Number: Reading, speaking, numbers - How to say this number ,513,980

R

roniy

Senior Member
Brooklyn NY
ISRAEL: Fluent Hebrew ( Speak Russian, Learning English)
How to say this number ,513,980, in words ?

Is it correct to say 'five hundred and thirteen thousand and nine hundred and eighty'.
OR

'five thirteen thousand and nine eighty '???
 
    • I'd say:

    Five hundred (and) thirteen thousand, nine hundred and eighty.

    I think the first and is optional, and I wouldn't use it. Well, the second one is, too, but I'd use that one. Just a personal preference.


    AngelEyes
     
    Thank you for your help but I have one more question
    Don't you need an 'and' after 'thousand' ?
    because this is one number 513980
     
    BE - as AngelEyes wrote with both ands.

    No and after thousand.

    It seems that in BE we use and for numbers less than 1,000
    INCLUDING when we are talking about the thousands, millions, etc, etc, ...
    So even quite large numbers break into three digit sets - which are numbers of hundreds.

    www,xxx,yyy,zzz

    www billion, xxx million, yyy thousand, zzz

    We read each of the three digit combinations www, xxx, yyy and zzz the same way. So you only need to learn how we say three digit numbers and how we put them together for bigger numbers (as above).
     
    Hi forum!!!
    Sorry to ask about this subject again, but I am still lost in the writing-numbers-in-words subject. While I read more about this, I got more confused with all the different opinions I have found!!!

    I was reading through several previous threads about this same matter, and I finally decided to take this old thread, and try to follow panjadrum's suggestion above, and I would appreciate if you correct me the following number, accordingly. I am just adding one more three-digit set to the same number in order to have the million section.

    255,513,980:

    two hundred and fifty-five million, five hundred and thirteen thousand, nine hundred and eighty.

    My bigger concern is about the use of the "and" in the million and thousand sections, and if I should write the commas (,) between each three digits sets.

    Thanks again,
     
    I was reading through several previous threads about this same matter, and I finally decided to take this old thread, and try to follow panjadrum's suggestion above, and I would appreciate if you correct me the following number, accordingly. I am just adding one more three-digit set to the same number in order to have the million section.

    255,513,980:

    two hundred and fifty-five million, five hundred and thirteen thousand, nine hundred and eighty.

    My bigger concern is about the use of the "and" in the million and thousand sections, and if I should write the commas (,) between each three digits sets.

    Thanks again,
    Click to expand...

    This is absolutely correct, Diddy ("ands" and commas included).
     
    Thanks so much!!!! It seems that I finally have resolved the puzzle of English numbers.:D
     
    envie de voyager said:
    In a scientific setting, the word and does not appear in any numbers.
    Click to expand...
    It is perhaps unusual to write numbers out like this in a scientific context, but that is not the point. If a BE-speaker were to be writing out numbers in full in any context, and would be included as I indicated above.
    the_del_star said:
    I think, like ps and envy, that there shouldn't be any "ands" in formal/ technical writing.

    Chatspeak is a whole other animal.
    Click to expand...
    The same point applies. You're not, surely, suggesting that BE is chatspeak :eek:

    Your points are, I believe, valid for AE - omitting and in numbers is considered a clear indication of an AE-speaker over here.

    (Look up speaking numbers in the WR dictionary.)
     
    So AE omits the ands. What about the final and in a shorter number (A) and longer number (B)? I'd say:

    A. 135
    one hundred and thirty-five
    A'. 135 guests
    a hundred and thirty-five guests
    B. 468,135
    four hundred sixty-eight thousand, one hundred and thirty-five
    B'. 468,135 euros
    four hundred sixty-eight thousand, one hundred thirty-five euros

    Can you please correct my readings from an AE and a BE standpoint? Thanks!
     
    In American schools, the most commonly taught rule is that "and" is reserved for the decimal point when the decimal part is read as a fraction.
    135.11 is one-hundred, thirty-five and eleven one-hundredths or one-hundred, thirty-five point one one.
    However, there are many do not follow this rule outside of school and use "and" as you have it.
    I'm not sure anyone would say B' but rather
    B''. four-hundred and sixty-eight thousand, one-hundred and thirty-five
    Both three digit parts would have an "and".
    As I often follow the "school rules", I would most often say:
    C. four-hundred sixty-eight thousand, one-hundred thirty-five
    with no "and" at all.
     
    Myridon said:
    In American schools, the most commonly taught rule is that "and" is reserved for the decimal point when the decimal part is read as a fraction.
    135.11 is one-hundred, thirty-five and eleven one-hundredths or one-hundred, thirty-five point one one.
    However, there are many do not follow this rule outside of school and use "and" as you have it.
    I'm not sure anyone would say B' but rather
    B''. four-hundred and sixty-eight thousand, one-hundred and thirty-five
    Both three digit parts would have an "and".
    As I often follow the "school rules", I would most often say:
    C. four-hundred sixty-eight thousand, one-hundred thirty-five
    with no "and" at all.
    Click to expand...
    In the BrE maths world, the decimal point is never preceded by "and" nor followed by fractions or numbers other than single digits so "one hundred and thirty five point one one" would be the only choice. 210.48 could only be "two hundred and ten point four eight" and could not end in "point forty eight".
     
    Thanks, Myridon. Edit: So to simplify things
    1. For numbers only, go for no "and" at all, or for all of them.
    2. For numbers followed by a noun, include the "and."

    JulianStuart: Thanks so much. I was not aware you couldn't say "point forty-eight." Thanks for . . . pointing that out:).
     
    Last edited:
    roniy said:
    How to say this number ,513,980, in words ? ...
    Click to expand...
    Two other things:

    1. There is never a comma before the first digit of a number or after the last one. This should be written in figures as "513,980" with only one comma in the middle.

    2. In English there is no space between a punctuation mark (such as the question mark here) and the word before it.
     
    I am trying to read the following numbers as follows. Am I right?

    74, 621, 990

    seventy four million six hundred twenty one thousand nine hundred ninety nine
     
    seventy four million six hundred twenty one thousand nine hundred ninety nine :tick:

    Keep in mind that different languages have different punctuation schemes for numbers.
     
    Moderator note: halmom's thread (from post 19) has been merged with an earlier thread.
     
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