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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)

  • About 1,000,000,000  minutes ago, the Roman Empire was flourishing
  • About 1,000,000,000 hours ago, our ancestors were living in the Stone Age
  • About 1,000,000,000 days ago, ape-like creatures related to modern humans were roaming Africa
  • About 1,000,000,000 months ago, dinosaurs walked the Earth

(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.

  1. 95 hours
  2. 995 hours
  3. 95 days
  4. 95 months
  5. 95 years
  6. 995 years
  7. between 995 years and 1,995 years
  8. It’s impossible. I’d be dead before I could complete it ;)

(Wikipedia reference given in the Key section.)