CARDINAL NUMBER

Cardinal Number

a.      Definition

Cardinal numbers are counting numbers. The numbers that we use for counting are called cardinal numbers.

 

b.      Table of cardinal number

Cardinal numbers from 1 through 1,000,000
1	one	11	eleven	21	twenty-one	31	thirty-one
2	two	12	twelve	22	twenty-two	40	forty
3	three	13	thirteen	23	twenty-three	50	Fifty
4	four	14	fourteen	24	twenty-four	60	Sixty
5	five	15	fifteen	25	twenty-five	70	Seventy
6	six	16	sixteen	26	twenty-six	80	Eighty
7	seven	17	seventeen	27	twenty-seven	90	Ninety
8	eight	18	eighteen	28	twenty-eight	100	a/one hundred
9	nine	19	nineteen	29	twenty-nine	1,000	a/one thousand
10	ten	20	twenty	30	thirty	1,000,000	a/one million

 

c.       Rules

·         Separation between hundreds and tens

Hundreds and tens are usually separated by 'and' (in American English 'and' is not necessary).

-          110 - one hundred and ten

-          1,250 - one thousand, two hundred and fifty

-          2,001 - two thousand and one

 

·         Hundreds

-          Use 100 always with 'a' or 'one'.

-          100 - a hundred / one hundred

-          'a' can only stand at the beginning of a number.

-          100 - a hundred / one hundred

-          2,100 - two thousand, one hundred

 

·         Thousands and Millions

-          Use 1,000 and 1,000,000 always with 'a' or 'one'.

-          1,000 - a thousand / one thousand

-          201,000 - two hundred and one thousand

-          Use commas as a separator.

 

·         The Number 1,000,000,000

-          In English this number is a billion. This is very tricky for nations where 'a billion' has 12 zeros. 1,000,000,000,000 in English, however, is a trillion.

-          But don't worry, these numbers are even a bit problematic for native speakers: for a long time the British 'billion' had 12 zeros (a number with 9 zeros was called 'a thousand million'). Now, however, also in British English 'a billion' has 9 zeros. But from time to time this number still causes confusion (just like this paragraph, I'm afraid).

 

·         Singular or Plural?

-          Numbers are usually written in singular.

-          two hundred Euros
several thousand light years

-          The plural is only used with dozen, hundred, thousand, million, billion, if they are not modified by another number or expression (e.g. a few / several).

-          hundreds of Euros
thousands of light years 

Exercise

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Key answer

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