Place Value to Thousands

What is place value?

Every number is built from digits: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.

But the same digit can mean very different amounts. The place a digit sits in tells you what it is worth. This idea is called place value.

You already know two places from Place Value: Tens and Ones. Now we add two more places so we can read numbers all the way up to 9,999.

The four places

In a 4-digit number, there are four places. Reading from the right, each place is ten times bigger than the one before it.

Place	Worth	Example digit	Means
Ones	1	2	2
Tens	10	8	80
Hundreds	100	4	400
Thousands	1,000	3	3,000

Why ten times? Our number system is built on groups of ten. Ten ones make one ten. Ten tens make one hundred. Ten hundreds make one thousand. This pattern never stops, which is why the same ten digits can build any number.

Reading a 4-digit number

Take the number 3,482.

• The 3 is in the thousands place → 3 thousands = 3,000.
• The 4 is in the hundreds place → 4 hundreds = 400.
• The 8 is in the tens place → 8 tens = 80.
• The 2 is in the ones place → 2 ones = 2.

Now add the parts together:

3,000 + 400 + 80 + 2 = 3,482

We read it as "three thousand, four hundred and eighty-two."

The place-value chart

A chart lines up the digits so you can see each place clearly.

Number	Thousands	Hundreds	Tens	Ones
1,256	1	2	5	6
4,609	4	6	0	9
7,000	7	0	0	0
2,073	2	0	7	3

Notice the zeros. In 4,609 the zero sits in the tens place. It tells us there are no tens, but it must stay there to keep the 6 in the hundreds place and the 9 in the ones place. Without the zero, the number would shrink to 469 — a completely different value. A zero is a place-holder.

Worked example 1: build the number

Build the number with 5 thousands, 3 hundreds, 0 tens and 9 ones.

1. 5 thousands = 5 × 1,000 = 5,000
2. 3 hundreds = 3 × 100 = 300
3. 0 tens = 0
4. 9 ones = 9
5. Add them: 5,000 + 300 + 0 + 9 = 5,309

So the number is 5,309. The 0 keeps the tens place empty.

Worked example 2: expanded form

Write 6,150 in expanded form.

Expanded form means splitting a number into the value of each digit.

1. The 6 is 6 thousands = 6,000
2. The 1 is 1 hundred = 100
3. The 5 is 5 tens = 50
4. The 0 is 0 ones = 0

So: 6,150 = 6,000 + 100 + 50

We can leave out the 0 because adding zero changes nothing.

Worked example 3: comparing numbers

Which is bigger, 3,190 or 3,099?

To compare, line them up and check each place from the left (the biggest place first):

1. Thousands: both have 3. Tied — keep going.
2. Hundreds: 3,190 has 1; 3,099 has 0. 1 is more than 0.

As soon as one number wins a place, you can stop. So 3,190 > 3,099.

Why check from the left? The leftmost place is worth the most. A single thousand outweighs every hundred, ten and one combined, so the biggest place decides first.

Try it yourself

Grab a pencil and paper, or use coins and counters.

• Write 2,407 and say what each digit is worth.
• Build the number with 8 thousands, 8 hundreds, 8 tens and 8 ones. (Answer: 8,888.)
• Put these in order from smallest to largest: 1,205, 1,250, 1,025.

Check the last one: line up the thousands (all 1), then hundreds — 1,025 has 0, the others have 2, so 1,025 is smallest. The order is 1,025, 1,205, 1,250.

Great job!

You can now read, build and compare numbers up to the thousands. This is the foundation for adding and subtracting big numbers.

When you are ready, see how place value powers Column Addition with Carrying, or shrink and grow numbers with Multiplying by 10, 100 and 1000.