How to write numbers in words

Question

How do we translate 1210 into words:

1) one thousand, two hundred, and ten

2) one thousand, two hundred and ten

or without the commas

3) one thousand two hundred and ten

4) one thousand two hundred, and ten ?

user1579 · Accepted Answer

In the UK, we always put the "and" in after the hundreds in plain numbers.  Commas appear to be put after every "power of 1000" term ("thousand", "million", "billion" and so on); I'm not sure whether that's a requirement or just a good idea.  However, not even the most knee-jerk believer in Oxford Commas would put a comma after the hundreds.  So it is:

One thousand, two hundred and ten.

In the US, they seem to always leave the "and" out, but use commas in the same way:

One thousand, two hundred ten.

There is another alternative, though.  With a number like this between one and two thousand, in the UK at least we might still talk about it hundreds:

Twelve hundred and ten.

This is very much dependent on context and personal preference, but it does happen so you shouldn't be surprised by it.

Daniel · Answer

It depends on where you live.  I live in the US, and the following is what I'm used to:

One thousand, two hundred ten

This is the only way I've heard to be correct.  There isn't an "and" between "two hundred" and "ten", when you are writing, and usually commas come after "thousand", "million", "billion", etc; never after "hundred".

KeithS · Answer

"One thousand, two hundred ten". The use of "and" in a number without a decimal can be confusing, especially in the context of money: does "One thousand, two hundred and ten" mean $1210 or $1200.10? Accountants have lost their jobs over smaller differences.

The comma can also be dropped in situations where it too may be confusing; in a list of numbers, for example. "One thousand two hundred ten" is perfectly unambiguous and punctuationally acceptable.

How to write numbers in words

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