: How do you write a large number in a sentence? I was there for 45,400,000 (forty-five million, four hundred thousand) seconds I was there for 45,400,000, forty-five million, four hundred thousand, seconds?

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I would probably do either just the number or just the words. My fourth grade teacher told us that numbers under fifteen have to be told with words, and it doesn't matter for larger numbers. I'd probably go with just words.

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For a scientific work, I would go with something more like scientific notation:

4.54 * 10^7 (four point five four times ten to the seven)

Many engineers prefer to use only power of three exponents (3, 6, 12, 21, etc...), so then it would become:

45.4 * 10^6 (forty five point four times ten to the six)

For something less formal (where it should be okay to only use one or two decimal places any way), perhaps:

45.4 million (forty five point four million)

Personally, I can't imagine an informal situation that requires a full long hand wording of a number unless, perhaps, for the purpose of some unique rhyming or prose cadence. In this case, it would be most important to write it in a flowing lyrical manner that 'sounds good' in context rather than adhere to strict grammatical conventions.