Reading and writing large numbers for the 11 plus

Big numbers come in groups of three. Take five million, two hundred and seventy-four thousand, three hundred and nineteen. Say each group, then say its name. Five, million. Two seven four, thousand. Three one nine. The name goes after the group. So a number is just groups, and each group is read like a small number.

Back to our number. Thousands group: four hundred and seven. No tens, so that is 4, 0, 7. The last group is forty-five. No hundreds, so 0, 4, 5. Two zeros, both holding a place. Put it together: 407,045.

The trap is to drop a zero. Leave out the one in 407 and you get 47,045. That is forty-seven thousand, nearly nine times smaller. A zero is never nothing. It holds a place for a digit that is not there.

Part of the Number & Place Value topics for the 11+.

• 1.2Rounding numbersLook one digit to the right
• 1.3Comparing and orderingThe first difference decides it
• 1.4Roman numeralsSmall before big means take away
• 1.5Negative numbersCrossing zero? Count both sides
• 1.6Prime numbers, factors and multiplesShared factors make it smaller
• 1.7Square and cube numbersA root is not a half
• 1.8Prime factorisationSplit until every end is prime

Every 11 plus maths topic