Numbers are classified in grammar into two main groups: Cardinal and Ordinal.
Numbers serve as adjectives in that they modify the noun which follows, e.g.
There are young people here.
There are many people here.
There are six people here.
Note that in a sentence such as:
There are thirty here.
the number is still an adjective but the noun is assumed:
There are thirty [people/biscuits/houses] here.
Note that some grammars class numbers as determiners or quantifiers.
Cardinal Numbers
We use cardinal numbers to answer the question, how many?
1, 2, 3, 4… 40, 50, 60, 100
one, two, three, four… forty, fifty, sixty… one hundred
Ordinal Numbers
We use ordinal numbers to answer the question, in which order?
first, second, third, fourth… fortieth, fiftieth, sixtieth, hundredth
the first person to arrive
Tim was the second child.
Kathryn Parr was the sixth wife of Henry the Eighth.
To create an ordinal number, just add -th to the cardinal spelling:
four > fourth
nine > ninth
The exceptions are:
one > first
two > second
three > third
five > fifth
eight > eighth
nine > ninth
twelve > twelfth
In writing, we can use a shorthand of
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th… 40th, 50th, 60th, 100th
In other words, we use just the last two letters of the ordinal number. Note also that in compound ordinal numbers only the last figure is written as an ordinal number:
62nd = sixty second
143rd = hundred and forty third
0 – Zero
As a cardinal number, 0 has several different forms:
- oh (as in telephone numbers, 007, etc)
- nought (as in mathematics, etc)
- nil (as in football scores, etc)
- nothing (as in scores, etc)
- zero (as in mathematics, telephone numbers, science, etc)
- love (as in tennis: thirty-love)
It is also a special case in that it does not have an ordinal version.
Fractions/Decimals
When we deal with a smaller number than 1, we use either fractions or decimals:
three and a quarter – two and a half – twenty-six and three-quarters
3¼ – 2½ – 26¾
three point two five – two point five – twenty six point seven five
3.25 – 2.5 – 26.75
Roman Numerals
Roman numerals are used in select cases, notably in titles and sometimes as year dates. In titles we add a the between the title and the number:
Henry VIII > Henry the Eighth
John IX > John the Ninth
Exceptions are cases like Word War II which is said as World War Two.
In Writing
In writing we can use either digits:
1,234.5
or we can spell out the number:
one thousand two hundred and four point five
Good style guides suggest you should use a word at the beginning of a sentence but, if the writing is informal, you can use a digit inside the sentence.
Three cars tried to overtake the four buses.
Three cars tried to overtake the 4 buses.
* 3 cars tried to overtake the four buses.
* The asterisk is used to show this is an error.
Did you know that if you subscribe to our website, you will receive email notifications whenever content changes or new content is added.
1. Enter your e-mail address below and click the Sign Me Up button.
2. You will receive an email asking you to confirm your intention of subscribing to our site.
3. Click the link in the email to confirm. That’s all there is to it! Note: if you wish to unsubscribe from our site, click the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email you received.
Then indicate you no longer wish to receive our emails.
Thank You
IWeb TEFL Team