{"id":149303,"date":"2023-07-10T22:48:33","date_gmt":"2023-07-11T02:48:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/reading-numbers-in-english\/"},"modified":"2025-02-03T05:30:48","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T10:30:48","slug":"reading-numbers-in-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/english\/reading-numbers-in-english\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Read Big Numbers in English"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Numbers are all around you. Knowing how to read large numbers in English is an essential skill \u2014 especially if you live, work or study in an English-speaking country, and even if you&#8217;re just starting to learn <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/english\/english-for-beginners\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">English for beginners<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But reading large numbers in English is easy once you know the basics. By understanding the names of number groups (like thousand, million, billion) and following simple rules for pronunciation, you can confidently read any big number.<\/p>\n<p>[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n<h2>Rules and Tip for Reading Large Numbers<\/h2>\n<p>As in many languages, the basic tools you need to read large numbers in English are the numbers from 1 to 100.<\/p>\n<p>Start with learning all about those basics and then you will build on these basics to make larger numbers.<\/p>\n<p>The first thing you\u2019ll need now is to know the names for larger groups of numbers.<\/p>\n<h3>Learn the names for large numbers<\/h3>\n<p>You\u2019ve surely heard these names before: Thousand. Million. Billion. Trillion.<\/p>\n<p>You might also have heard the term <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=kSjwXSG0KJQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;place value.&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<p><lite-youtube videoid=\"kSjwXSG0KJQ\"><\/lite-youtube><\/p>\n<p>It basically means that the position of a single <em>digit<\/em> (numeral) within a number will indicate how big it is. There&#8217;s a \u201cones place,\u201d a \u201ctens place,\u201d a \u201chundreds place,\u201d and so on.<\/p>\n<p>For example, in the number 123, or \u201cone hundred twenty-three,\u201d the 1 is in the hundreds place, the 2 is in the tens place and the 3 is in the ones place.<\/p>\n<p>So, how do thousands, millions and billions match up with numerals? Let\u2019s take a look.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>1000<\/strong> \u2014 one thousand<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>10,000<\/strong> \u2014 ten thousand<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>100,000<\/strong> \u2014 one hundred thousand<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>1,000,000<\/strong> \u2014 one million<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>10,000,000<\/strong> \u2014 ten million<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>100,000,000<\/strong> \u2014 one hundred million<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>1,000,000,000<\/strong> \u2014 one billion<\/p>\n<p>Before we get to the really, really big numbers, let\u2019s pause for a moment and talk about one of the differences between American and British English.<\/p>\n<p>In American English, 1,000,000,000 is called <strong>a \u201cbillion.\u201d<\/strong> In British English, this number is still sometimes called<strong> a \u201cthousand million.\u201d<\/strong> However, this difference is going away. British English is starting to use the same words as American English to describe the same huge sets of numbers.<\/p>\n<p>So, back to the big numbers:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>1,000,000,000,000<\/strong> \u2014 one trillion<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>1,000,000,000,000,000<\/strong> \u2014 one quadrillion<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>1,000,000,000,000,000,000<\/strong> \u2014 one quintillion<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000<\/strong> \u2014 one sextillion<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000<\/strong> \u2014 one septillion<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m going to tell you a little secret: Unless you\u2019re a professional mathematician, <strong>you\u2019ll probably never need any number grouping larger than a trillion.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Truly, most English speakers don\u2019t ordinarily use \u201cquadrillion,\u201d \u201cseptillion\u201d or any of the other numbers larger than a trillion.<\/p>\n<p>To talk in a very general way about a really large number, most English speakers rely on made-up words like these:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom: 12px\"><em><strong>Zillion<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom: 12px\"><em><strong>Jillion<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom: 12px\"><em><strong>Kajillion<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom: 12px\"><em><strong>Gazillion<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom: 12px\"><em><strong>Bajillion<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Use any of these terms to show that a number is just ridiculously large.<\/p>\n<h3>Group numbers using correct punctuation marks<\/h3>\n<p>In many languages, big numbers are grouped together with a \u201cdot\u201d or decimal point. For example, in French, you&#8217;d read 12.300 as <em>\u201cdouze mille, trois cents\u201d <\/em>\u2014 in other words, \u201ctwelve thousand three hundred.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In English, you&#8217;d instead<strong> use a comma to separate groups of numbers in threes.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For example:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>12,300<\/strong> \u2014 \u201cTwelve thousand, three hundred&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>1,500,050 <\/strong>\u2014 &#8220;One million, five hundred thousand fifty&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Just as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.languageediting.com\/format-numbers-eu-vs-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">many European languages use dots where English uses commas<\/a> in large numbers, the opposite is also true: <strong>English uses dots to show fractions of numbers.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll see this a lot in currency. Whereas something might cost \u20ac1.485,27 in Europe, it would be priced at $1,485.27 in the United States.<\/p>\n<p>For example:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>$4.99<\/strong> \u2014 &#8220;Four dollars and ninety-nine cents&#8221; (note that you might also hear this read as &#8220;four ninety-nine&#8221;)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>$645.50 <\/strong>\u2014 &#8220;Six hundred forty-five dollars and fifty cents&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>Read numbers between 1100 and 9999 with &#8220;hundred&#8221;<\/h3>\n<p>Some people will use \u201chundred,\u201d rather than \u201cthousand,\u201d to read numbers between 1100 and 9999. This is especially true in American English.<\/p>\n<p>The basic pattern is that <strong>the number in the thousands place is joined with the number in the hundreds place, and they&#8217;re read as one unit.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom: 12px\"><b>1100<\/b> can be read as \u201celeven hundred,\u201d rather than \u201cone thousand, one hundred.\u201d<\/li>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom: 12px\"><b>3200<\/b> can be read as \u201cthirty-two hundred,\u201d rather than \u201cthree thousand, two hundred.\u201d<\/li>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom: 12px\"><b>4552<\/b> can be read as \u201cforty-five hundred fifty-two,\u201d rather than \u201cfour thousand, five hundred fifty-two.\u201d<\/li>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom: 12px\"><b>8429<\/b> can be read as \u201ceighty-four hundred twenty-nine,\u201d rather than \u201ceight thousand, four hundred twenty-nine.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You\u2019ll sometimes hear this when Americans refer to the White House by its address, as \u201csixteen hundred Pennsylvania Avenue\u201d (1600 Pennsylvania Avenue).<\/p>\n<p>Another example is the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0389564\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">science-fiction series \u201cThe 4400,\u201d<\/a> which is read as, \u201cThe Forty-Four Hundred.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Use singular number words for specific numbers<\/h3>\n<p>In English, when we say specific large numbers, <strong>words such as \u201cthousand,\u201d \u201chundred thousand,\u201d \u201cmillion,\u201d \u201cbillion\u201d and \u201ctrillion\u201d always stay singular <\/strong>\u2014 even though what they\u2019re describing, like \u201cdollars\u201d or \u201cpeople,\u201d are plural.<\/p>\n<p>So, you would say \u201cfive million dollars ($5,000,000)\u201d but not \u201cfive millions dollars.\u201d \u201cSixty thousand people (60,000 people)&#8221; is correct. \u201cSixty thousands people\u201d is not.<\/p>\n<p>You&#8217;d only say \u201chundreds\u201d or \u201cthousands\u201d or \u201cmillions\u201d if you weren\u2019t specifying a particular number. In other words, you can correctly say, \u201cbillions of people\u201d or \u201ctrillions of dollars,\u201d as long as you\u2019re not including an exact figure.<\/p>\n<p>But, if you were to say an exact number\u2014like \u201cfive billion people\u201d or \u201ceighteen trillion dollars\u201d\u2014you&#8217;d have to drop the &#8220;s.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>(Optional) Use \u201cand\u201d when reading large numbers<\/h3>\n<p>You might hear an English speaker say, \u201cTwenty-two thousand, eight hundred and forty-two\u201d for 22,842. Another English speaker might simply say, \u201cTwenty-two thousand, eight forty-two\u201d for that number.<\/p>\n<p>Should the second speaker have said \u201cand\u201d between \u201ceight hundred\u201d and \u201cforty-two?\u201d Which is correct?<\/p>\n<p>Technically speaking, <strong>you should use the \u201cand\u201d where there&#8217;s a decimal point in the number. <\/strong>For instance, it should always be used when you\u2019re talking about money, especially larger numbers: \u201cThis house costs five hundred thousand dollars and ninety-five cents,\u201d or $500,000.95.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>However, <strong>many people will use \u201cand\u201d to break up larger numbers.<\/strong> Although this is technically incorrect, it&#8217;s largely a matter of style and you&#8217;ll be understood either way.<\/p>\n<p>If \u201cfour thousand eight hundred and ninety-five\u201d seems easier to understand than \u201cfour thousand eight hundred ninety-five,\u201d feel free to use \u201cand.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>(Optional) Replace &#8220;one&#8221; with \u201ca\u201d in large number words<\/h3>\n<p>English speakers will often say \u201ca hundred\u201d for 100, rather than saying \u201cone hundred.\u201d The same is true for \u201ca thousand,\u201d \u201ca billion\u201d or \u201ca trillion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Both are acceptable. Using \u201ca\u201d in place of \u201cone\u201d is simply more casual.<\/p>\n<h2>Special Rules for Different Types of Numbers<\/h2>\n<p>When large numbers are used in English in different contexts, special rules for reading them sometimes apply. This is true when talking about years, phone numbers, street address numbers and various other concepts.<\/p>\n<h3>Years<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/4\/reading-numbers-in-english-2-e1608134029968.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-33349\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/4\/reading-numbers-in-english-2-e1608134029968.jpg\" alt=\"reading numbers in english\" width=\"500\" height=\"312\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>When talking about years up until the year 2000 AD,<strong> English speakers usually group the name of the year into two sets of two digits.<\/strong> In other words, \u201c1984\u201d would be pronounced \u201cnineteen eighty-four,\u201d because \u201c19\u201d would be grouped together as \u201cnineteen,\u201d and \u201c84\u201d would be grouped together as \u201ceighty-four.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Therefore:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>1183<\/strong> \u2014 \u201celeven eighty-three\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>1454<\/strong> \u2014 \u201cfourteen fifty-four\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>1770<\/strong> \u2014 \u201cseventeen seventy\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>1801<\/strong> \u2014 \u201ceighteen oh-one\u201d*<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px\">*The \u201coh\u201d is used for the zero, whenever the last two digits of the year are between 01 (\u201coh one\u201d) and 09 (\u201coh nine\u201d).<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>1827<\/strong> \u2014 \u201ceighteen twenty-seven\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>1908<\/strong> \u2014 \u201cnineteen oh-eight\u201d*<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>1964<\/strong> \u2014 \u201cnineteen sixty-four\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>1992<\/strong> \u2014 \u201cnineteen ninety-two\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For years that end in zero, you would say \u201chundred\u201d at the end:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>1100<\/strong> \u2014 \u201celeven hundred\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>1600<\/strong> \u2014 \u201csixteen hundred\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>1800<\/strong> \u2014 \u201ceighteen hundred\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>1900<\/strong> \u2014 \u201cnineteen hundred\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After 1999, things got tricky.<\/p>\n<p>The year <strong>2000<\/strong> is pronounced, \u201ctwo thousand.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>2001<\/strong> might be pronounced \u201ctwo thousand one,\u201d \u201ctwo thousand and one\u201d or \u201ctwenty oh-one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>2005<\/strong> \u2014 \u201ctwo thousand five\u201d or \u201ctwenty oh-five\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>2014<\/strong> \u2014 \u201ctwo thousand fourteen\u201d or \u201ctwenty fourteen\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>2019<\/strong> \u2014 \u201ctwo thousand nineteen\u201d or \u201ctwenty nineteen\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>2023<\/strong> \u2014 \u201ctwo thousand twenty three\u201d or \u201ctwenty twenty three\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Either way is correct.<\/p>\n<h3>Amounts of money<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/4\/reading-numbers-in-english-3.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-33350\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/4\/reading-numbers-in-english-3.jpg\" alt=\"reading numbers in english\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>For amounts of money up to a million dollars, all the digits are normally written out. So, you\u2019ll see $10,000 for \u201cten thousand dollars\u201d and $489,946 for \u201cfour hundred thousand eighty-nine, nine hundred forty-six dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even though the dollar sign ($) comes before the numbers, you say the word \u201cdollars\u201d after you read out the numbers.<\/p>\n<p>For imprecise amounts of one million or more, <strong>you\u2019ll often see letters used in place of the digits.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This is especially true in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/english\/learn-english-news-4\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">newspaper headlines<\/a> and in graphics used in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/english\/learn-english-with-cnn\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">news broadcasts<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>M is used for million; B is used for billion. These are the two you\u2019ll see most often. Sometimes, you might see T for trillion. The letters used to represent numbers are always uppercase.<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-1728888\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-1728888\">\n<tbody class=\"row-striping\">\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><b>$5M<\/b><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">$5 million<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">$5,000,000<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">five million dollars<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><b>$16B<\/b><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">$16 billion<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">$16,000,000,000<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">sixteen billion dollars<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><b>$32T<\/b><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">$32 trillion<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">$32,000,000,000,000<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">thirty-two trillion dollars<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><b>$682M<\/b><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">$682 million<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">$682,000,000<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">six hundred eighty-two million dollars<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-1728888 from cache -->\n<p>Sometimes, you\u2019ll see these abbreviations used for other statistics. For instance, you might see a newspaper headline that says, \u201c7.8B People Live on Earth.\u201d This is a quick way to say that there are 7,800,000,000 humans on this planet.<\/p>\n<h3>Credit card numbers and account numbers<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/4\/reading-numbers-in-english-4.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-33351\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/4\/reading-numbers-in-english-4.jpg\" alt=\"reading numbers in english\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>When 16-digit credit card numbers are read aloud, <strong>they&#8217;re usually read in groups of four.<\/strong> Most Americans tend to say each number individually.<\/p>\n<p>So, if your credit card number were 1234 5600 5648 9921, you&#8217;d say: \u201cone two three four,\u201d (pause) \u201cfive six zero zero,\u201d (pause) \u201cfive six four eight,\u201d (pause) \u201cnine nine two one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some people might read that number as, \u201ctwelve thirty-four,\u201d (pause) \u201cfifty-six hundred,\u201d (pause) \u201cfifty-six forty-eight\u201d (pause) \u201cninety-nine twenty-one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Either way is acceptable.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/YBbBbY4qvv4?t=17\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">In British English<\/a>, the last four numbers of our fictional credit card number would be read as \u201cdouble nine twenty-one.\u201d If a digit were repeated three times, like 8884, it would be pronounced, \u201ctriple eight four.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Phone numbers<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/4\/reading-numbers-in-english-5.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-33352\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/4\/reading-numbers-in-english-5.jpg\" alt=\"reading numbers in english\" width=\"500\" height=\"264\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Just as in credit card numbers, phone numbers in <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/SIyQ1dRVjEI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">British English use double and triple numbers<\/a>. However, 0 (zero) is almost always pronounced \u201coh.\u201d 0800 would be \u201coh eight hundred\u201d and 500 would be \u201cfive hundred.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In American English, each number would be said individually: 555-7722 would be pronounced as \u201cfive, five, five, seven seven two two.\u201d Americans would pronounce 800 as \u201ceight hundred,\u201d but say either \u201cseven oh two\u201d or \u201cseven zero two\u201d for 702.<\/p>\n<h3>Numbers in addresses<\/h3>\n<p>There are typically two large numbers to read in addresses: the house number and the ZIP (postal) code.<\/p>\n<h4>House numbers<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/4\/reading-numbers-in-english-6.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-33353\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/4\/reading-numbers-in-english-6.jpg\" alt=\"reading numbers in english\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The house numbers in addresses can be somewhat long \u2014 especially in North America.<\/p>\n<p>Addresses in both Canada and the United States often include numbered blocks. These block numbers become part of house numbers.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re watching or reading the news, you may hear that something happened in the \u201cthirty-three hundred\u201d (3300) block of a certain street. It\u2019s common to see house numbers like \u201c4228\u201d or \u201c10548\u201d written before a street name.<\/p>\n<p>Most native speakers would <strong>pronounce a four-digit house number by combining the numbers in groups of two.<\/strong> So, \u201c4228\u201d would usually be \u201cforty-two twenty-eight.\u201d However, you might also hear, \u201cfour two two eight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c10548\u201d could be read in a few different ways:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom: 12px\">\u201cone oh five four eight\u201d<\/li>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom: 12px\">\u201cone oh five forty-eight\u201d<\/li>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom: 12px\">\u201cone zero five four eight\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There aren\u2019t any fixed rules for reading house numbers. Reading them out as individual digits \u2014 for example, reading \u201c648925\u201d as \u201csix four eight nine two five\u201d \u2014 is probably the easiest and most understandable way.<\/p>\n<h4>ZIP codes<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/4\/reading-numbers-in-english-7.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-33354\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/4\/reading-numbers-in-english-7.jpg\" alt=\"reading numbers in english\" width=\"500\" height=\"374\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In the United States, the postal codes are called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=L7AJ3FORwq4&amp;feature=youtu.be&amp;t=118\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ZIP codes<\/a>. These are five to nine digits long. The digits are usually read out one at a time:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>90210<\/strong> \u2014 \u201cnine oh two one oh\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>60542<\/strong> \u2014 \u201csix oh five four two\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>38116-1835<\/strong> \u2014 \u201cthree eight one one six\u201d (pause) \u201cone eight three five\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>75094-4879<\/strong> \u2014 \u201cseven five oh nine four\u201d (pause) \u201cfour eight seven nine\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong>20500-1776<\/strong> \u2014 \u201ctwo oh five oh oh\u201d (pause) \u201cone seven seven six\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes, people will say \u201cdash\u201d in between the first five numbers and the last four numbers of a ZIP code. (Technically, the punctuation mark between the digits in a ZIP code is a <strong>hyphen<\/strong><strong>,<\/strong> but many native English speakers say \u201cdash\u201d when they mean \u201chyphen.\u201d)<\/p>\n<h2>How to Practice Using Large Numbers<\/h2>\n<p>As with any English-language skill you learn, you&#8217;ll need to practice reading numbers in English to really become fluent. Fortunately, there are many opportunities to exercise your counting skills!<\/p>\n<h3>Find numbers everywhere<\/h3>\n<p>Pay attention to the headlines of the financial news and look for large numbers. For example, you might see a headline like, \u201cLargeCo Sells Assets to MegaCorp for $3M\u201d or \u201cMegaCorp Fined $147,500 for Illegal Trade Deal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll see particularly large when you\u2019re buying a big-ticket item like a car or a computerIf you\u2019re looking for an apartment to rent or a house to buy, you\u2019ll see large numbers in real estate listings.<\/p>\n<p>Whenever you watch a news broadcast, you\u2019ll get the chance to hear large numbers. For instance, you might hear, \u201cFifty-two thousand, nine hundred eighty-two people out of fifty-three thousand surveyed believe that the Earth is round.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>You can also seek out numbers in the English videos on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/english\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FluentU<\/a>. You can do this by searching for the numbers you want to practice to see videos where they appear, or by adding numbers to a flashcard deck directly from any video as you study. <p><strong>FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n<p><\/p> \r\n<p>You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/fluentu-learn-language-videos\/id917892175\">the iOS app<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.fluentflix.fluentu&amp;hl=en&amp;gl=US\">Android app.<\/a><\/p>\r\n<p><i><a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)<\/a><\/i>\r\n<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\r\n  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/4\/SimpleText.jpg\" alt=\"FluentU Ad\" \/>\r\n  <p style=\"text-align: center\">\r\n    <button class=\"btn-blue\" style=\"border: none;font-size: 18px;text-align: center;padding: 0.75rem 1.5rem;cursor: pointer\">\r\n      Try FluentU for FREE!\r\n    <\/button>\r\n  <\/p>\r\n<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\n<h3>Watch instructional videos<\/h3>\n<p>Fortunately, there are hundreds of videos on YouTube that can help you learn and practice this skill. Here are a few.<\/p>\n<p>Using the example of large distances in outer space, <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/0yBYUqOc1wg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>&#8220;Read Big Numbers&#8221;<\/b><\/a> from <b>tenframe <\/b>shows you how to break down big numbers in English into hundreds, thousands, millions and billions.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes, English speakers read the same number in different ways, which can be confusing. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ioldoJQYKyQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>&#8220;How to Say BIG NUMBERS in English&#8221;<\/b><\/a> from <b>Speak English with Vanessa<\/b> will explain several ways to read large numbers.<\/p>\n<p><lite-youtube videoid=\"ioldoJQYKyQ\"><\/lite-youtube><\/p>\n<p>Ready to test what you know? <b>Crown Academy of English<\/b>\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/W6FAKlNSHmE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>&#8220;English listening quiz &#8211; NUMBERS&#8221;<\/b><\/a> gives you the chance to write down the English numbers you hear as numerals. (The answers are shown quickly after each question. Pause the video, if you need more time to answer.)<\/p>\n<p><lite-youtube videoid=\"W6FAKlNSHmE\"><\/lite-youtube><\/p>\n<p>Check out these number-filled videos to get extra practice:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom: 12px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/english\/play\/3102\/an-11-year-old-kid-genius\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">An 11-Year-Old Kid Genius<\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom: 12px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/english\/play\/765\/how-science-can-help-you-find-a-4-leaf-clover-instant-egghead-64\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tips for Finding a Four-Leaf Clover<\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom: 12px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/english\/play\/3766\/a-poor-millennials-guide-to-investing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A Poor Millennial\u2019s Guide to Finances<\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom: 12px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/english\/play\/3407\/how-climate-change-affects-poverty\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">How Climate Change Affects Poverty<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fWc46NCnldo&amp;t=32s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">What&#8217;s The Most Successful Species on Earth?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Use ESL resources<\/h3>\n<p>With people from all over the world learning English as a second language, the internet is full of ESL resources. Worksheets and online games can give you lots of hands-on practice at recognizing, reading and writing out large English numbers.<\/p>\n<p>Try the large number worksheets from <a href=\"https:\/\/en.islcollective.com\/english-esl-worksheets\/search\/large%20numbers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">iSL Collective<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/busyteacher.org\/classroom_activities-grammar\/numerals_and_dates\/large_numbers-worksheets\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Busy Teacher<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.teach-this.com\/general-activities-worksheets\/numbers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Teach This<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>For more playful practice, go up against Floyd the Dog in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.education.com\/game\/number-holdem-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>Number Hold\u2019em 2<\/b><\/a><strong>.<\/strong> Guide a green monster to the correct large number in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gamestolearnenglish.com\/numbers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>Monster Numbers<\/b><\/a> game.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3>Play newscaster<\/h3>\n<p>After you\u2019ve read English-language news articles and watched some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/english\/learn-english-news-5\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">English-language news broadcasts<\/a> to listen to large numbers, it\u2019s time to take a more active role.<\/p>\n<p>Imagine that you\u2019re a famous correspondent or news presenter. Find some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/english\/learn-english-news-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">English news articles<\/a> with statistics or other large numbers.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pretend that you\u2019re sitting at a news desk and read the articles aloud.<\/strong> You could even use your mobile phone to record yourself.<\/p>\n<p>Ask a trusted friend, tutor or conversation partner with a good understanding of the English language to give you some feedback. Did you pronounce all of the numbers correctly? Did you use the right phrases and expressions?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>So, now you have all the tools you need to handle reading years, amounts of money, credit card numbers, phone numbers and addresses in English.<\/p>\n<p>Will you get a lot of chances to practice reading large English numbers?<\/p>\n<p>You can count on it!<\/p>\n<h2>And One More Thing...<\/h2>\r\n<p>\r\nIf you like learning English through movies and online media, you should also check out FluentU. <a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">FluentU lets you learn English from popular talk shows, catchy music videos and funny commercials<\/a>, as you can see here:\r\n<\/p>\r\n<div id=\"attachment_1990\" style=\"width: 317px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1990\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1990\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/4\/English-5.png\" alt=\"learn-english-with-videos\" width=\"307\" height=\"546\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1990\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">If you want to watch it, the FluentU app has probably got it.<\/p><\/div>\r\n<p>\r\nThe FluentU app and website makes it really easy to watch English videos. There are captions that are interactive. That means you can tap on any word to see an image, definition, and useful examples.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<div id=\"attachment_1991\" style=\"width: 317px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1991\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1991\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/4\/English-2.png\" alt=\"learn-english-with-subtitled-television-show-clips\" width=\"307\" height=\"546\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1991\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">FluentU lets you learn engaging content with world famous celebrities.<\/p><\/div>\r\n<p>\r\nFor example, when you tap on the word \"searching,\" you see this:\r\n<\/p>\r\n<div id=\"attachment_1959\" style=\"width: 317px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1959\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1959 \" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/4\/English-6.png\" alt=\"learn-conversational-english-with-interactive-captioned-dialogue\" width=\"307\" height=\"546\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1959\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">FluentU lets you tap to look up any word.<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p>\r\nLearn all the vocabulary in any video with quizzes. Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you\u2019re learning.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<div id=\"attachment_1996\" style=\"width: 317px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1996\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1996 \" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/4\/English-7.png\" alt=\"practice-english-with-adaptive-quizzes\" width=\"307\" height=\"546\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1996\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">FluentU helps you learn fast with useful questions and multiple examples. <a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Learn more.<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n<p>\r\nThe best part? FluentU remembers the vocabulary that you\u2019re learning. It gives you extra practice with difficult words\u2014and reminds you when it\u2019s time to review what you\u2019ve learned. You have a truly personalized experience.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nStart using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. <a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Numbers are all around you. Knowing how to read large numbers in English is an essential skill \u2014 especially if you live, work or study in an English-speaking country, and&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":454,"featured_media":249812,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":{"title":"How to Read Big Numbers in English | FluentU English Blog","description":"From one to a billion and beyond, learn how to read large numbers in English with our guide. Talk about everything from large sums of money to your birth year and phone number with ease. Never be scared to pronounce a large English number out loud again!"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[685,687],"tags":[],"coauthors":[159],"class_list":["post-149303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english","category-vocabulary-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/454"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149303"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149303\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":242782,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149303\/revisions\/242782"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149303"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=149303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}