Million, milliard or billion?

Level: Intermediate B1

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Confused about millions, milliards and billions?!
Read on! 

Millions and billions

The long and short scales are two large-number naming systems used throughout the world. Many countries, including most in continental Europe, use the long scale whereas most English-speaking countries and Arabic-speaking countries use the short scale.

Long scale is the English translation of the French term échelle longue. It refers to a system of large-number names in which every new term greater than million is a million times the previous term. Thus, billion means a million millions (10¹²), trillion means a million billions (10¹⁸), and so on.

Short scale is the English translation of the French term échelle courte. It refers to a system of large-number names in which every new term greater than million is 1,000 times the previous term. Thus, billion means a thousand millions (10⁹), trillion means a thousand billions (10¹²), and so on

For integers less than a thousand million (<10⁹), the two scales are identical. At and above a thousand million (≥10⁹), the two scales diverge by using the same words for different number values. These "false friends" can be a source of misunderstanding!

For most of the 19th and 20th centuries, the UK used the long scale, while the USA used the short scale. In 1974, the UK government switched to the short scale.

Scientific         Numerals               Short Scale                 Long Scale

notation                                         (English)                      (non-English)

10⁰                   1                                       one                              one

10¹                   10                                     ten                               ten

10²                   100                                   hundred                       hundred

10³                   1,000                                thousand                     thousand

10⁴                   10,000                              ten thousand               ten thousand

10⁵                   100,000                            hundred thousand       hundred thousand

10⁶                   1,000,000                         million                         million

10⁹                   1,000,000,000                  billion                          thousand million/milliard

10¹²                  1,000,000,000,000           trillion                          billion

Adapted from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_and_short_scales#English_language-speaking_countries_and_regions_.5Bshortscale_note_1.5D