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Longman Dictionary of Common Errors

Hundred Thousand Thirty Numbers Singular Compare Palace Built

Header Using numbers
Entry
  • Day, month, minule, mile, kilo, etc. are always SINGULAR when used (with a number) immediately before a noun: 'a six-minute wait', 'a ten-second silence', 'a five-mile race'.
    • My travel agent had arranged a 6-day coach tour.
    The company provides a three-month training course.

    Compare: 'We waited for thirty minutes.' 'We had a thirty-minute wait.'

  • When you say 100, 1000, etc. or write these numbers in words, use a hundred, a thousand (WITH a):
    • The palace was built a thousand years ago.

    Compare: 'The palace was built 1000 years ago.'

    For emphasis or to be exact, it is possible to use one instead of a:

    I am one hundred percent against the idea.
  • After a/one/five/twelve etc. the words hundred, thousand, etc. are always SINGULAR and are NOT followed by of:
    • Five hundred children are born in the city every day.
    More than three thousand people were there.

    Similarly, of is NOT used after 100, 250, 3000 etc:

    If you kill 200 whales a year, they will soon disappear.

    Hundreds (of), Thousands (of), etc. are used only when you give a general idea of how many or how much: 'There were hundreds of stars in the sky.' 'They've spent thousands (of pounds) on improvements to the house.'

  • Use and between hundred and the next number. (In American English, and is often omitted, especially in formal styles.)
    • BrE The club has about a hundred and thirty members.
    AmE The club has about a hundred (and) thirty members.

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