Grade 4: Place Value & Large Numbers
Every digit in a number has a place, and that place tells you its value. As you move left, each place is worth 10 times the place to its right — ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, and all the way up to millions. Use the explorer below to build a large number and watch its value change.
The Place Value Chart
We read big numbers by grouping the digits into threes from the right: the ones group, the thousands group, then the millions group. The commas mark those groups.
Tap the arrows to change any digit, and watch the number, its words, and its expanded form update.
Reading the Value of a Digit
The same digit is worth very different amounts depending on the place it sits in. Read each number digit by digit — notice how the value gets ten times smaller with every step to the right.
- 3is in the millions place3,000,000
- 4is in the hundred-thousands place400,000
- 8is in the ten-thousands place80,000
- 2is in the thousands place2,000
- 1is in the hundreds place100
- 7is in the tens place70
- 5is in the ones place5
- 5is in the millions place5,000,000
- 2is in the hundred-thousands place200,000
- 0is in the ten-thousands place0
- 6is in the thousands place6,000
- 9is in the hundreds place900
- 3is in the tens place30
- 8is in the ones place8
- 4is in the ten-thousands place40,000
- 7is in the thousands place7,000
- 6is in the hundreds place600
- 0is in the tens place0
- 5is in the ones place5
Test Yourself
Each exam below has 10 place-value questions, and your answer is checked the moment you tap it — with a sound for right and wrong. There are 15 exams in all, so there is plenty of practice.
- Place Value & Large Numbers (this lesson)
- Multi-Digit Multiplication
- Long Division
- Factors, Multiples & Primes
- Equivalent & Comparing Fractions
- Decimals: Tenths & Hundredths
- Angles & Lines
- Area & Perimeter
Frequently Asked Questions
What is place value?
Place value is the value a digit has because of its position in a number. For example, the 5 in 500 is worth five hundred, but the 5 in 50 is worth fifty.
How do I read a large number?
Split the digits into groups of three from the right (ones, thousands, millions). Read each group and add the group name, for example "three million, four hundred eighty-two thousand, one hundred seventy-five".
What is expanded form?
Expanded form writes a number as the sum of the value of each digit, such as 300 + 40 + 5 for the number 345.