12. Numbers

Cardinal numbers

These numbers are often confused. Notice that if we pronounce them singly, the stress changes.

16, 60	sixteen, sixty
17, 70	seventeen, seventy

In British English we say and before the tens in large numbers. This is left out in US English.

465	four hundred (and) sixty-five
701	seven hundred (and) one

A comma is often written to separate the thousands in numbers over 999.

3,986

three thousand nine hundred and eighty-six

We sometimes say a instead of one in large numbers.

1,000,000

a million

British and US English differ in the pronunciation of these very large numbers.

1,000,000,000	a thousand million (British English) a billion (US English)
1,000,000,000,000	a billion (British English) a trillion (US English)

However, many British companies are now adopting the US usage, so if in doubt, check.

Some British newspapers have started to adopt the European term milliard to refer to a thousand million, but many British people are still unfamiliar with the term.

Long numbers

In long numbers such as phone, fax, bank account, or credit card numbers, we pronounce the figures individually.

720844

seven two oh, eight double four

We generally group the numbers in threes, rather than in twos as is common in Europe.

seven two oh / eight double four

Money

Although the money signs are written in front of the numbers, we generally say them after the numbers.

FF56	fifty-six French francs
$4m	four million dollars
¥92bn	ninety-two billion yen

Do not make this common mistake:

Ninety-two billions of yen

We pronounce years in two halves.

1996	nineteen ninety-six

But we pronounce the year two thousand whole.

2001	two thousand and one

Dates

In British English the and of are spoken but not written.

25^th April 1954

The twenty-fifth of April, nineteen fifty-four or April the twenty-fifth, nineteen fifty-four

In US English the date is generally written with the month first and the date second. The and of are not usually used in the spoken form.

May 16 1996

May sixteenth, nineteen ninety-six

This can lead to misunderstandings when dates are given in figures only.

10.12.1995

The tenth of December nineteen-ninety-five (British English)

October twelfth, nineteen ninety-five (US English)

Times

A simple way to tell the time is to say the numbers.

7.30 3.45 1.20

seven thirty three forty-five one twenty

Alternatively, you can say:

Half past seven, a quarter to four, twenty past one

In US English, you can choose between two different prepositions.

Half past / after seven, quarter to / of four, twenty past / after one

We do not usually use the twenty-four hour clock unless we are talking about plane or train timetables.

14.00

The meeting is at two o’clock The train leaves at fourteen hundred hours

Fractions

½ ¾ 1^2/3

a half three-quarters one and two-thirds

Decimal fractions

In British and US English, a point is used when writing decimals, not a comma as is common in Europe.

6.9	six point nine

0 is pronounced ‘oh’ after the point and ‘nought’ before the point in British English and ‘zero’ or ‘oh’ in US English.

8.07	eight point oh seven (British English) eight point zero seven (US English)
0.6	nought point six (British English) point six (US English)

The numbers after the point are pronounced individually.

24.35

twenty-four point three five

Measurements

62 km	sixty-two kilometers
14 ½ cm	fourteen and a half centimeters
6m x 9m	six meters by nine meters

Temperatures were traditionally measured in the Fahrenheit scale. Although the Celsius or centigrade scale is now officially in use, the Fahrenheit scale is still used informally for non-scientific purposes in Great Britain and the United States.

92°F	ninety-two degrees Fahrenheit
– 4°C	minus four degrees Celsius / centigrade

Sums

15 + 6 = 21	fifteen plus / and six equals twenty one
32 – 24	thirty two minus / take away / less / subtract twenty four
6 × 8	six multiplied by eight / times eight
28 ÷ 7	twenty-eight divided by seven
5^2	five squared
√9	the square root of nine

Sports results

‘Zero’ in US English is usually pronounced oh or nought in British English. But in sports results, it can also be pronounced nil or love.

Football:

Real Madrid three; Ajax Amsterdam nil.

Tennis:

And it’s Becker to serve with the score at fifteen love.

13. Choose the correct way of pronouncing the numbers in these sentences.

1.	The government have announced a 1,5% reduction in interest rates.
		a) ‘one point five’ b) ‘one comma five’
2.	Have you seen the film ‘2001 – A Space Odyssey’?
		a) ‘twenty oh one’ b) ‘two thousand and one’
3.	Give me a ring. My number’s Oxford 932811.
		a) ‘nine-three two eight double one’ b) ‘ninety-three, twenty-eight, eleven’
4.	The reception area in the new building will be 10m x 15m.
		a) ‘ten metres times fifteen’ b) ‘ten metres by fifteen’
5.	Fritz Gross joined the company in 1947.
		a) ‘nineteen hundred and forty-seven’ b) ‘nineteen forty-seven’
6.	In some countries higher earners pay out 2/3 of their salaries in tax.
		a) ‘two-third’ b) ‘two-threes’
7.	Our tax year ends on April 30.
		a) ‘April the thirtieth’ b) ‘April thirty’
8.	Nicaragua’s GNP is approximately $2,000,000,000.
		a) ‘two million thousand dollars’ b) ‘two thousand million dollars’
9.	The optimum operating temperature for this equipment is – 8°C.
		a) ‘below eight degrees centigrade’ b) ‘minus eight degrees centigrade’
10.	The world cup final ended in a 0 – 0 draw.
		a) ‘nil – nil’ b) ‘zero – zero’

14. Read and write the following figures in full.

Example:

333 – three hundred and thirty-three.

a)	35; 700; 268; 40931; 1175.
b)	1954; 1961; с 1954 по 1960; 1812; 2005.
c)	1/4; 3/7; 2,58; 8,07; 0,6; 5^2.
d)	90%; 1см; 140км/ч; 29°С.