The most useful books in the world are the ones with the most embarrassing titles: "How to make friends", "How to tie your shoelaces" and so on. Such books are embarrassing because everyone assumes that some things are too obvious to require explicit instruction - at least for adults - and you are a bit weird if you haven't figured them out yet. But they are useful because there are plenty of adults who a) are a bit weird, or b) haven't figured these things out yet. (Note: Normal is overrated anyway.)
One secret shame shared by many professionals is a discomfort with numbers, and in particular the difference between millions, billions and trillions. And to be fair, it's not all that straightforward especially if you work across geographies. Why?
- Different languages have different names for big numbers
- Different languages break large numbers into different "chunks"
- Different geographies use commas and full stops differently, as separators and as decimal markers
So, without further ado, here is a summary table setting out a sample of large numbers, as referred to in different languages and geographies. Feel free to bookmark this, or print it out and tape it above your desk. You're welcome.
| Number of Zeroes | English | Indian | French | Spanish | German |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Ten Thousand 10,000 |
- 10,000 |
Dix Mille 10.000 |
Diez Mil 10.000 |
Zehn- -tausend 10.000 |
| 5 | Hundred Thousand 100,000 |
One Lakh 1,00,000 |
Cent Mille 100.000 |
Cien Mil 100.000 |
Hundert- -tausend 100.000 |
| 6 | Million 1,000,000 |
Ten Lakh 10,00,000 |
Million 1.000.000 |
Millón 1.000.000 |
Million 1.000.000 |
| 7 | Ten Million 10,000,000 |
One Crore 1,00,00,000 |
Dix Millions 10.000.000 |
Diez Millones 10.000.000 |
Zehn Millionen 10.000.000 |
| 8 | Hundred Million 100,000,000 |
Ten Crore 10,00,00,000 |
Cent Millions 100.000.000 |
Cien Millones 100.000.000 |
Hundert Millionen 100.000.000 |
| 9 | Billion 1,000,000,000 |
Hundred Crore 1,00,00,00,000 |
Milliard 1.000.000.000 |
Mil Millones 1.000.000.000 |
Milliarde 1.000.000.000 |
| 12 | Trillion 1,000,000,000,000 |
One Lakh Crore 10,00,00,00,00,000 |
Billion 1.000.000.000.000 |
Billón 1.000.000.000.000 |
Billion 1.000.000.000.000 |