The numbers in English from 1 to 100

The numbers from 1 to 10

How to say them.

Zero - 0 (US English) ...
Nought - 0 (UK English) ...
One - 1 ...
Two - 2 ...
Three - 3 ...
Four - 4 ...
Five - 5 ...
Six - 6 ...
Seven - 7 ...
Eight - 8 ...
Nine - 9 ...
Ten - 10 ...

Typical phrases with these numbers.

The numbers can be either adjectives or pronouns. We use how many? to ask about number quantities. We use there are if there is more than one thing and there is if there is only one.

There are two books on the table.

There is one train in the station.

I can see seven people in the restaurant.

How many cars are there in the car park?

There are about nine or ten.

How many chairs are there in the room?

There are five. / There are five chairs.

How many universities are there in your city?

There is one. / There is one university.

How many buses are there in the station?

There is one. / There is one bus.
     

One or a / an?

We use one when we are counting. If we refer to something to identify it or just mention an object we use the indefinite article a or an (a in front of a consonant sound; an in front of a vowel sound. See indefinite articles...). Compare:

How many brother and sisters have you got?
I've got one sister.

What's that?
That's a bird.

What is it?
It's an apple.

Have you got a car? 

One as a pronoun (substitute word).

One can be a pronoun or an adjective but a and an cannot be pronouns; we can say "I've got one" but we do not say "I've got a":

Is there a bus station near here?
Yes, there is one (not, there is a).

Can I have an orange, please?
Yes, please take one (not, please take an).

One can also refer to plural things, in which case we use ones:

I'd like some flowers, please
Of course, which ones would you like?
Those red ones, please.

See more help on when to say one and when to say a / an...
When to say a or an with hundred and thousands...

Different ways to say "0" and other numbers.

By telephone.

When we count, we say zero (US English) or nought (UK English):

zero, one, two, three... ...
nought, one, two, three... ...

And we say telephone numbers:

010 255 1900 = zero, one, zero, two, double five, one nine, double zero... (US English). ...
010 = O, one, O... (UK English). ...

Extension 007 = double zero seven ...
or,
extension 007 = double o seven. ...
(Also the way to say the number of the world's most popular spy, James Bond!

See more help on saying telephone numbers in English...

Numbers of hotel rooms.

You're in room 309, sir. ...

Long numbers in general that do not refer to quantities.

My passport number is: 93 33 78 00. ...

The receipt number is: 66696482. ...

Results of a football match.

It's two - nil (2 - 0) to Real Madrid. ...

Real Madrid beat Bayern Munich by three goals to nil (3 - 0). ...

Tennis, table tennis, badminton.

Fifteen - love (15 - 0).
Thirty - love (30 - 0).
Forty - love (40 - 0).
Two sets to love. ...

Decimals.

The "0" of decimal numbers is said nought or zero. The "." is called point:

0.5 (UK English) ...
0.346 (US English) ...

 

Numbers from 11 to 19.

Numbers that end in "teen", may change in pronunciation. Either the first or the second syllables can be stressed according to the position of the number in a sentence. When said alone, "teen" numbers usually have the second syllable stressed:

Eleven - 11 ...
Twelve - 12 ...
Thirteen - 13 ...
Fourteen - 14 ...
Fifteen - 15 ...
Sixteen - 16 ...
Seventeen - 17 ...
Eighteen - 18 ...
Nineteen - 19 ...

However, in front of words that have the first syllable stressed, for example, the stress on the "teen" number is usually on the first syllable:

There are thirteen people. ...

Fourteen kilos of potatoes. ...

Eighteen dollars. ...

This is not a rule to worry about too much and there may be other reasons why the stress changes on "teen" numbers. This is to do with the rhythm of English spoken naturally. It is more important to know how to separate the pronunciation between the "teen" numbers and the tens. See this next section...

 

Numbers from 20 to 100.

Twenty - 20 ...
Twenty-one - 21 ...
Twenty-two - 22 ...
Twenty-three - 23 ...
Twenty-four - 24 ...
Twenty-five - 25 ...
Twenty-six - 26 ...
Twenty-seven - 27 ...
Twenty-eight - 28 ...
Twenty-nine - 29 ...
Thirty - 30 ...
Thirty-one, etc. - 31 ...
Forty - 40 ...
Forty-one, etc. - 41 ...
Fifty - fifty ...
Fifty-one, etc. - 51 ...
Sixty - 60 ...
Sixty-one, etc. - 61 ...
Seventy - 70 ...
Seventy-one, etc. - 71 ...
Eighty - 80 ...
Eighty-one, etc. - 81 ...
Ninety - 90 ...
Ninety-one, etc. - 91 ...
A hundred. - 100 ...
(Also: one hundred - 100)

There may be difficulty for students of English to be able to separate the pronunciation between the "teen" numbers and the tens. The tens always take the stress on the first syllable, the "teens" on the first or the second as explained above. Therefore, we must pronounce the vowel sound suffix of the "teen" number correctly, which is quite a lot longer than the "y" on the tens:

Thirteen - thirty ...
Fourteen - forty ...
Fifteen - fifty ...
Sixteen - sixty ...
Seventeen - seventy ...
Eighteen - eighty ...
Nineteen - ninety ...

Thirteen euros - thirty euros ...
Fourteen textbooks - forty textbooks ...
Fifteen countries - fifty countries ...
Sixteen tables - sixty tables ...

Number from a hundred to a trillion...

Copyright © 2023 Practising English
All rights reserved