Expressing Numbers in English

:: If a number is in the range 21 to 99, and the second digit is not zero, we should write the number as two words separated by a hyphen:

25   twenty-five

57   fifty-seven

89   eighty-nine

:: Numbers over 100 are generally written in figures. However if you want to say them aloud or want to write them in words rather than figures you put 'and' in front of the number expressed by the last two figures. For example:

203      two hundred and three             (AmE: two hundred three)

622      six hundred and twenty-two     (AmE: six hundred twenty-two)

:: Numbers between 1000 and 1,000,000 is usually said or written in words as:

1,803    one thousand, eight hundred and three            (AmE: one thousand, eight hundred three)

1,963    one thousand, nine hundred and sixty-three     (AmE: one thousand, nine hundred sixty-three)

2,840    two thousand, eight hundred and forty            (AmE: two thousand, eight hundred forty)

Four-figure numbers ending in 00 can also be said or written as a number of hundreds. For example, 1800 can be said or written as "eighteen hundred"

:: If the number 1963 is being used to identify something, it is said as "one nine six three". We always say each figure separately like this with telephone numbers. If a telephone number contains a double number, we use the word "double":

561 6603    five six one [pause] double six 'oh' three  (AmE: five six one [pause] six six 'oh' three)

:: Saying years. We normally say a year in two parts. In the case of years ending in "00", we say the second part in "hundred":

1058   ten fifty-eight

1706   seventeen hundred and six (or 'seventeen oh six')

1865   eighteen sixty-five

1900   nineteen hundred

There are two ways of saying years ending in "01" to "09" before 2000. For example: "1901" can be said as "nineteen oh one" or "nineteen hundred and one". The year 2000 is read "two thousand", 2006 "two thousand and six" (AmE: two thousand six). Post-2010 dates are often said as normal (2010 would be "twenty ten").

:: Flight numbers. We pronounce a flight number in two parts or digit-by-digit. For example:

110      one ten (or 'one one oh')

1248    twelve forty-eight

2503    twenty-five oh three

3050    three oh five oh (or 'three zero five zero', 'thirty fifty')


:: Expressing millions.

1,412,605        one million four hundred (and) twelve thousand six hundred (and) five

2,760,300        two million seven hundred (and) sixty thousand three hundred

Remember: The British use 'and' before tens and ones but the Americans usually leave the 'and' out.