LESSON: Decimal Place Value

READ: Decimals to Ten-Thousandths Place

Read and Write Decimals to Ten-Thousandths Place

How do we read a decimal? We read a decimal by using the words that show the place value of the last digit of the decimal. That may sound confusing, so let’s look at an example.

Example

.45

To help us read this decimal, we can put it into our place value chart.

Hundred	Tens	Ones		Tenths	Hundredths	Thousandths	Ten Thousandths
			.	4	5

We can read this decimal by using the place value of the last digit to the right of the decimal point. Normally, we would read this number as forty-five. Because it is a decimal, we read it with the place value of the last digit to the right of the decimal point. We read forty-five hundredths. The last digit is a five and it is in the hundredths place.

Can we use place value to write the number too? Yes we can. We write the number as we normally would.

Example

Forty-five

Next, we add the place value of the last digit to the right of the decimal point.

Forty-five hundredths

Our answer is forty-five hundredths.

We can use this method to read and write any decimal. What about a decimal with more digits?

Example

.5421

First, let’s put this number in our place value chart.

Hundred	Tens	Ones		Tenths	Hundredths	Thousandths	Ten Thousandths
			.	5	4	2	1

First, let’s read the number.We can look at the number without the decimal. It would read:

Five thousand four hundred twenty-one

Next we add the place value of the last digit

Ten thousandth

Five thousand four hundred and twenty-one ten thousandths

This is our answer.

It is also the way we write the number in words too. Notice that is it very important that we add the THS to the end of the place value when working with decimals