6.2. Large numbers
Large numbers are a little bit tricky. In the past, British English and American English used slightly different formats.
1,000 | one thousand (or “a thousand”) |
1,000,000 | one million (or “a million”) |
1,000,000,000 | one billion (American English) (or “a billion”) |
1,000,000,000,000 | one billion (British English) (or “a billion”) |
Today, this difference is disappearing and the British “billion” is falling into line with the American usage. However, keep the difference in mind, especially when you read a large number in written form.
Note: in English, we use a comma “,” as a separator for each block of one thousand (many other languages use a dot “.”). Also, in English, we use a dot “.” as a separator for the decimal part of a decimal number e.g. 3.142 (many other languages use a dot “,”)
Fun facts about a billion (1,000,000,000)
(Wikipedia reference given in the Key section.) |
6.2. Estimate how long it would take you to count from one to one billion, aloud, without stopping.
- 95 hours
- 995 hours
- 95 days
- 95 months
- 95 years
- 995 years
- between 995 years and 1,995 years
- It’s impossible. I’d be dead before I could complete it ;)
(Wikipedia reference given in the Key section.)