The cardinal numbers (one, two, three, etc.) are adjectives referring to quantity, and the ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc.) refer to distribution.
Number
Cardinal
Ordinal
1
one
first
2
two
second
3
three
third
4
four
fourth
5
five
fifth
6
six
sixth
7
seven
seventh
8
eight
eighth
9
nine
ninth
10
ten
tenth
11
eleven
eleventh
12
twelve
twelfth
13
thirteen
thirteenth
14
fourteen
fourteenth
15
fifteen
fifteenth
16
sixteen
sixteenth
17
seventeen
seventeenth
18
eighteen
eighteenth
19
nineteen
nineteenth
20
twenty
twentieth
21
twenty-one
twenty-first
22
twenty-two
twenty-second
23
twenty-three
twenty-third
24
twenty-four
twenty-fourth
25
twenty-five
twenty-fifth
26
twenty-six
twenty-sixth
27
twenty-seven
twenty-seventh
28
twenty-eight
twenty-eighth
29
twenty-nine
twenty-ninth
30
thirty
thirtieth
31
thirty-one
thirty-first
40
forty
fortieth
50
fifty
fiftieth
60
sixty
sixtieth
70
seventy
seventieth
80
eighty
eightieth
90
ninety
ninetieth
100
one hundred
hundredth
500
five hundred
five hundredth
1,000
one thousand
thousandth
100,000
one hundred thousand
hundred thousandth
1,000,000 one million millionth
Examples:
* There are twenty-five people in the room.
* He was the fourteenth person to win the award since 1934.
* Six hundred thousand people were left homeless after the earthquake.
* I must have asked you twenty times to be quiet.
* He went to Israel for the third time this year.
Fractions and decimals
Said Written Said
half
0.5
point five
a quarter
0.25
point two five
three quarters
0.75
point seven five
Percentages
Written Said
25%
twenty five percent
50%
fifty percent
75%
seventy five percent
100%
a/one hundred percent
Units
Written Said
$1,200
one thousand two hundred dollars
£16,486
sixteen thousand four hundred and eighty-six pounds
545kms
five hundred and forty-five kilometres
$25.35
twenty-five dollars thirty-five
Years
Written Said
1988
Nineteen eighty-eight
1864
Eighteen sixty-four
1999
Nineteen ninety-nine
How to say '0'
nought
used in mathematical expressions and decimals:
'nought times three equals nought'
0.3 = 'nought point three' (or 'point three')
0.03 = 'point nought three'
zero
used in scientific expressions, especially temperatures:
20oC = minus twenty degrees or
twenty degrees below zero
also used to mean 'the lowest point':
'The heavy rain reduced visibility to zero'
'o' (the letter)
used in telephone numbers:
0171 390 0062 = 'o one seven one three nine o double o six two'
nil/nothing
used to express the score in games such as football:
2 - 0 = 'two nil' or 'two nothing'
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