English Numbers & Dates: The Complete Guide
Numbers and dates trip up even advanced learners because English has distinct spoken and written rules, two date-order conventions (US vs. UK), and special idioms for large quantities. Search below or filter by topic.
48 items · 6 topics
"one hundred"
the number 100, written as a word
"There are one hundred students in the auditorium."
"a thousand"
1,000 — use "a" instead of "one" in informal speech
"The ticket costs a thousand dollars."
"two million"
2,000,000 — no plural -s on "million" after a number
"The city has two million inhabitants."
"twenty-one"
compound numbers 21–99 are hyphenated
"She turned twenty-one last Friday."
"nought / zero"
the number 0 — "nought" (BrE), "zero" (AmE)
"The temperature dropped to zero overnight."
"a dozen"
twelve items — informal collective expression
"Can you buy a dozen eggs on your way home?"
"a score"
twenty — formal or literary
"Four score and seven years ago…"
"oh"
spoken form of 0 in phone numbers, room numbers, and years
"Call me on oh-seven-seven-oh-three."
"first (1st)"
position number one in a sequence
"She finished first in the race."
"second (2nd)"
position number two in a sequence
"He came second in the spelling contest."
"third (3rd)"
position number three — irregular spelling
"The third chapter is the most important."
"twenty-first (21st)"
ordinal for 21 — hyphenate and use -st suffix
"The meeting is on the twenty-first of June."
"hundredth (100th)"
ordinal for 100 — add -th to "hundred"
"This is the hundredth episode of the podcast."
"on the + ordinal + of"
standard British date spoken format
"The concert is on the fifth of March."
"nth degree"
an extreme or unspecified ordinal position
"He rehearsed his speech to the nth degree."
"in the Xth place"
formal way to present ranked arguments
"In the first place, the data is unreliable."
"one half (½)"
one part of two equal parts — also "a half"
"Mix one half cup of flour with two eggs."
"one third (⅓)"
one part of three equal parts
"About one third of the budget goes to marketing."
"three quarters (¾)"
three parts of four equal parts
"Three quarters of the team agreed with the plan."
"two fifths"
two parts of five equal parts
"Two fifths of respondents prefer online learning."
"per cent / percent"
parts per hundred — BrE two words, AmE one word
"Sales rose by fifteen percent last quarter."
"percentage point"
a difference of 1% in absolute terms (not relative)
"Unemployment fell by two percentage points."
"decimal point"
the dot separating whole number from fraction
"The rate is three point five percent."
"ratio of X to Y"
the proportional relationship between two quantities
"The ratio of students to teachers is twenty to one."
"MM/DD/YYYY"
American date format: month first, then day, then year
"The contract was signed on 06/18/2026."
"DD/MM/YYYY"
British date format: day first, then month, then year
"The bill is dated 18/06/2026."
"June 18, 2026"
American written format — month name, day, comma, year
"Please respond by June 18, 2026."
"18 June 2026"
British written format — no comma between month and year
"The event takes place on 18 June 2026."
"ISO 8601 (YYYY-MM-DD)"
international standard format for data and documents
"The log entry shows 2026-06-18T09:00:00Z."
"in + month/year"
use "in" for months, years, seasons, and centuries
"The report was published in March 2025."
"on + specific date"
use "on" for specific calendar dates and named days
"We will meet on Monday, June 22nd."
"BC / AD / BCE / CE"
era designations in historical dates
"The pyramid was built around 2560 BC."
"quarter past / quarter to"
BrE expressions for :15 and :45 minutes
"The train leaves at quarter past seven."
"half past"
BrE expression for :30 minutes past the hour
"Dinner is at half past six."
"a.m. / p.m."
before noon and after noon in 12-hour clock format
"The meeting starts at 9:30 a.m."
"24-hour clock"
hours 0–23 used in military, transport, and formal contexts
"Departure is scheduled for 14:45."
"o'clock"
exact hour with no minutes — apostrophe replaces missing letters
"Please be here at nine o'clock sharp."
"noon / midnight"
precise terms for 12:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m.
"Submissions close at midnight on Friday."
"in the morning / afternoon / evening"
general time-of-day phrases used with a.m./p.m. context
"She usually exercises in the morning."
"at dawn / at dusk"
literary or precise expressions for sunrise/sunset time
"The fishermen set out at dawn."
"billion"
1,000,000,000 — one thousand million in modern English
"The company is valued at five billion dollars."
"trillion"
1,000,000,000,000 — one million million
"Global GDP exceeds 100 trillion dollars."
"million vs. millions of"
no -s after a number; add -s + "of" without a number
"Three million people watched. Millions of people watched."
"tens of thousands"
an imprecise large quantity between 10,000 and 99,999
"Tens of thousands of fans attended the concert."
"in the hundreds"
somewhere between 100 and 999 — informal estimate
"The complaints numbered in the hundreds."
"roughly / approximately"
adverbs signalling an estimate rather than an exact figure
"The project cost approximately two million euros."
"order of magnitude"
a factor of ten difference between two values
"The new model is an order of magnitude faster."
"six-figure salary"
a salary between $100,000 and $999,999
"After the promotion she earned a six-figure salary."
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between the American and British date formats?
Americans write month first: June 18, 2026 or 06/18/2026. British English puts the day first: 18 June 2026 or 18/06/2026. When writing for international audiences, spell out the month name (e.g. 18 June 2026) or use ISO 8601 format (2026-06-18) to avoid confusion.
How do you say large numbers like 1,500,000 in English?
Say "one million five hundred thousand." In spoken English you can also say "one point five million." Notice that "million" never takes a plural -s when preceded by a numeral — you say "five million" not "five millions." Use "millions of" only when there is no specific number.
When do you use "a half" vs. "one half"?
"A half" is the everyday informal choice: "give me a half portion." "One half" is more precise and common in recipes, statistics, and academic writing: "one half of respondents." Both are grammatically correct; context determines which sounds more natural.
How do you say times like 6:15 and 6:45 in British English?
In British English, 6:15 is "quarter past six" and 6:45 is "quarter to seven." In American English people more often say "six fifteen" and "six forty-five." Both styles are understood worldwide. The 24-hour clock is standard in transport and military contexts globally.
Do ordinal numbers like "21st" need a hyphen?
Yes. Compound ordinals formed with -first, -second, or -third are hyphenated: twenty-first, thirty-second, forty-third. Ordinals ending in -th are also hyphenated in compounds: twenty-fourth, ninety-ninth. However, standalone ordinals like "fifth" or "hundredth" need no hyphen.
The fastest way to internalise number and date patterns is hearing them in authentic English speech.
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