Eighty-One in Numbers

How to write 81 in words

The number 81 is written “eighty-one” in British English. The hyphen in eighty-one is not optional – every compound number from twenty-one to ninety-nine is hyphenated.

81 is one of the basic number words that every larger number is built from, so it has to be learned rather than constructed – but remember the hyphen between the tens and the units.

In running text the number is normally lowercase: “the fee is eighty-one pounds”. At the start of a sentence, in a heading, or on a legal document it takes capitals: Eighty-One. Formal documents often give both forms together, for example “eighty-one (81)”, so that a reader can check one against the other.

2 words · 9 letters

Eighty-One in figures

To turn “eighty-one” back into digits, work group by group. Each group word (billion, million, thousand) marks a block of three digits. The result is 81, or 81 without separators.

How to write 81 on a cheque

Banks read the amount in words as the legal amount, so it must be exact. Write the pounds in words, add the word pounds, and finish with only so that nothing can be added afterwards.

• With pence: add the pence after the pounds – “Eighty-one pounds and fifty pence only” for £81.50 – or write the pence as a fraction, “Eighty-one pounds 50/100”.
• US check: “Eighty-one and 00/100 dollars”. American cheques drop the “and” after the hundreds and put it before the cents.
• Bangladesh, India and Pakistan: the currency word comes first and the amount is counted in lakh and crore – “Taka eighty-one only”, with the figure written Tk. 81/=.

Read the full guide to writing a UK cheque or the guide to writing a cheque in Bangladesh for the layout, the date, and what to do if the words and figures disagree.

81 in British and American English

81 is spelled exactly the same way – “eighty-one” – in British and American English. The two varieties only differ when a number contains hundreds followed by tens or units, where British English adds “and”. Read more in our guide to British vs American English numbers.

81 in Bangla (বাংলায় ৮১)

In Bangla, 81 is written ৮১ using Bengali digits, and in words it is একাশি. Bangla has its own word for every number from one to ninety-nine, and above that it counts in হাজার (thousand), লাখ (lakh) and কোটি (crore), the same grouping used across Bangladesh and India.

On a cheque or invoice written in Bangla the amount reads একাশি টাকা মাত্র (“একাশি taka only”). In English on the same cheque it is Taka eighty-one only – see How to write a cheque in Bangladesh.

Common mistakes when writing 81

• Missing the hyphen. eighty one is a very common misspelling. Write eighty-one.
• Mixing words and figures. In running text keep to one style: eighty-one or 81, not 81 (eighty-one) unless it is a legal document.

Other ways to write 81