hundred and forty-six	197	one hundred and ninety-seven
147	one hundred and forty-seven	198	one hundred and ninety-eight
148	one hundred and forty-eight	199	one hundred and ninety-nine
149	one hundred and forty-nine	200	two hundred
150	one hundred and fifty

Tens in English (10 – 90)

Now, just for a review, let’s look at a summary of the tens in English.

10 – 90	IN ENGLISH
10	ten
20	twenty
30	thirty
40	forty
50	fifty
60	sixty
70	seventy
80	eighty
90	ninety

Hundreds in English (100 – 900)

100 – 900	IN ENGLISH
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

Thousands in English (1,000 – 10,000)

At this point it is important to highlight that when we say number + thousand, the word thousand remains singular.

1000 – 10000	IN ENGLISH
1000	one thousand
2000	two thousand
3000	three thousand
4000	four thousand
5000	five thousand
6000	six thousand
7000	seven thousand
8000	eight thousand
9000	nine thousand
10000	ten thousand

Numbers from 1,000 to 1,100

From one thousand onwards, we start using commas between the thousands and the hundreds (provided there is at least one hundred). Furthermore, we continue to use «and» when there is at least one unit. For example:

• 1001: one thousand and one
• 1200: one thousand, two hundred
• 1259: one thousand, two hundred and fifty-nine

To provide you with enough examples, let’s look at the numbers between 1,000 and 1,200:

1000 – 1099	IN ENGLISH	1100 – 1200	IN ENGLISH
1000	one thousand	1100	one thousand one hundred
1001	one thousand and one	1101	one thousand, one hundred and one
1002	one thousand and two	1102	one thousand, one hundred and two
1003	one thousand and three	1103	one thousand, one hundred and three
1004	one thousand and four	1104	one thousand, one hundred and four
1005	one thousand and five	1105	one thousand, one hundred and five
1006	one thousand and six	1106	one thousand, one hundred and six
1007	one thousand and seven	1107	one thousand, one hundred and seven
1008	one thousand and eight	1108	one thousand, one hundred and eight
1009	one thousand and nine	1109	one thousand, one hundred and nine
1010	one thousand and ten	1110	one thousand, one hundred and ten
1011	one thousand and eleven	1111	one thousand, one hundred and eleven
1012	one thousand and twelve	1112	one thousand, one hundred and twelve
1013	one thousand and thirteen	1113	one thousand, one hundred and thirteen
1014	one thousand and fourteen	1114	one thousand, one hundred and fourteen
1015	one thousand and fifteen	1115	one thousand, one hundred and fifteen
1016	one thousand and sixteen	1116	one thousand, one hundred and sixteen
1017	one thousand and seventeen	1117	one thousand, one hundred and seventeen
1018	one thousand and eighteen	1118	one thousand, one hundred and eighteen
1019	one thousand and nineteen	1119	one thousand, one hundred and nineteen
1020	one thousand and twenty	1120	one thousand, one hundred and twenty
1021	one thousand and twenty-one	1121	one thousand, one hundred and twenty-one
1022	one thousand and twenty-two	1122	one thousand, one hundred and twenty-two
1023	one thousand and twenty-three	1123	one thousand, one hundred and twenty-three
1024	one thousand and twenty-four	1124	one thousand, one hundred and twenty-four
1025	one thousand and twenty-five	1125	one thousand, one hundred and twenty-five
1026	one thousand and twenty-six	1126	one thousand, one hundred and twenty-six
1027	one thousand and twenty-seven	1127	one thousand, one hundred and twenty-seven
1028	one thousand and twenty-eight	1128	one thousand, one hundred and twenty-eight
1029	one thousand and twenty-nine	1129	one thousand, one hundred and twenty-nine
1030	one thousand and thirty	1130	one thousand, one hundred and thirty
1031	one thousand and thirty-one	1131	one thousand, one hundred and thirty-one
1032	one thousand and thirty-two	1132	one thousand, one hundred and thirty-two
1033	one thousand and thirty-three	1133	one thousand, one hundred and thirty-three
1034	one thousand and thirty-four	1134	one thousand, one hundred and thirty-four
1035	one thousand and thirty-five	1135	one thousand, one hundred and thirty-five
1036	one thousand and thirty-six	1136	one thousand, one hundred and thirty-six
1037	one thousand and thirty-seven	1137	one thousand, one hundred and thirty-seven
1038	one thousand and thirty-eight	1138	one thousand, one hundred and thirty-eight
1039	one thousand and thirty-nine	1139	one thousand, one hundred and thirty-nine
1040	one thousand and forty	1140	one thousand, one hundred and forty
1041	one thousand and forty-one	1141	one thousand, one hundred and forty-one
1042	one thousand and forty-two	1142	one thousand, one hundred and forty-two
1043	one thousand and forty-three	1143	one thousand, one hundred and forty-three
1044	one thousand and forty-four	1144	one thousand, one hundred and forty-four
1045	one thousand and forty-five	1145	one thousand, one hundred and forty-five
1046	one thousand and forty-six	1146	one thousand, one hundred and forty-six
1047	one thousand and forty-seven	1147	one thousand, one hundred and forty-seven
1048	one thousand and forty-eight	1148	one thousand, one hundred and forty-eight
1049	one thousand and forty-nine	1149	one thousand, one hundred and forty-nine
1050	one thousand and fifty	1150	one thousand, one hundred and fifty
1051	one thousand and fifty-one	1151	one thousand, one hundred and fifty-one
1052	one thousand and fifty-two	1152	one thousand, one hundred and fifty-two
1053	one thousand and fifty-three	1153	one thousand, one hundred and fifty-three
1054	one thousand and fifty-four	1154	one thousand, one hundred and fifty-four
1055	one thousand and fifty-five	1155	one thousand, one hundred and fifty-five
1056	one thousand and fifty-six	1156	one thousand, one hundred and fifty-six
1057	one thousand and fifty-seven	1157	one thousand, one hundred and fifty-seven
1058	one thousand and fifty-eight	1158	one thousand, one hundred and fifty-eight
1059	one thousand and fifty-nine	1159	one thousand, one hundred and fifty-nine
1060	one thousand and sixty	1160	one thousand, one hundred and sixty
1061	one thousand and sixty-one	1161	one thousand, one hundred and sixty-one
1062	one thousand and sixty-two	1162	one thousand, one hundred and sixty-two
1063	one thousand and sixty-three	1163	one thousand, one hundred and sixty-three
1064	one thousand and sixty-four	1164	one thousand, one hundred and sixty-four
1065	one thousand and sixty-five	1165	one thousand, one hundred and sixty-five
1066	one thousand and sixty-six	1166	one thousand, one hundred and sixty-six
1067	one thousand and sixty-seven	1167	one thousand, one hundred and sixty-seven
1068	one thousand and sixty-eight	1168	one thousand, one hundred and sixty-eight
1069	one thousand and sixty-nine	1169	one thousand, one hundred and sixty-nine
1070	one thousand and seventy	1170	one thousand, one hundred and seventy
1071	one thousand and seventy-one	1171	one thousand, one hundred and seventy-one
1072	one thousand and seventy-two	1172	one thousand, one hundred and seventy-two
1073	one thousand and seventy-three	1173	one thousand, one hundred and seventy-three
1074	one thousand and seventy-four	1174	one thousand, one hundred and seventy-four
1075	one thousand and seventy-five	1175	one thousand, one hundred and seventy-five
1076	one thousand and seventy-six	1176	one thousand, one hundred and seventy-six
1077	one thousand and seventy-seven	1177	one thousand, one hundred and seventy-seven
1078	one thousand and seventy-eight	1178	one thousand, one hundred and seventy-eight
1079	one thousand and seventy-nine	1179	one thousand, one hundred and seventy-nine
1080	one thousand and eighty	1180	one thousand, one hundred and eighty
1081	one thousand and eighty-one	1181	one thousand, one hundred and eighty-one
1082	one thousand and eighty-two	1182	one thousand, one hundred and eighty-two
1083	one thousand and eighty-three	1183	one thousand, one hundred and eighty-three
1084	one thousand and eighty-four	1184	one thousand, one hundred and eighty-four
1085	one thousand and eighty-five	1185	one thousand, one hundred and eighty-five
1086	one thousand and eighty-six	1186	one thousand, one hundred and eighty-six
1087	one thousand and eighty-seven	1187	one thousand, one hundred and eighty-seven
1088	one thousand and eighty-eight	1188	one thousand, one hundred and eighty-eight
1089	one thousand and eighty-nine	1189	one thousand, one hundred and eighty-nine
1090	one thousand and ninety	1190	one thousand, one hundred and ninety
1091	one thousand and ninety-one	1191	one thousand, one hundred and ninety-one
1092	one thousand and ninety-two	1192	one thousand, one hundred and ninety-two
1093	one thousand and ninety-three	1193	one thousand, one hundred and ninety-three
1094	one thousand and ninety-four	1194	one thousand, one hundred and ninety-four
1095	one thousand and ninety-five	1195	one thousand, one hundred and ninety-five
1096	one thousand and ninety-six	1196	one thousand, one hundred and ninety-six
1097	one thousand and ninety-seven	1197	one thousand, one hundred and ninety-seven
1098	one thousand and ninety-eight	1198	one thousand, one hundred and ninety-eight
1099	one thousand and ninety-nine	1199	one thousand, one hundred and ninety-nine

Millions in English (1,000,000)

To talk about millions, you simply have to follow this pattern: number + million. Be careful here, because we do not say millions in the plural when it comes after a number.

To write numbers with millions, we again use a comma between the millions and the thousands or hundreds (provided there is at least one of them). And, as always, we continue to use «and» before the units. Let’s look at some examples:

• 1,000,000: one million
• 1,000,001: one million and one
• 2,000,201: two million, two hundred and one
• 2,235,769: two million, two hundred and thirty-five thousand, seven hundred and sixty-nine

Random examples of numbers in English:

• 25: twenty-five
• 256: two hundred and fifty-six
• 2,560: two thousand, five hundred and sixty
• 25,601: twenty-five thousand, six hundred and one
• 256,018: two hundred and fifty-six thousand and eighteen
• 2,560,189: two million, five hundred and sixty thousand, one hundred and eighty-nine
• 25,601,892: twenty-five million, six hundred and one thousand, eight hundred and ninety-two
• 256,018,921: two hundred and fifty-six million, eighteen thousand, nine hundred and twenty-one
• 2,560,189,214: two thousand, five hundred and sixty million, one hundred and eighty-nine thousand, two hundred and fourteen

Number separator in English: comma or full stop?

As you probably already know, in some numerical systems a comma is used and in others a full stop is used to separate thousands, millions, etc. Generally, the English-speaking world uses the comma to separate every three figures.

Therefore, when we are not writing in Spanish, I recommend using the comma to separate every three numbers to the left, and using the full stop solely to separate decimals.

One thousand million or a billion?

Here we have a dilemma due to a cultural difference in naming numbers. In Spain and Europe, a billion is understood as a million millions, i.e., 12 zeros to the right of the one.

However, in the United States and increasingly in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, a billion is much less, as it would be what for us is one thousand million, i.e., 9 zeros to the right of the one.

Let’s see the difference:

• One billion (Spain): 1,000,000,000,000
• One billion (USA): 1,000,000,000

That’s why it’s easier to be a billionaire in the United States than in Spain. 😂

What I recommend is keeping this in mind when reading figures on the internet, as they usually use the American system, especially if they are in English. On the other hand, if you ever have to write that figure, you should make sure which system you are using before doing so.

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Ordinal numbers in English

Now that you know the cardinal numbers, let’s look at the ordinal numbers. I’m sure that now, with a couple of pointers, they will be easier for you to understand and learn.

What are ordinal numbers?

Ordinal numbers are those that express the order in which something happens, rather than the quantity. For example:

• the 2nd place = the second place
• the 4th person = the fourth person

With them, we are expressing the position they occupy in a series: the second place or the fourth person.

For this reason, the number zero does not exist in ordinal numbers, as it only expresses a quantity (cardinal) and not an order (ordinal).

The clearest example of where we need ordinal numbers is in dates in English.

Ordinal numbers: 1st, 2nd & 3rd

The ordinal numbers for first, second, and third place are the most important ones to memorise:

• First element of a series: suffix –st next to the number or first.
• Second element of a series: suffix –nd next to the number or second.
• Third element of a series: suffix –rd next to the number or third.

In this way, any cardinal number ending in 1, 2, or 3 can be transformed into an ordinal by following the rules above:

ORDINAL	CARDINAL	IN ENGLISH
1	1st	first
2	2nd	second
3	3rd	third
21	21st	twenty-first
22	22nd	twenty-second
23	23rd	twenty-third
31	31st	thirty-first
32	32nd	thirty-second
33	33rd	thirty-third

The exception to this are numbers ending in 11, 12, and 13, as we will see in the next section.

Ordinal numbers ending in -th

From the third element onwards, all ordinal numbers end in -th, except those ending in 1, 2, and 3, as we saw previously. This rule includes 11, 12, and 13. Let’s look at several examples to understand it better:

ORDINAL	CARDINAL	IN ENGLISH
4	4th	fourth
5	5th	fifth
6	6th	sixth
7	7th	seventh
8	8th	eighth
9	9th	ninth
10	10th	tenth
11	11th	eleventh
12	12th	twelfth
13	13th	thirteenth
14	14th	fourteenth
20	20th	twentieth
29	29th	twenty-ninth
57	57th	fifty-seventh
99	99th	ninety-ninth
100	100th	hundredth

Spelling exceptions for ordinal numbers in English

Let’s look now at the spelling exceptions when writing the full form of ordinal numbers in English:

• 5th: fifth (not fiveth)
• 8th: eighth (not eightth)
• 9th: ninth (not nineth)
• 12th: twelfth (not twelfth)
• 20th: twentieth (not twentyth)

The last exception applies to all tens, so we say thirtieth, fortieth, etc.

Knowing these exceptions, you can now apply them to all larger ordinal numbers in English that end in these figures. Let’s look at some example sentences with ordinal numbers:

I finished my homework first.
It’s Joe’s fortieth birthday.
The offer expires on 22nd May.
This is my fifth cup of coffee today.

Exercises on numbers in English

Test what you have learned with the following exercises. There are 3 exercises:

• Exercise 1: write the numbers in their full form.
• Exercise 2: choose the correct written form.
• Exercise 3: choose the correct number according to its written form.

At the end you will get a score based on your answers.

Download numbers in English

Below you can access a spreadsheet with a list of numbers in English created by me. In this document you will find:

• First tab: cardinal numbers with examples of units, tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and millions.
• Second tab: list of ordinal numbers from 1st to 100th.