Number to words

Writing an amount in words is required on cheques, many invoices, contracts and legal documents, because words are much harder to alter than digits. This tool spells out any number in English words, including large values and decimals.

How to use it

1. Enter a number, with or without decimals.
2. Read and copy the number written in words.

Examples

• 42: forty-two
• 1,005: one thousand five
• 250,319: two hundred fifty thousand three hundred nineteen
• 7,000,000,001: seven billion one
• 12.75: twelve point seven five

Writing amounts on cheques and invoices

For money, the decimal part is usually written as cents or as a fraction rather than as digits read out. 1,250.50 on a cheque is commonly written as One thousand two hundred fifty and 50/100 dollars or One thousand two hundred fifty dollars and fifty cents. Many organisations add only at the end to prevent additions.

Regional differences

• And: British English often says one hundred and five; American English typically omits the and.
• Large numbers: modern English uses the short scale, where a billion is 10^9. Older British usage called 10^12 a billion.
• Indian English: 100,000 is one lakh and 10,000,000 is one crore; official Indian documents often use these terms.

Hyphenation

Compound numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine are hyphenated in standard English: thirty-seven, ninety-nine.