Last weekend, the latest Marvel movie, “Avengers: Endgame” opened in many movie theaters around the world.  This movie has been VERY popular and it is setting records.  From the opening until April 28th, the ticket sales have been amazing.

Some examples (in US dollars):
Japan: $13,000,000
The US: $357,000,000
Global total:  $1,200,000,000

Talking about topics like money and business is a good way to practice English.  How do you say big numbers?

Remember these large numbers:
xxx,000 = xxx thousand
xxx,000,000 = xxx million
xxx,000,000,000 = xxx billion
xxx,000,000,000,000 = xxx trillion

In English, the names for numbers move up by three digits, not four like in Japanese.  Separate the numbers by the commas ( , ). So 10,000 is ten (10) thousand (x ,000).  Think of it like 10千, not 1万. And 100,000,000 is one hundred (100) million (x ,000,000).

Now let’s look at the numbers for “Avengers:  Endgame.”  Japan had thirteen million dollars of ticket sales.  The U.S. had three hundred fifty-seven million dollars, and the global total was one billion, two hundred million dollars.

Also, there is another way to say very large numbers.  We can change $1,200,000,000 to $1.2 billion dollars.  When we say numbers out loud, a period “ . ” is called “point.”  So, $1.2 billion is “one point two billion dollars.”

Will “Avengers: Endgame” become the most successful movies of all time?  I think it will.  The record holder now is “Avatar,” which earned close to two point eight billion dollars.  Can you imagine that number?

Avengers: Endgame アベンジャーズ/エンドゲーム
latest                           最新
around the world     世界中で
to set a record           記録を更新する
example                      例え
digit                             桁