Word form
Word form is one way in which the concept of numbers can be written. Other forms include standard and expanded form. Word form involves expressing numbers using words rather than numerals. Below are a few examples of numbers written in word form.
- The word form for 14 is fourteen.
- The word form for
is one half.
- The word form for 5.6 is five and six tenths. Note that the decimal point is read as "and."
- The word form for 2,010 is two thousand ten.
- The word form for 1,000,000 is one million.
How to write numbers in word form
For smaller numbers, like 1-20 we just need to remember what the numbers are called.
1-20 | |
---|---|
1 - one | 11 - eleven |
2 - two | 12 - twelve |
3 - three | 13 - thirteen |
4 - four | 14 - fourteen |
5 - five | 15 - fifteen |
6 - six | 16 - sixteen |
7 - seven | 17 - seventeen |
8 - eight | 18 - eighteen |
9 - nine | 19 - nineteen |
10 - ten | 20 - twenty |
From this point, we just need to remember what every 10 numbers is referred to:
10 - ten |
---|
20 - twenty |
30 - thirty |
40 - forty |
50 - fifty |
60 - sixty |
70 - seventy |
80 - eighty |
90 - ninety |
Numbers that include both tens and ones are hyphenated. For example, 21 is written is twenty-one, 39 is written as thirty-nine, and so on.
Writing larger numbers in word form requires an understanding of place value and periods. Below is a figure showing the place values and periods through the billions.
The numbers described above fall within the ones period and involve ones, tens, and hundreds. The next period is the thousands, which also includes ones (thousand), tens (ten thousand), and hundreds (hundred thousands). This pattern continues for all the larger numbers (the smaller ones as well, if there are decimal places). To write a given number in word form, identify the largest place value, write each number as we would in the ones place based on hundreds, tens, and ones, then write which period the digits fit into, whether it be millions, thousands, etc., but excluding the ones. Repeat this process from left to right.
Example
Use the place value chart to write the following number in word form.
There are 4 periods in the above number: billions, millions, thousands, and ones. We can separate each period with commas, as we would with numerals. Write out the word form of the three digits in each period, then add the respective period name after each, except for the ones period. Attempt this before reading the solution below.
The word form of the above number is:
Two hundred forty-nine billion, five hundred fifty-one million, six hundred seventy-two thousand, four hundred eighty-six.