In this week’s lesson, we’re going begin discussing the words used to express and count numbers in English. We’ll be breaking these words down into manageable chunks, explaining each group of numbers before moving on to the next.

 

0 to 20

The numbers 0 through 20 twenty have their own unique count words. The table below lists each Arabic numeral, followed by its equivalent English word. Some numbers have alternate or informal designations. These are included in parentheses.

 

0	Zero (none, naught)	7	Seven	14	Fourteen
1	One	8	Eight	15	Fifteen
2	Two (a couple)	9	Nine	16	Sixteen
3	Three (a few)	10	Ten	17	Seventeen
4	Four (a few)	11	Eleven	18	Eighteen
5	Five	12	Twelve (a dozen)	19	Nineteen
6	Six (a half-dozen)	13	Thirteen (a baker’s dozen)	20	Twenty

 

21 to 99

As with 0 to 20, the words for 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90 are unique:

 

20	Twenty	60	Sixty
30	Thirty	70	Seventy
40	Forty	80	Eighty
50	Fifty	90	Ninety

 

To count two digit numbers above 20, combine the words we have learned so far. Connect the words with a hyphen. For example:

 

21	Twenty-one
33	Thirty-three
45	Forty-five
67	Sixty-Seven
84	Eighty-four
99	Ninety-nine

 

100 to 999

Multiples of 100 are counted by the word “hundred” preceded by the appropriate 1-9 word:

100	One hundred	600	Six hundred
200	Two hundred	700	Seven hundred
300	Three hundred	800	Eight hundred
400	Four hundred	900	Nine hundred
500	Five hundred

 

To express numbers ranging from 100 to 999, combine the words we have learned up to this point. An optional “and” can be included for clarity. This is more common in UK English than in American English:

 

101	One hundred (and) one	589	Five hundred (and) eighty-nine
123	One hundred (and) twenty-one	642	Six hundred (and) forty-two
230	Two hundred (and) thirty	708	Seven hundred (and) eight
365	Three hundred (and) sixty-five	886	Eight hundred (and) eighty-six
457	Four hundred (and) fifty-seven	999	Nine hundred (and) ninety-nine