How to Convert a Given Number to Words in PHP?

Last Updated : 23 Jul, 2025

Given an integer N, your task is to convert the given number into words using PHP.

Examples:

Input: N = 958237764
Output: Nine Hundred Fifty Eight Million Two Hundred Thirty Seven Thousand Seven Hundred Sixty Four

Input: N = 5000
Output: Five Thousand

Below are the approaches to convert a given number to words:

Table of Content

Using Array
Using Iterative Approach
Using Recursive Function for Large Numbers

Using Array

In this method we use arrays and loops to convert numbers to words. It processes the given number by breaking it down into its individual digits and constructs the word representation by concatenating the corresponding words from the arrays.

Example: Below is the implementation of the above approach to convert a given number to words.

PHP

<?php
function convert_to_words_array($number)
{
    $words = array(
        '0' => 'Zero', '1' => 'One', '2' => 'Two',
        '3' => 'Three', '4' => 'Four', '5' => 'Five',
        '6' => 'Six', '7' => 'Seven', '8' => 'Eight',
        '9' => 'Nine', '10' => 'Ten', '11' => 'Eleven',
        '12' => 'Twelve', '13' => 'Thirteen', '14' => 'Fourteen',
        '15' => 'Fifteen', '16' => 'Sixteen', '17' => 'Seventeen',
        '18' => 'Eighteen', '19' => 'Nineteen', '20' => 'Twenty',
        '30' => 'Thirty', '40' => 'Forty', '50' => 'Fifty', '60' => 'Sixty',
        '70' => 'Seventy', '80' => 'Eighty', '90' => 'Ninety'
    );

    if ($number <= 20) {
        return $words[$number];
    }
    elseif ($number < 100) {
        return $words[10 * floor($number / 10)]
            . ($number % 10 > 0 ? ' ' . $words[$number % 10] : '');
    }
    else {
        $output = '';
        if ($number >= 1000000000) {
            $output .= convert_to_words_array(floor($number / 1000000000))
                . ' Billion ';
            $number %= 1000000000;
        }
        if ($number >= 1000000) {
            $output .= convert_to_words_array(floor($number / 1000000))
                . ' Million ';
            $number %= 1000000;
        }
        if ($number >= 1000) {
            $output .= convert_to_words_array(floor($number / 1000))
                . ' Thousand ';
            $number %= 1000;
        }
        if ($number >= 100) {
            $output .= convert_to_words_array(floor($number / 100))
                . ' Hundred ';
            $number %= 100;
        }
        if ($number > 0) {
            $output .= ($number <= 20) ? $words[$number] :
            $words[10 * floor($number / 10)] . ' '
                . ($number % 10 > 0 ? $words[$number % 10] : '');
        }
        return trim($output); 
    }
}

echo convert_to_words_array(958237764);
?>

Output

Nine Hundred Fifty Eight Million Two Hundred Thirty Seven Thousand Seven Hundred Sixty Four

Time Complexity: O(N), where N is the number of digits in the number

Auxiliary Space: O(1)

Using Iterative Approach

In this approach we use an iterative approach without recursion. It handles the number by breaking it down into segments (billions, millions, thousands, and hundreds) and converting each segment to words.

Example: Below is the implementation of the above approach to convert a given number to words

PHP

<?php
function numberToWords($num)
{
    if ($num == 0) {
        return "Zero";
    }


    $words = array(
        "One",
        "Two",
        "Three",
        "Four",
        "Five",
        "Six",
        "Seven",
        "Eight",
        "Nine",
        "Ten",
        "Eleven",
        "Twelve",
        "Thirteen",
        "Fourteen",
        "Fifteen",
        "Sixteen",
        "Seventeen",
        "Eighteen",
        "Nineteen"
    );

    $tens = array(
        "Twenty",
        "Thirty",
        "Forty",
        "Fifty",
        "Sixty",
        "Seventy",
        "Eighty",
        "Ninety"
    );

    $thousands = array(
        "",
        "Thousand",
        "Million",
        "Billion"
    );

    $words_str = "";
    $segment = 0;

    while ($num > 0) {
        $chunk = $num % 1000;
        if ($chunk != 0) {
            $chunk_words = "";
            if ($chunk >= 100) {
                $chunk_words .= $words[(int) ($chunk / 100) - 1]
                    . " Hundred ";
                $chunk %= 100;
            }

            if ($chunk >= 20) {
                $chunk_words .= $tens[(int) ($chunk / 10) - 2] . " ";
                $chunk %= 10;
            }

            if ($chunk > 0) {
                $chunk_words .= $words[$chunk - 1] . " ";
            }

            $words_str = trim($chunk_words) . " "
                . $thousands[$segment] . " " . $words_str;
        }

        $num = (int) ($num / 1000);
        $segment++;
    }

    return trim($words_str);
}

$num1 = 958237764;
$num2 = 55000000;

echo "Input: $num1\n";
echo "Output: " . numberToWords($num1) . "\n\n";

echo "Input: $num2\n";
echo "Output: " . numberToWords($num2) . "\n";

Output

Input: 958237764
Output: Nine Hundred Fifty Eight Million Two Hundred Thirty Seven Thousand Seven Hundred Sixty Four

Input: 55000000
Output: Fifty Five Million

Time Complexity: O(N), where N is the number of digits in the number.

Auxiliary Space: O(1)

Using Recursive Function for Large Numbers

In this approach we use recursive function to break down the number into smaller parts, such as hundreds, thousands, or millions, and recursively converting each part into words and combining them.

Example: Below is the implementation of the above approach to convert a given number to words

PHP

<?php

function convert_to_words($number)
{

    $words = array(
        0 => 'Zero',
        1 => 'One',
        2 => 'Two',
        3 => 'Three',
        4 => 'Four',
        5 => 'Five',
        6 => 'Six',
        7 => 'Seven',
        8 => 'Eight',
        9 => 'Nine',
        10 => 'Ten',
        11 => 'Eleven',
        12 => 'Twelve',
        13 => 'Thirteen',
        14 => 'Fourteen',
        15 => 'Fifteen',
        16 => 'Sixteen',
        17 => 'Seventeen',
        18 => 'Eighteen',
        19 => 'Nineteen',
        20 => 'Twenty',
        30 => 'Thirty',
        40 => 'Forty',
        50 => 'Fifty',
        60 => 'Sixty',
        70 => 'Seventy',
        80 => 'Eighty',
        90 => 'Ninety'
    );


    if ($number <= 20) {
        return $words[$number];
    } elseif ($number < 100) {
        return $words[10 * floor($number / 10)]
            . ($number % 10 > 0 ? ' ' . $words[$number % 10] : '');
    } elseif ($number < 1000) {
        return $words[floor($number / 100)] .
            ' Hundred' . ($number % 100 > 0 ? ' and '
            . convert_to_words($number % 100) : '');
    } elseif ($number < 1000000) {
        return convert_to_words(floor($number / 1000))
            . ' Thousand' . ($number % 1000 > 0 ? ' '
            . convert_to_words($number % 1000) : '');
    } elseif ($number < 1000000000) {
        return convert_to_words(floor($number / 1000000))
            . ' Million' . ($number % 1000000 > 0 ? ' '
            . convert_to_words($number % 1000000) : '');
    } else {
        return convert_to_words(floor($number / 1000000000))
            . ' Billion' . ($number % 1000000000 > 0 ? ' '
            . convert_to_words($number % 1000000000) : '');
    }
}

echo convert_to_words(958237764);

Output

Nine Hundred and Fifty Eight Million Two Hundred and Thirty Seven Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty Four

Time Complexity: O(N)

Auxiliary Space: O(N)

PHP Syntax

abhaystriver

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Article Tags :

How to Convert a Given Number to Words in PHP?

Using Array

Using Iterative Approach

Using Recursive Function for Large Numbers

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