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So on this answer here: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12699791/finding-the-word-version-of-a-number/12700097#comment17146082_12700097

We were having the argument whether it is “three hundred and forty two” or “three hundred forty two”.

I am going by British and New Zealand grammar and I believe it has the and in there. I have never in my life heard anyone say “three hundred forty two”, only “three hundred and forty two”.

So when it comes to numbers, what’s the rule?

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closed as general reference by tchrist, Carlo_R., FumbleFingers, MετάEd, Mahnax Oct 3 '12 at 5:04


So...US just wants to be different? –  FabianCook Oct 3 '12 at 0:28
In the US, I was taught that you use and when there's a decimal: 13.5 = "thirteen and a half" or 1.3 = "one and a third" or 1,345.257 = "one thousand three-hundred forty-five and two-hundred fifty-seven thousandths". –  Roddy of the Frozen Peas Oct 3 '12 at 0:29
forty-two then... –  FabianCook Oct 3 '12 at 0:37
"Three hundred and forty two" is what people say in Britain, Australia and New Zealand. The OED has examples demonstrating this, so I don't know why anyone would assert that this is not correct. Maybe tchrists's comment above should be amended to read in no country called the United States of America is "three hundred and forty two" ever correct. –  user16269 Oct 3 '12 at 4:39
@David: I think tchrist means it is incorrect to omit the hyphen in 'forty-two'. –  GEdgar Oct 3 '12 at 15:06

1 Answer 1

up vote 5 down vote accepted

It seems that is the correct usage in British English:


In American English, the use of the and is uncommon for use in the integer portion of the number (I was specifically taught not to use it):


I was also taught to use and between the integer part and the portion to the right of the decimal point which is spoken as a fraction (two tenths, forty-five hundredths, etc.):


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Three hundred forty-two for American English. I always have to delete the and in Taiwanese Chinese-English, & I often have to add the hyphen between forty and two. Historically, of course, many Americans wanted to be different: specifically, they wanted to be independent & sovereign rather than ruled by the king of England. But almost all the differences between the Anglophone countries evolved for a variety of reasons that have little or nothing to do with a narcissistic desire to be unique or even very unique. But ethnocentrism's a normal human bias & not worth a temper tantrum. –  user21497 Oct 3 '12 at 3:42
To my ear, "and" would not sound correct with a voiced "d", nor following a voice "d" on "hundred" or "thousand", but when more numbers follow "hundred" the "d" is stifled such that it sounds a bit like "nd". –  supercat May 1 at 15:57
