Number words
🎯 In this topic you will
- Say, read, and write numbers and number words up to 10.
🧠 Key Words
- zero
- one
- two
- three
- four
- five
- six
- seven
- eight
- nine
- ten
Show Definitions
- zero: The number that represents no quantity or none of something.
- one: The number that represents a single item or unit.
- two: The number that represents a pair or two items.
- three: The number that represents a group of three items.
- four: The number that represents four items in a set.
- five: The number that represents five items in total.
- six: The number that represents six items in a group.
- seven: The number that represents seven items in total.
- eight: The number that represents eight items in a set.
- nine: The number that represents nine items in total.
- ten: The number that represents a group of ten items or units.
✍️ Writing Numbers in Words
We can write numbers in words instead of using digits. For example, instead of writing 1, we can write “one”. Instead of 5, we can write “five”.
🪙 Numbers on Coins
Coins often show number words instead of digits. A coin might say “One”, “Two”, “Five”, or “Ten” written in words instead of using the numbers 1, 2, 5, or 10.
📖 Using Words in Stories
In stories, we often use number words instead of digits. For example, we write “three cats” instead of “3 cats” to make the sentence easier and nicer to read.
❓ EXERCISES
1. Count the spots and read the number words.
👀 Show answer
2. Write the missing word or number on each ten frame. The first one has been done for you.
👀 Show answer
3. Match the sets to the number words.
Which words do not have a matching set of fruit?
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4. Draw eight apples. Make it easy for others to quickly see how many there are.
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5. Draw a basket with zero fruit in it.
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6. Write the number word after.
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7. Write the number word before.
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🧠 Think like a Mathematician
Investigation: All the number words from zero to ten have either $3$, $4$ or $5$ letters in the word.
Find out which number words have $3$ letters, $4$ letters or $5$ letters. Check every number word from zero to ten to make sure none are missed.
Continued:
Show Answers
- Letter groups:
$3$ letters: one, two, six, ten
$4$ letters: zero, four, five, nine
$5$ letters: three, seven, eight - 1: You can list the number words in order from zero to ten and tick each one after counting its letters to make sure all $11$ words are checked.
- 2: Yes. The word “four” has $4$ letters, and the word “five” has $4$ letters even though the number is $5$. The word “three” has $5$ letters. The word “one” has $3$ letters, so some words match their number of letters but many do not.