Chapter 1: What's in a Name?

Have you ever wondered why we say "twenty-one" and not "one-twenty"? Names of numbers carry hidden clues about how big they are. In this chapter, we play with these names and meet our number friends from 1 all the way to 99 and beyond.

What we'll learn

• Read and say number names from 1 to 99 confidently.
• Spot the pattern in number names like twenty, thirty, forty.
• Compare two numbers and tell which is bigger.
• Notice how counting in tens makes life easier.
• Use number names in everyday Indian situations.

The big idea

Numbers are not just squiggles on a page. Each number has a name that tells a small story. "Twenty-three" really means "two tens and three more." If you can hear that story, the number stops being scary.

When we line up beads on a thread or marigolds on a garland, we usually group them in tens. Ten is a friendly bundle. Two such bundles make twenty, three make thirty, and so on. The "-ty" ending in twenty, thirty, forty whispers the word "ten" to us.

Some numbers have special, old names , eleven, twelve, thirteen. They do not follow the neat rule, but they have been our friends for a long time. Once you cross twenty, the rule becomes simple again: twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three.

Bigger numbers are not harder; they are just longer. If you can say "forty-five", you can also say "ninety-nine". The rule is the same , first say the tens, then the ones.

Let's explore

Bead bundles. Take 47 small beads or pebbles. Put them in piles of ten. How many full piles did you make? How many beads were left over? Say the number name aloud.

Name the date. Look at today's date on a calendar. Say the number two ways , first as "twenty-six" and then as "two tens and six ones". Do this every morning for a week.

Auto number game. Next time you sit in an auto-rickshaw, read its number plate. Say each number aloud. Are any of them bigger than 50? Smaller than 20?

Phone book pages. Open any page in a notebook with page numbers. Pick two pages. Which page number is bigger? By how much?

Worked examples

Example 1. Write the number name for 38.

• 38 has 3 tens and 8 ones.
• 3 tens is "thirty".
• So 38 is "thirty-eight".

Example 2. Which is bigger: 64 or 46?

• 64 has 6 tens. 46 has 4 tens.
• 6 tens is more than 4 tens.
• So 64 is bigger than 46.

Example 3. Asha picked 27 mangoes. Ravi picked 32 mangoes. Who picked more?

• 27 has 2 tens, 32 has 3 tens.
• 3 tens is more.
• Ravi picked more mangoes.

Quick check

1. Write the number name for 19, 50, and 88.
2. Which is bigger: 71 or 17?
3. How many tens and ones are in 56?
4. Write a number that comes between 40 and 50.
5. Meena has 45 bangles. Geeta has 54 bangles. Who has more?

Recap

• Numbers from 20 to 99 are read as "tens" then "ones".
• A bigger number of tens always means a bigger number.
• Eleven, twelve, thirteen are old special names , learn them by heart.