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Ninety eight or Ninety-eight?

Ninety eight or ninety-eight?

In this article we show you how to write 98 in English words correctly.

In addition, we provide you with the grammar rule right away. 🙂

Regardless of where they appear in a number, hyphenate all compound numbers between 21 and 99 (not 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90) such as 98. In other words:

Hyphenate all numbers between twenty-one and ninety-nine, except those divisible by ten, even if the compound number is preceded or succeeded by numbers that do not require hyphens.
Thus, the correct spelling of 98 is ninety-eight (hyphenated).

Along the same lines:
  • 98,000 = ninety-eight thousand (hyphenated).
  • 98,000,000 = ninety-eight million (hyphenated).
  • 98,000,000,000 = ninety-eight billion (hyphenated).

Ninety-eight or Ninety eight Spelling

It doesn’t matter which noun follows the adjective, the grammar rule explained above remains in place.

In the examples below the correct spelling is underlined.

Ninety eight years or ninety-eight years?
Ninety eight percent or ninety-eight percent?
Ninety eight hours or ninety-eight hours?

Frequently Asked Questions about Ninety Eight

Does ninety eight have a hyphen?

Yes, 98 has a hyphen and is spelled correctly as ninety-eight.

Do you hyphenate ninety eight?

Yes, you put a hyphen between ninety and eight: ninety-eight.

Does ninety eight need a hyphen?

As 98 is a compound number in between 21 and 99 it needs a hyphen; therefore writing 98 in full is ninety-eight.

In the table below we show you the correct spelling of some numbers succeeding and precededing 98:
NumberName
93ninety-three
94ninety-four
95ninety-five
96ninety-six
97ninety-seven
98ninety-eight
99ninety-nine
100one hundred
101one hundred one
102one hundred two
103one hundred three

Ninety eighth or Ninety-eighth?

In the following examples the correct spelling is underlined.

Ninety eighth part or ninety-eighth part?
Ninety eighth day or ninety-eighth day?
Ninety eighth hour or ninety-eighth hour?

Frequently Asked Questions about Ninety eighth

  • Does ninety eighth have a hyphen? Yes, the ordinal number for 98 has a hyphen and is spelled correctly as ninety-eighth.
  • Do you hyphenate ninety eighth? Yes, you put a hyphen between ninety and eighth: ninety-eighth.
  • Does ninety eighth need a hyphen? 98 is a compound number in between 21 and 99 which needs a hyphen. Thus, writing 98th in full is ninety-eighth.

Ninety eighth or Ninety-eight?

As you already know, 98 as cardinal numeral is ninety-eight, and 98 as ordinal numeral is ninety-eighth.

Thus, the question in the subtitle above mixes two distinguished linguistic concepts and cannot be answered as such.

Observe that you can always check how to spell a number in full correctly using our converter below.

English:

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British

To:

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Letter case:

Sentence case
lowercase
UPPERCASE
Title Case
Spelling: Ninety-eight

Summary

As explained by the hyphens-in-numbers rule, 98 = ninety-eight.

If you are happy with our information, then you may also be interested in our article twenty one or twenty-one.


We love to hear your feedback and answer any question about how to correctly write 98 you might have.

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– Article written by Mark, last updated on May 5th, 2023