Numbers 1–999 Have This in Common

You can write all the numbers from 1 to 999 without using the letter 'a.'

Go ahead, try it. One, two, three… ten, twenty, thirty… ninety-nine, one hundred, two hundred, nine hundred ninety-nine — still no “a.” It’s one of those weird, delightful quirks of the English language.

The reason? Most of our number words below one thousand are built with shorter roots — “one,” “two,” “thirty,” “hundred” — none of which require an “a.” But once you say “one thousand,” there it is, sneaking in like it owns the place.

Think about this: The word “thousand” is the only basic number name under a million that contains the letter “a.” Even big, showy numbers like ninety-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine only include “a” once — and only because of “thousand.”

This little fact is a favorite among word nerds and puzzle lovers. It’s a perfect blend of language and math — a kind of hidden pattern hiding in plain sight.

So the next time your kid’s learning numbers, ask them to write down or say every number up to 999 and look for the letter “a.” They’ll be surprised it never shows up — and curious to know why.