Thirty-Eight Thousand in Numbers

How to write 38,000 in words

The number 38,000 is written “thirty-eight thousand” in British English. The hyphen in thirty-eight is not optional – every compound number from twenty-one to ninety-nine is hyphenated.

Because 38,000 is below one thousand it is a single group: name the hundreds and stop. That gives “thirty-eight thousand”.

In running text the number is normally lowercase: “the fee is thirty-eight thousand pounds”. At the start of a sentence, in a heading, or on a legal document it takes capitals: Thirty-Eight Thousand. Formal documents often give both forms together, for example “thirty-eight thousand (38,000)”, so that a reader can check one against the other.

3 words · 19 letters · 38,000 = 38 × 1,000 (one thousand)

Thirty-Eight Thousand in figures

To turn “thirty-eight thousand” back into digits, work group by group. Each group word (billion, million, thousand) marks a block of three digits. The result is 38,000, or 38000 without separators.

Commas go after every third digit counting from the right: 38,000. In Britain and the United States this is the standard grouping; in much of Europe the same number appears as 38.000, and international scientific style uses spaces: 38 000.

How to write 38,000 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 – “Thirty-eight thousand pounds and fifty pence only” for £38,000.50 – or write the pence as a fraction, “Thirty-eight thousand pounds 50/100”.
• US check: “Thirty-eight thousand 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 thirty-eight thousand only”, with the figure written Tk. 38,000/=.

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.

38,000 in British and American English

38,000 is spelled exactly the same way – “thirty-eight thousand” – 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.

38,000 in Bangla (বাংলায় ৩৮,০০০)

In Bangla, 38,000 is written ৩৮,০০০ using Bengali digits, and in words it is আটত্রিশ হাজার. 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 আটত্রিশ হাজার টাকা মাত্র (“আটত্রিশ হাজার taka only”). In English on the same cheque it is Taka thirty-eight thousand only – see How to write a cheque in Bangladesh.

Common mistakes when writing 38,000

• Missing the hyphen. thirty eight thousand is a very common misspelling. Write thirty-eight thousand.
• Pluralising the group words. It is thousand, never “hundreds”, “thousands” or “millions” after a number.
• Using shorthand in formal documents. 38k is fine in a message, but a cheque or contract needs thirty-eight thousand or 38,000.
• Miscounting the zeros. 38,000 has 5 digits. Check the commas: every group between commas should have exactly three digits.

Other ways to write 38,000

Half of 38,000 is 19,000 (nineteen thousand). Double 38,000 is 76,000 (seventy-six thousand).