Large Numbers Around Us
Reading and writing large numbers
Learn how to read and write large numbers, and where the commas go.
Commas make big numbers easy to read. You already write 45,830. In the Indian system the next comma goes between the ten thousands and the lakhs, as in 1,00,000.
Read a number one comma-group at a time:
| Number | Groups | In words |
|---|---|---|
| 12,78,830 | 12 · 78 · 830 | twelve lakh seventy eight thousand eight hundred thirty |
| 15,75,000 | 15 · 75 · 000 | fifteen lakh seventy five thousand |
When a group is all zeroes, you say nothing for it.
Watch the zeroes. They hold a place, but you do not say them:
- 3,00,600 → three lakh six hundred
- 5,04,085 → five lakh four thousand eighty five
- 27,30,000 → twenty seven lakh thirty thousand
- 70,53,138 → seventy lakh fifty three thousand one hundred thirty eight
Now the other way, from words to figures. Write the number group by group, and put a 0 in every place nobody mentioned. Empty places are not left blank; they are zeroes.
- one lakh twenty three thousand four hundred and fifty six → 1,23,456
- four lakh seven thousand seven hundred and four → 4,07,704 (no hundreds, so 0)
- fifty lakhs five thousand and fifty → 50,05,050
- ten lakhs two hundred and thirty five → 10,00,235
Practise this lesson
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