Learn first: Adjectives and comparison
Numbers appear in almost every part of an English exam: in Listening, prices, phone numbers, dates, times and room numbers are the most frequently tested information; in Writing, graphs and tables are described with numbers; in Speaking you need to give ages, years and statistics. Most mistakes come from sound (fifteen — fifty) or from the rules for writing and reading numbers (the 3rd of May, two hundred). This lesson covers cardinal and ordinal numbers, dates, times, fractions and percentages, and the language for describing graphs, step by step.
one, two, three … twelve; 13–19 end in -teen: thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen; the tens end in -ty: twenty, thirty, forty (✗ fourty), fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety.
21 — twenty-one (with a hyphen) · 105 — a/one hundred and five · 2,350 — two thousand three hundred and fifty
British English puts and after the hundreds: three hundred and twelve. In large numbers, thousands are separated by commas: 1,000,000 — one million.
After an exact number, hundred, thousand, million take no `-s`: five hundred people, two thousand dollars (✗ two hundreds). For an indefinite large amount, use -s and of: hundreds of people, thousands of years, millions of stars.
Write 3,406 in words.
The most dangerous pairs in Listening are thirteen — thirty, fourteen — forty, fifteen — fifty, sixteen — sixty, nineteen — ninety.
Use the context as well as the sound: is a bus ticket more likely to cost £15 or £50? After writing your answer, check that it makes sense.
first (1st), second (2nd), third (3rd), fourth (4th), fifth (5th), sixth … ninth (9th), tenth, twelfth (12th), twentieth (20th), twenty-first (21st)
Spelling: five → fifth, nine → ninth (the e drops), twelve → twelfth, -ty → -tieth (twenty → twentieth, thirty → thirtieth). In compound numbers only the last word becomes ordinal: twenty-first, one hundred and second.
Ordinals are usually preceded by the: the first day, on the second floor, the 21st century. Ordinals are also used in fractions (§5).
Dates. Written: 5 May 2026 (BrE) or May 5, 2026 (AmE). Spoken: the fifth of May or May the fifth — always with an ordinal when spoken.
Prepositions: in + month, year, season (in May, in 2026, in winter); on + day or date (on Monday, on 5 May); at + clock time (at 7 o’clock).
Years: 1998 — nineteen ninety-eight, 2005 — two thousand and five, 2026 — twenty twenty-six (or two thousand and twenty-six). Decades: the 1990s — the nineties.
Time:
past — after the hour (1–30 minutes) · to — before the next hour (31–59 minutes)
Listening: The meeting was on the twentieth, but it has been moved to the twenty-third, at half past two. Complete the form: Date: ___, Time: ___.
Numbers used as adjectives take a hyphen and stay singular: a five-year-old boy, a ten-minute walk, a two-hour lesson (✗ a two-hours lesson). Other expressions: a couple of, dozens of, once, twice, three times.
Say this phone number aloud: 0711 5582.
To describe a graph or table in Writing, you need verbs of change and adverbs alongside the numbers:
Up: rise, increase, grow, go up · Down: fall, decrease, drop, decline · No change: remain stable, level off
Degree: slightly, gradually, steadily, sharply, dramatically
Approximation: about, around, approximately, nearly (a little less), just over (a little more)
Proportions: a quarter = 25%, a third ≈ 33%, half = 50%, three quarters = 75%, the majority, a minority. Twice as many: doubled; down by half: halved.
Data: in 2020, 30% of students studied online; in 2025 the figure was 55%. Describe this in one sentence.