1. Are you good with numbers?
Mladen Marinac, teaching assistant
Department of Agriculture
Polytechnic of Rijeka

2. Quiz: 1 What is the proper way of writing 12,839 using words?
a) twelve thousands eight hundreds and thirty-nine
b) twelve thousand eight hundred and thirty nine
c) twelve thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine

3. What is the proper way of writing DECIMALS in English?
5,36
5.36
5:36

4. 3 What is the correct way of writing 452,210 in words in British English?
four hundred and fifty-two thousand two hundred and ten
four hundred fifty-two thousand two hundred ten
four hundred and fifty two thousand two hundred and ten

5. 4 What is the correct way of expressing ⅔ ?
two-slash-three
two thirds
two to the power of three

6. 5 How would you say the percentage 0.25%?
a) zero point twenty-five percent
b) a quarter of one percent
c) a twenty-five of one prcent

7. 6 How would you pronounce the year 1899?
one thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine
eighteen ninety-nine
ninety-nine eighteen

8. 7 How would you pronounce the following: $5?
a) dollars five
b) dollar five
c) five dollars

9. three to the power of five three times five
8 How would you pronounce the following:   35?
three to the power of five
three times five
c) five to the power of three

10. Answer key:
1) 12, 839
c) twelve thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine
→ in English the words hundred (100), thousand (1, 000) and million (1, 000, 000) are never in plural 2)
b) five point three six
→ when it comes to decimals in English, there is no comma (,)
3) ,210
a) four hundred and fifty two thousand two hundred and ten
→ in British English and separates the hundreds and the numbers which follow, but this is not the case with US English

11. e.g. four fifths (4/5), a third (1/3), a sixth (1/6)
4) ⅔
b) two thirds
→ most fractions are expressed using ordinal numbers
e.g. four fifths (4/5), a third (1/3), a sixth (1/6)
5) 0.25%
b) a quarter of one percent or zero /nought point two five

12. 6) the year 1899
b) eighteen ninety-nine
7) $5
c) five dollars
8) 35
three to the power of five
e.g (eight to the power of two)

13. Some basic rules on writing numerals

14. CARDINAL NUMBERS
a cardinal number is a number that says how many of something there are such as one, two, three, four…
Number
Word
zero, nought 4
four 14
fourteen 40
forty 56
fifty-six
142
one hundred and forty-two

15. the numbers from 13 (thirteen) to 19 (nineteen) all end in -teen
this is the reason why people from thirteen to nineteen years of age are called teenagers
e.g. seventeen

16. ORDINAL NUMBERS
an ordinal number is a number that says a position of something in a list
the definite article (the) is used before ordinal numbers
Number
Word
1st
the first
2nd
the second
3rd
the third
4th
the fourth
14th
the fourteenth
30th
the thirtieth
31st
the thirty-first
100th
the hundredth
1000th
the thousandth

17. no. cardinal ordinal 22 twenty-two 22nd the twenty-second 93
When writing both ordinal and cardinal numbers, you should use a hyphen (-) for numbers from twenty-one (21) to ninety-nine (99).
e.g.
no.
cardinal
ordinal 22
twenty-two
22nd
the twenty-second 93
ninety-three
93rd
the ninety-third

18. YEARS
the year is normally split up in tens
(e.g. the year I 65 - eighteen sixty-five)
from 2000 to 2009 the year is not normally divided
(e.g two thousand and one)
from 2010 on, the year is split up again
(e.g twenty eleven)

19. BEWARE: YEAR AMERICAN ENGLISH BRITISH ENGLISH 2001 TWO THOUSAND ONE
TWO THOUSAND AND ONE

20. LET’S PRACTICE!
Correct the following examples of writing numbers in words:
4th - forth
forty
one thousand eighty-nine
56th – the fifty-sixth
3,44

21. Check your answers! 4th - forth the fourth b) 14 - forty fourteen
c) one thousand eighty-nine
nineteen eighty-nine
56th
the fifty-sixth
3,44 – three comma four four
three point four four

22. 2 Write the following numerals in words:
the year 1765
the year 2003
23rd
40th
5.35 % 14

23. Check your answers! the year 1765 seventeen sixty-five
b) the year 2003
two thousand (and) three
c) 23rd
the twenty-third
d) 40th
the fortieth
e) 5.35 %
five point three five percent
f) 14
fourteen

24. 3 Write the following numerals in words:
b) 165
c) $ 7
d) 4/5
e) %
f) 82

25. Check your answers! 40 forty 165 one hundred and sixty-five $ 7
seven dollars
4/5
four fifths
0.36%
zero point three six 82
eight to the power of two

26. References:
Tullis-Trappe: »New Insights into Business» - Students' Book, Longman
Tullis-Power: »New Insights into Business» - Teacher’s Book, Longman