Start with the basic number words: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Use them for age, quantity, time, and simple counting. In Counting Nouns, these numbers come before nouns to show how many: three books, seven chairs, ten apples.

Say the first vowel clearly in eight and the final sound in four and five. The whole set is small, but these words are the foundation for every larger number. A phone number, a house number, a score, or the number of people in a room all begin here.

Basic number words from one to ten

Word	Notation	Description	Example
one	wuhn	This word has one stressed syllable with a short u sound.	I have one apple.
two	too	This word is pronounced with a long oo sound.	She bought two tickets.
three	three	This word starts with a clear th sound.	There are three chairs.
four	for	This word sounds like the preposition for.	I need four pencils.
five	fahyv	This word ends with a voiced v sound.	We made five sandwiches.
six	siks	This word ends with a crisp ks sound.	He found six coins.
seven	SEV en	This word has stress on the first syllable.	There are seven stars outside.
eight	ayt	This word has a long a sound followed by t.	I saw eight birds.
nine	nyn	This word has a long i sound.	She has nine books.
ten	ten	This word uses a short e sound.	We need ten minutes.

Numbers from 13 to 19 follow a special form. Learn them as separate words: thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen. Their stress falls on the second part.

The tens are regular from 20 to 90: twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety. Make the pattern by joining the tens word with the unit word: twenty-one, thirty-two, forty-five, sixty-seven, ninety-nine. Say the tens word first, then the smaller number.

The teen forms do not use the same order. Say fourteen, not ten four; say seventeen, not seven ten. For prices, ages, and dates, these forms appear often, so they need clear, quick recognition.

Teen forms and regular tens patterns

Example	Pattern
The price is fifteen dollars.	Teen numbers from thirteen to nineteen usually end with the sound teen.
Please write seventeen on the form.	The teen stress pattern usually puts extra stress on the second syllable.
I need thirty chairs.	Regular tens from twenty to ninety usually use a clear tens word with the ending ty.
We ordered sixty cups.	The regular tens pattern keeps the first syllable strong and the ending light.
Say twenty not onety.	There is no onety word in standard English for eleven to ninety.

A number from 100 to 999 uses hundred: one hundred, two hundred, three hundred and forty, nine hundred and seven. In careful English, many speakers add and before the last part: one hundred and twenty. In everyday speech, the shorter form is also normal: one hundred twenty.

Larger numbers use the group words thousand, million, billion, trillion. Read each group in order from left to right: 1,250 is one thousand two hundred and fifty; 3,000,000 is three million; 47,000,000,000 is forty-seven billion.

The group words stay singular after a number: one thousand, two million, five billion. For very large amounts, keep the groups separate and name them in order. This is the form used for population, money, distances, and statistics.

Large number names and naming pattern

Example	Pattern
There are one hundred pages in the book.	One hundred means ten groups of ten.
Say three hundred and twelve.	After a hundred, use the smaller number first when naming exact amounts.
The town has one thousand people.	One thousand means ten hundreds.
The city spent one million dollars.	One million means one thousand thousands.
That company is worth one billion dollars.	One billion means one thousand millions.
The national debt passed one trillion dollars.	One trillion means one thousand billions.

Decimals use point. Say each digit after the point separately: 3.5 is three point five; 0.08 is zero point zero eight; 12.43 is twelve point four three. For a phone code, a measurement, or a simple decimal, this is the usual pattern.

Prices often use the currency name instead of point. In English, $4.50 is commonly said as four dollars and fifty cents. If the amount is whole, say four dollars. For a price under one dollar, say fifty cents.

Fractions are said with a numerator and an ordinal form for the denominator: one half, one third, two thirds, three quarters. Say and when a whole number comes before the fraction: two and a half, four and three quarters. In recipes, measurements, and directions, these forms are common. The exact shape of the fraction matters more than memorizing a long list.

A negative number begins with minus or negative: minus five, negative twelve, minus 3.2. In speech, minus is common in math and measurements, while negative often appears in science and formal writing. Say the number after the sign.

The four basic operations use these words: plus for addition, minus for subtraction, times for multiplication, and divided by for division. Read them in a simple order: seven plus five, ten minus three, six times eight, twelve divided by four.

When you see an expression aloud, say the numbers and the operation word in the same sequence. That pattern works in class, in shopping calculations, and in everyday math in Money and Finance, as well as in distance and score talk in Directions and Locations and Outdoor Sports.

Negative numbers and basic math words

Word	Definition	Example
negative	This word means below zero or less than zero.	The temperature is negative five degrees.
minus	This word shows subtraction or a negative sign.	Ten minus three is seven.
plus	This word shows addition.	Four plus two is six.
times	This word shows multiplication.	Three times four is twelve.
divided by	This phrase shows division.	Eight divided by two is four.
add	This word means put numbers together.	Please add the last two numbers.
subtract	This word means take one number away from another.	Can you subtract five from twelve?
multiply	This word means repeat a number a certain number of times.	We need to multiply six by three.
divide	This word means split into equal parts.	They divide the cake into four pieces.

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