Number to words converter

How to use the converter

1. Number → words — type a number and read the cardinal spelling, the ordinal form and the cheque-writing currency wording. Choose British "and", the lakh/crore system and a capitalisation style to suit the document.
2. Words → number — paste a number written out in English and get the digits back. Hyphens, "and", "point" for decimals and lakh/crore are all understood.

Writing an amount on a cheque

The words line on a cheque is the legal amount. Where the words and the figures disagree, most banking codes — including the US Uniform Commercial Code — instruct the bank to pay the words. So it is worth getting right:

• Write the whole units in words, then the fractional part either as xx/100 or spelled out: One thousand two hundred dollars and 50/100, or one thousand two hundred dollars and fifty cents. Banks accept both.
• Start at the far left of the line so nothing can be inserted in front.
• Draw a horizontal line through any space left over after the wording.
• Make sure the words match the numeric box exactly, including the cents.
• For a whole amount, write and 00/100 rather than leaving the cents blank.

Capitalisation is a matter of house style, not law. Sentence case is the most common; title case is used on formal instruments and invoices.

The rules English uses

• Hyphens join the tens and units of two-digit numbers from 21 to 99: twenty-one, forty-seven, ninety-nine.
• "And" appears before the final sub-hundred part in British, Irish, Australian and Indian English — one hundred and five, two thousand and forty-six. American English generally drops it.
• No commas are needed in written-out numbers, though they are sometimes used between scale groups in legal drafting.
• Hundred, thousand and million stay singular when they follow a number: three hundred, not three hundreds.
• Decimals are read digit by digit after "point": 2.75 is two point seven five, not "two point seventy-five".

Cardinal and ordinal numbers

Only the last word changes. Everything before it keeps its cardinal form, which is why 1,203 is "one thousand two hundred and third" rather than "first thousand…".

Short scale, long scale and the Indian system

English-speaking countries now use the short scale, where each new name is a thousand times the last: thousand, million, billion (10⁹), trillion (10¹²). The older long scale, still used in much of continental Europe, made a billion a million million (10¹²) — a genuine source of error in translated financial documents.

The Indian system groups differently: three digits, then twos, giving lakh (10⁵) and crore (10⁷).

Precision on very large numbers

JavaScript's ordinary numbers lose exactness above about 9 quadrillion, which is how many online converters quietly turn 9,007,199,254,740,993 into a different number. This one parses the integer part as a BigInt and never converts it to a float, so every digit you type is the digit that gets spelled out — up to duodecillion, 42 digits.

Where written-out numbers are required

• Cheques and money orders
• Contracts, deeds and promissory notes, where figures are often repeated in words
• Invoices and purchase orders in jurisdictions that require an amount in words
• Academic and journalistic style guides, which usually spell out numbers under ten or under a hundred
• Accessibility and screen-reader scripts, where a spelled-out figure removes ambiguity

Privacy

Amounts you type — including cheque values — stay in your browser. There is no server call at any point.