When we use the wordnumber, we refer to specific numbers:
Here’s the phonenumberof the firm where she works.
She plays in the local hockey team and wears thenumbersix.
We also use the phrasesa number of,numbers oforthe number ofwith a plural verb when we mean ‘many’ or ‘several’:
There area number ofthings we need to discuss.
Asignificantnumber ofpeople are ill with flu so the performance had to be cancelled.
Largenumbers ofbees have died because of the cold summer.
I couldn’t believethe number ofcars that were parked outside the hall.
Numbers:first,second,third
Numbers such asfirst, second,thirdare ordinal numbers. We use them to put things in an order. We most commonly use ordinal numbers as determiners. When we use ordinal numbers as determiners (before nouns), we commonly use other determiners such as articles (a/an,the) and possessives (my,your) in front of them:
This was thefifthscience exam that he had failed.
It’s hertwenty-firstbirthday and she’s spending it with friends in Malaysia.
We use the ordinal numbers to refer to dates. We usually write them in abbreviated form and often in superscript (above the line). We usually saytheandofwhen we speak, but we often omit them in writing:
My birthday is3rdJanuary.(usually spoken as ‘the third of January’)
The museum was opened on25thJune 2008.
What are you doing on the2ndof May? Do you want to join us at the theatre?
We also use ordinal numbers as nouns:
All three singers in the competition were excellent but I’m voting for thethird.
Ordinal numbers are also used as adverbs:
A:He cametenthin the New York marathon.
B:That’s fantastic! Did he really?
First, let me introduce you to my brother Jack.
See also:
Finite and non-finite verbs
Dates
Numbers:one,two,three
Numbers such asone, five, eleven, two hundredare cardinal numbers. We most commonly use cardinal numbers as determiners (before nouns). When we use them in this way, we can use other determiners such as articles (a/an,the) and possessives (my,your) in front of them. We can use cardinal numbers +ofbefore determiners (one of my friends):
She loves animals and hastwodogs,threecats andonerabbit.
Mytwobest friends are Amy and Louise.
Threeof his colleagues were sacked yesterday.(sacked = lost their jobs)
We also use cardinal numbers as nouns:
The children arrived intwosandthrees.
Large numbers
We normally saya hundred, a thousand, a million. We only sayone hundred, one thousandandone millionwhen we want to emphasise the number:
What would you do if you wonamillioneuros?(preferred toone million euros)
The city is abouta hundredkilometres from the capital.
Numbers such as100, 200, 1,000, etc. do not take a plural -swhen we use them as determiners:
There were about twohundredpeople at the meeting.
Not:There were about two hundreds people…
However, we use the plural formshundreds,thousands,millions+of+ noun to refer to large, non-specific numbers:
It’s happenedhundredsoftimes.
Millionsofpeople live in poverty.
We often use commas in writing to separate long numbers of a thousand or more into each thousand part:
The repairs cost £1,250.
A total of $5,000,000 was spent on the project.
See also:
Dates