Number to Words Converter
one thousand two hundred and thirty-four
The number to words converter spells numbers out in British or American style. The difference is the word "and": British English writes one hundred and five, American English writes one hundred five. It matters for cheques, contracts and anything read aloud.
How it works
- The number is split into groups of three digits from the right.
- Each group is spelled out, with a hyphen in compound tens such as forty-two.
- Each group gets its scale word (thousand, million, billion) and the groups are joined.
- In British style, "and" is inserted between the hundreds and the remainder of each group.
Decimals are read digit by digit after the word "point", which is the standard convention: 3.14 is "three point one four", not "three point fourteen".
- Short scale is used throughout: a billion is a thousand million.
- Zero is written as "zero" rather than "nought" or "oh".
- Negatives are prefixed with "minus".
Examples
British and American style compared
Number
1234
Result
British: one thousand two hundred and thirty-four · American: one thousand two hundred thirty-four
The only difference is the "and". On a cheque written in the UK, omitting it looks wrong; in the US, including it does.
A decimal
Number
3.14
Result
three point one four
Decimal digits are read individually. Reading them as a whole number, "three point fourteen", is ambiguous, since it would be identical for 3.14 and 3.014.
A large number
Number
1000000
Result
one million
Groups containing only zeros are skipped entirely rather than producing "one million zero thousand".
Frequently asked questions
Should I write "one hundred and five" or "one hundred five"?
British English uses the "and", American English omits it. Neither is wrong in its own convention, but mixing them looks careless. On a cheque, follow the convention of the country the account is in.
Why are decimals read digit by digit?
Because reading them as a number is ambiguous. "Three point fourteen" could be 3.14 or 3.014, and the digit-by-digit form has no such problem. It is also the standard convention in both British and American usage.
Does it use the short or long scale for billions?
Short scale. A billion is a thousand million, which is standard in modern English including British English since the 1970s. The long scale, where a billion is a million million, still appears in several European languages and is a real source of confusion in translated documents.
What is the largest number it handles?
Up to 9,007,199,254,740,991, the largest integer JavaScript represents exactly. Above that the digits themselves are approximated before the conversion begins, so the tool flags it rather than producing words for a number you did not enter.