Cardinal Numbers

Cardinal numbers are ordinary numbers like 1, 2, 3. In the chart below, you can see how we make numbers from 0 to 100 and then some units above that. You can hear how we say some of these numbers in this numbers song.

The numbers from 13 (thirteen) to 19 (nineteen) all end in -teen and are called the teens. This is why people from thirteen to nineteen years of age are called teenagers.

Arabic numeral	word
0	zero, nought
1	one
2	two
3	three
4	four
5	five
6	six
7	seven
8	eight
9	nine
10	ten
11	eleven
12	twelve
13	thirteen
14	fourteen
15	fifteen
16	sixteen
17	seventeen
18	eighteen
19	nineteen
20	twenty
21	twenty-one
22	twenty-two
23	twenty-three
24	twenty-four
30	thirty
31	thirty-one
40	forty
50	fifty
60	sixty
70	seventy
80	eighty
90	ninety
100	one hundred
101	one hundred and one
152	one hundred and fifty-two
200	two hundred
1,000	one thousand
1,000,000	one million
1,000,000,000	one billion
1,000,000,000,000	one trillion

For numbers in the hundreds, the British usually say "and" but the Americans often do not say "and":

British English: 120 = one hundred and twenty
American English: 120 = one hundred twenty

For numbers in the thousands, the British usually say "thousand" but the Americans often say "hundred":

British English: 3,486 = three thousand, four hundred and eighty-six
American English: 3,486 = thirty-four hundred, eighty-six

Be careful with billions and trillions in English!

In American English, and now in British English, a billion has nine zeros (so, one billion = one thousand million). Before, in British English one billion had twelve zeros (one million million).

In American English, and now in British English, a trillion has twelve zeros (so, one trillion = one million million). Before, in British English one trillion had eighteen zeros (one million million million).

	American English and British English	Some other languages and "old" British English
million	1,000,000	1,000,000
billion	1,000,000,000	1,000,000,000,000
trillion	1,000,000,000,000	1,000,000,000,000,000,000