Decimals in words
A decimal has two readings in ordinary use and neither is a mistake. Both are shown, labelled.
English
Up to twelve places after the point.
Said aloud
As a fraction
Why there are two readings
Said aloud, the digits after the point are read one at a time: 3.14 is three point one four, never three point fourteen. That is how a decimal is spoken in English, and it is unambiguous: nobody has to work out how many places there are.
In a maths lesson the same number is read as a fraction of a power of ten: three and fourteen hundredths. That version shows the place value, which is the point of it in a classroom, but it gets unwieldy quickly and nobody says it out loud.
When each one is used, and what to do with a number below one.
Examples
| Number | Said aloud | As a fraction |
|---|---|---|
| 0.5 | zero point five | five tenths |
| 0.75 | zero point seven five | seventy-five hundredths |
| 3.14 | three point one four | three and fourteen hundredths |
| 1.05 | one point zero five | one and five hundredths |
| 2.5 | two point five | two and five tenths |
| 0.001 | zero point zero zero one | one thousandth |
Trailing zeros. 1.50 is read as one point five, because the final zero adds nothing to the value. Money is the exception. There, 1.50 is fifty cents and the zero counts, which is why the money tool handles amounts separately.