Number to Words
Type a number to see it spelled out in words, written for a cheque, as a currency amount and as an ordinal. Click any line to copy it.
Writing amounts on a cheque
On a cheque (check), the amount is written in words on the “sum of” line, with the cents as a fraction over 100: One thousand two hundred thirty-four and 56/100 dollars. Writing the cents as a fraction makes them hard to alter, and the words take precedence if they ever disagree with the figures in the box. Start writing at the far left and draw a line through any empty space after the words.
In American English, “and” is kept for the decimal point only, so 105 is “one hundred five”. British, Irish, Australian and Indian English usually say “one hundred and five”; tick UK style for that form, which also uses “minus” rather than “negative”.
How large can the number be?
Any whole number up to 36 digits, which reaches the decillions (10³³), using the short scale now standard in English: a billion is a thousand million and a trillion a thousand billion. Numbers are handled as text, not floating point, so even very long values are spelled out exactly. Digits after a decimal point are read one by one (“point zero five”), which is how decimals are normally spoken.
Questions
How do you write 1,500 in words on a cheque?
“One thousand five hundred and 00/100 dollars”. Some people write “Fifteen hundred”, which banks accept, but “one thousand five hundred” is clearer and harder to alter.
Is there a hyphen in numbers like twenty-one?
Yes. Compound numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine take a hyphen in both US and UK English (thirty-four, ninety-nine). Words like hundred, thousand and million are not hyphenated.
How do I write 0.75 in words?
As a plain number, “zero point seven five”. As money, “seventy-five cents”, or on a cheque “zero and 75/100 dollars”.
What are ordinal numbers?
Numbers that give a position: first, second, twenty-second, one hundredth. They only make sense for whole numbers, so the ordinal rows are blank for decimals and negatives.
Why are cents rounded?
Currency is written to two decimal places, so 12.345 becomes 12.35 in the cheque and currency rows (half-up rounding). The plain “Words” row always reads every digit you typed.