Five Thousand Five Hundred in Numbers

How to write 5,500 in words

The number 5,500 is written “five thousand five hundred” in British English.

The simplest method is to read the figure in groups of three digits from the left and name each group:

1. 5,000 is 5 in the thousands place, so we write “five thousand”.
2. 500 is what remains, written “five hundred”.
3. Join the groups in order, without “and” between them: “five thousand five hundred”.

In running text the number is normally lowercase: “the fee is five thousand five hundred pounds”. At the start of a sentence, in a heading, or on a legal document it takes capitals: Five Thousand Five Hundred. Formal documents often give both forms together, for example “five thousand five hundred (5,500)”, so that a reader can check one against the other.

4 words · 23 letters · 5,500 = 5.5 × 1,000 (one thousand)

Five Thousand Five Hundred in figures

To turn “five thousand five hundred” back into digits, work group by group. Each group word (billion, million, thousand) marks a block of three digits, so any block that is missing or short is padded with zeros. The result is 5,500, or 5500 without separators.

In expanded form: 5,000 + 500 = 5,500.

Commas go after every third digit counting from the right: 5,500. In Britain and the United States this is the standard grouping; in much of Europe the same number appears as 5.500, and international scientific style uses spaces: 5 500.

How to write 5,500 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 – “Five thousand five hundred pounds and fifty pence only” for £5,500.50 – or write the pence as a fraction, “Five thousand five hundred pounds 50/100”.
• US check: “Five thousand five hundred 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 five thousand five hundred only”, with the figure written Tk. 5,500/=.

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.

5,500 in British and American English

5,500 is spelled exactly the same way – “five thousand five hundred” – 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.

5,500 in Bangla (বাংলায় ৫,৫০০)

In Bangla, 5,500 is written ৫,৫০০ using Bengali digits, and in words it is পাঁচ হাজার পাঁচশো. 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 পাঁচ হাজার পাঁচশো টাকা মাত্র (“পাঁচ হাজার পাঁচশো taka only”). In English on the same cheque it is Taka five thousand five hundred only – see How to write a cheque in Bangladesh.

Common mistakes when writing 5,500

• Adding “and” between groups. five thousand and five hundred is wrong – “and” only follows the hundreds, never the word thousand or million.
• Pluralising the group words. It is thousand, hundred, never “hundreds”, “thousands” or “millions” after a number.
• Using shorthand in formal documents. 5.5k is fine in a message, but a cheque or contract needs five thousand five hundred or 5,500.
• Miscounting the zeros. 5,500 has 4 digits. Check the commas: every group between commas should have exactly three digits.

Other ways to write 5,500

Half of 5,500 is 2,750 (two thousand seven hundred and fifty). Double 5,500 is 11,000 (eleven thousand).