Basic Numbers and Math for EFL/ESL Students,

Page 1, British version

by Nick Miller


Numbers are a very important part of any language. Shopping, a trip to the doctor's, science, and a wide variety of other activities require an understanding of these little characters. For most of our purposes, a small range of numbers is sufficient. However, in the sciences, such as astronomy and physics, a much larger range is needed.


Everyone starts with these one digit numbers:

number cardinal number ordinal number
0 zero.
1 one first
2 two second
3 three third
4 four fourth
5 five fifth
6 six sixth
7 sevenseventh
8 eight eighth
9 nine ninth

Then, we learn the 'teens':

number cardinal number ordinal number
10 ten tenth
11 eleven eleventh
12 twelve twelfth
13thirteen thirteenth
14 fourteenfourteenth
15 fifteen fifteenth
16 sixteen sixteenth
17 seventeen seventeenth
18 eighteen eighteenth
19 nineteen nineteenth

After that, the tens:

number cardinal number ordinal number
20 twentytwentieth
30 thirty thirtieth
40 forty fortieth
50 fifty fiftieth
60 sixtysixtieth
70 seventy seventieth
80 eighty eightieth
90 ninety ninetieth

And finally, the common 'big numbers' :

number cardinal number ordinal number
100hundred hundredth
1,000 thousand thousandth
10,000 ten thousand ten thousandth
100,000 hundred thousand hundred thousandth
1,000,000 million millionth
10,000,000 ten million ten millionth
100,000,000 hundred million hundred millionth
1,000,000,000 thousand million (or milliard) thousand millionth

Scientists (and trivia buffs) might be interested in this list of Œreally big numbersı :

number cardinal number
10E12 billion
10E15 1,000 billion
10E18 trillion
10E21 1,000 trillion
10E24 quadrillion
10E27 1,000 quadrillion
10E30 quintillion
10E33 1,000 quintillion


What's next (all are short introductions to these topics, useful for English Language learners and young native speakers) :

See this page for the American version

Decimals and fractions

American / Metric conversions

Basic Arithmetic Terms

U$ Money

Understanding Currency Exchange

Shopping Math

Math in School

Other fun number facts

NOTE: If you get an under construction message, please try again in a month or so. I am still working on them.



(c)1996 by Nicholas Miller

Back to English Students' Index | Feedback |

See notes for information on navigating, links, copyright (my own as well as any possible inadvertant infringement on my part) and photo usage, etc.