How to Write Numbers in Words Correctly

Writing out numbers appears more complicated than it actually is. Luckily, in everyday life, your only objective is to make things clear enough that others don’t become confused. For example, when you are writing a cheque, you simply restate the numbers that were written numerically someplace else on the cheque. That being said, if you are writing something more formal, like a report, there are a few guidelines that you might elect to follow. Keep in mind that different publications (APA or MLA) follow their own set of standards.

Outlined below, you will see a few examples to guide you in basic tasks like how to best write numbers on cheques or other documents.

Writing a Cheque

When you are writing out a cheque, you are required to write out the dollar amount using words. You will also write out the amount numerically in the amount box. This is done to not only prevent confusion (say in the case of poor handwriting) and to prevent fraud. It is extremely easy to alter numerals or to confuse them for other numbers.

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Write it as it sounds

If you are able to say it, you are able to write it. As a general rule of thumb, always write the number as you hear it. For example, if you were to say 1,954 out loud you would say nineteen hundred fifty four. This is how you would write it. You would not write nineteen fifty-four.

Technical Notes

There will be occasions when you will be required to use a hyphen (also called a dash or minus sign). Technically speaking, it is correct to hyphenate all numbers between 21 and 99. However, if we go back to our cheque writing example, it isn’t really necessary to hyphenate any number since it is the decimal point that hold the most weight.

Here is an example of 21 to 99 written out phonetically, with proper hyphen placement.

twenty-one
twenty-two
twenty-three
twenty-four
twenty-five
twenty-six
twenty-seven
twenty-eight
twenty-nine
thirty
thirty-one
thirty-two
thirty-three
thirty-four
thirty-five
thirty-six
thirty-seven
thirty-eight
thirty-nine
forty
forty-one
forty-two
forty-three
forty-four
forty-five
forty-six
forty-seven
forty-eight
forty-nine
fifty
fifty-one
fifty-two
fifty-three
fifty-four
fifty-five
fifty-six
fifty-seven
fifty-eight
fifty-nine
sixty
sixty-one
sixty-two
sixty-three
sixty-four
sixty-five
sixty-six
sixty-seven
sixty-eight
sixty-nine
seventy
seventy-one
seventy-two
seventy-three
seventy-four
seventy-five
seventy-six
seventy-seven
seventy-eight
seventy-nine
eighty
eighty-one
eighty-two
eighty-three
eighty-four
eighty-five
eighty-six
eighty-seven
eighty-eight
eighty-nine
ninety
ninety-one
ninety-two
ninety-three
ninety-four
ninety-five
ninety-six
ninety-seven
ninety-eight
ninety-nine

Of course, more and more people choosing to do away with the old habit of writing cheques and instead paying in cash, with credit or debit. Cheque writing isn’t the only time that you could or would be able to practice writing numbers out either as numbers (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) or as words (one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten)

Let’s explore some other examples of when to use number or words.

How to Write Numbers in Words

Whenever you are writing out numbers that can be said in less than two words, your writing will look clean and classy. Writing longer numbers out as words isn’t nearly as practical, but it is something that is good to practice when you are first learning the process that works best for you.

Learn how to write out numbers from one to nine. These are the numbers that the widest portion of the population believe should be written numerically. Learn these and progress from there:

1 = one
2 = two
3 = three
4 = four
5 = five
6 = six
7 = seven
8 = eight
9 = nine

From here, write out the numbers 10 to 19. Do you see how many of them are almost identical to the numbers we wrote above, only with the addition of ‘teen’ at the ending? Seventeen really just means seven and ten.

10 = ten
11 = eleven
12 = twelve
13 = thirteen
14 = fourteen
15 = fifteen
16 = sixteen
17 = seventeen
18 = eighteen
19 = nineteen

Now, practice counting in groups of ten from 20 to 90. Here is how you would write out 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and 100.

20 = twenty
30 = thirty
40 = forty
50 = fifty
60 = sixty
70 = seventy
80 = eighty
90 = ninety
100 = one hundred

Now, let’s combine words to write larger numbers. Now that we’ve learned how to write out whole numbers, let’s try to write out the number 21 through 99.

21 = twenty-one
22 = twenty-two
23 = twenty-three
24 = twenty-four
25 = twenty-five
26 = twenty-six
27 = twenty-seven
28 = twenty-eight
29 = twenty-nine
30 = thirty
31 = thirty-one
32 = thirty-two
33 = thirty-three
34 = thirty-four
35 = thirty-five
36 = thirty-six
37 = thirty-seven
38 = thirty-eight
39 = thirty-nine
40 = forty
41 = forty-one
42 = forty-two
43 = forty-three
44 = forty-four
45= forty-five
46 = forty-six
47 = forty-seven
48 = forty-eight
49 = forty-nine
50 = fifty
51 = fifty-one
52 = fifty-two
53 = fifty-three
54 = fifty-four
55 = fifty-five
56 = fifty-six
57 = fifty-seven
58 = fifty-eight
59 = fifty-nine
60 = sixty
61 = sixty-one
62 = sixty-two
63 = sixty-three
64 = sixty-four
65 = sixty-five
66 = sixty-six
67 = sixty-seven
68 = sixty-eight
69 = sixty-nine
70 = seventy
71 = seventy-one
72 = seventy-two
73 = seventy-three
74 = seventy-four
75 = seventy-five
76 = seventy-six
77 = seventy-seven
78 = seventy-eight
79 = seventy-nine
80 = eighty
81 = eighty-one
82 = eighty-two
83 = eighty-three
84 = eighty-four
85 = eighty-five
86 = eighty-six
87 = eighty-seven
88 = eighty-eight
89 = eighty-nine
90 = ninety
91 = ninety-one
92 = ninety-two
93 = ninety-three
94 = ninety-four
95 = ninety-five
96 = ninety-six
97 = ninety-seven
98 = ninety-eight
99 = ninety-nine

Counting by 100 is easy. All you need to do is remember to add the word hundred after the first number.

100 = one hundred
200 = two hundred
300 = three hundred
400 = four hundred
500 = five hundred
600 = six hundred
700 = seven hundred
800 = eight hundred
900 = nineteen hundred

When you are writing out numbers 100 to 999 you only need to write the hundreds place and then the rest of the number. There is no need to write ‘and’. Here are some examples.

110 = one hundred ten
125 = one hundred twenty-five
205 = two hundred five
275 = two hundred seventy-five
500 = five hundred
515 = five hundred fifteen
930 = nine hundred thirty
937 = nine hundred thirty-seven
999 = nine hundred ninety-nine

When you are typing numbers, particularly longer numbers, it might be helpful to learn and understand place values. You will be able to better understand what each number means based on where it is.

Here is an outline of the first 9 place values and their names.

1 – the ones place
10 – the tens place
100 – the hundreds place
1,000 – the thousands place
10,000 – the ten thousands place
100,000 – the hundred thousand place
1,000,000 – the millions place
10,000,000 – the ten millions place
100,000,000 – the hundred millions place

Adding commas to longer numbers. There will be times when you will need to write out numbers that are too long to write out phonetically or where it just makes more sense to write them out numerically. In these situations, it makes sense to add commas. Starting from the right hand side of the number, where the ones place is, count three digits to the left, and then add a comma. Continue separating the number into groups of three. Here are some examples.

123456 would become 123, 456
1234567 would become 1, 234, 567
123456789 would become 123 , 456, 789

Some countries use a period instead of a comma.

Writing fractions into words is a little bit different. For this, you need to have a basic understanding of math. For example, if the number under the fraction line is a 2, you would need to know that it is written a half or halves. This means that ½ will be written as one-half. Here are a few more examples:

½ = one-half
2/3 = two-thirds
19 / 2 = nineteen-halves

As with anything, the only way to improve your ability to write numbers either as words or as numbers is to practice. How do you practice writing numbers in everyday life?

Write a cheque
Write out the date on the top of a piece of paper
Practice writing or typing numbers 1 through 100

Keys When to Write Out Numbers

Here are a few guidelines to follow when you are deciding whether you should write a number out as a number or write a number out as a word.

Write a number as a word when:

The number is less than nine
The number is more than 999
The style guide you are using requires it

Write a number as a number when:

The number is more than nine
The number is less than 999
You are writing out the date on a report or other document.
The style guide you are using requires it

Remember you do not need to write the word ‘and’ in the middle of a number. You would write two hundred five, not two hundred AND five.

If you find that using commas is too confusing, you can instead choose to write the number using gaps instead of commas. For example 1, 000, 000 would become 1 000 000.

Many academics believe that it is standard practice to write all numbers under 11 phonetically in essays, articles and other forms of academic correspondence, and to write all numbers above 11 numerically.

one
two
three
four
five
six
seven
eight
nine
ten
eleven
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
4,500
5,000
5,500
6,000
6,500
7,000
7,500
8,000
8,500
9,000
9,500
10,000

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