Commas, the Indian way

The idea

In the Indian system, commas group the digits in a 3-2-2-2… pattern from right to left, giving the places thousands, lakhs, crores, and so on.

A number without commas

Here is a number with no commas: 1278830. It is hard to read at a glance.

Where do you think the commas should go to make it easy to read?

• 1,278,830
• 12,78,830
• 1,27,88,30

Place the commas

Tap between two digits to put a comma there. Tap again to take it away. Start counting from the right.

3 digits, then 2, 2, 2…

In the Indian system, commas group the digits as 3-2-2-2… from the right: the first comma after 3 digits, then after every 2 digits. The places are thousands, lakhs, crores…

So 12,78,830 is read: twelve lakh seventy eight thousand eight hundred thirty.

• 12 | 78 | 830
• lakhs | thousands | hundreds, tens, ones

Notes

In the Indian system, commas group the digits in a 3-2-2-2… pattern from right to left, giving the places thousands, lakhs, crores, and so on.

Check yourself

Which is the Indian way to write 4506000?

Write five lakh twenty thousand as a plain number (with or without commas).

Answer: 520000

5,20,000: the group 5 is lakhs, 20 is thousands, then 000.

In 12,78,830, what does the group 78 stand for?

• 45,06,000 — correct. Yes! From the right: 000, then 06, then 45. That is 3-2-2.
• 4,506,000. That groups by 3 every time. It is the American way. In the Indian system, after the first 3 digits we group by 2.
• 4,50,60,00. The commas must be counted from the right, not the left. From the right: 000, then 06, then 45.
• 78 lakh. The lakhs group is the one before it: 12 lakh.
• 78 hundred. The last 3 digits are the hundreds, tens and ones. 78 sits one group higher: thousands.
• 78 thousand — correct. Yes! The group just before the last 3 digits is the thousands.