You alrea­dy know that in a whole number, each digit has a place and a value. Place ­values help us read numbers no matter how great (large) they are.

We want to read a four-digit number, but before we do, let's think about numbers and their place values.

In numbers like 486, there are three digits, each with a different place value. The first digit is the hundreds place, which tells you that the number has 4 hundreds. We call the middle digit the tens place, which shows that the number has 8 tens. The last digit, 6, is the ones place. If you break it down, here's what it would look like: 400 plus 80 plus 6 (400 + 80 + 6). (You will sometimes see the terms "ones column", "tens column", and "hundreds column" used.)

When put together, it reads "four hundred eighty-six." Reading numbers with only a few digits is simple. How about reading numbers greater numbers, for examples numbers with four digits? It might look tricky, but here's an easy way to do it.

First, know that in a four-digit whole number, the place value of the leftmost digit is the thousands place (thousands column). To have a clearer picture, add one digit to 486 to make it a four-digit number. Then write it down and label each digit with its place value. Let's use 3,486.

3,000 + 400 + 80 + 6 = 3,486.

Our example now has four digits. Three becomes the thousands place.

Now let's read a four-digit number. Look at the comma. Notice that it comes after the 3 in the thousands place. To read this number, say the number before the comma aloud, and then say "thousand." What's the number before the comma? Right-it's 3. So you say this as "three thousand."

Next, say the last three digits as before. So you say, "four hundred eighty-six."

Finally, read the whole thousands number aloud.

You did it! You read 3,486 as "three thousand, four hundred eighty-six."