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FEATURE
A
wish beyond words
Richard Cauldwell calls for
a novel way of teaching
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COLUMNS
Language
Interference
Borrowings and
false friends between
Russian and English
 Focus
on Language
Awareness:
Introduction
Numbers
Writing and pronouncing
numbers
UK version ¦
US version
New
word of the month
New words in sport
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This article gives information about how
to say and write numbers in English. It also outlines some of the differences
in the use of numbers between American and British English.
•
Numbers from One to a Million
• Ways of Saying the
Number 0
• Fractions and Decimals
• Writing Periods and
Commas in Numbers
• Dates
• Money
• Phone Numbers
• Route and Road Numbers
Numbers
from One to a Million
| one |
| twenty-one |
| eighty-four |
| a/one hundred |
| two hundred |
American English four hundred thirty-two
British English four hundred and thirty-two |
| a/one thousand |
| a/one thousand and one |
| one thousand one hundred/eleven hundred
|
| two thousand |
American English two thousand nine hundred
thirty-two
British English two thousand nine hundred and thirty-two |
three thousand one hundred
American English also thirty-one hundred |
| a/one hundred thousand |
| a/one million |
You can say a hundred and fifty (150), but NOT
two thousand a hundred and fifty
(2,150). Say two thousand one hundred and fifty. People often use
a instead of one in conversation, but it is better to use
one in technical contexts.
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Ways
of Saying the Number 0
You can pronounce 0 like the letter o, when you are giving
a series of numbers such as a credit card number or a flight number. (See
also the sections on Phone Numbers and Road
Numbers).
Say oh in giving the name of a year, such as 1904 ("nineteen
oh four").
American English: Say zero.
British English: Say nought or zero.
American English: Say zero to refer to 0° Fahrenheit.
British English: Say zero to refer to freezing point (0° Celsius
or -32° Fahrenheit).
American English: Say zero or nothing.
British English: Say nil.
In tennis: Say love.
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Fractions
and Decimals
| a half |
| two and a half |
| a quarter |
three quarters
American English also three fourths |
American English
zero point five
British English nought point five |
| two point five |
American English zero point two five
British English nought point two five |
American English zero point seven five
British English nought point seven five |
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Writing
Periods and Commas in Numbers
Use a period (.) to separate the main part of a
number from the decimal part (the part that is less than 1). 2.031
means "two point zero three one".
Say point to refer to the period. You can use a
comma (,) in large numbers to separate the hundreds, thousands,
and millions. 2,031
means "two thousand and thirty-one". In British English, spaces
are sometimes used instead of commas (2 031).
Remember:
Speakers of some other languages use (.) and (,) the other way around.
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Dates
American English: Write June 3/June 3rd.
Say 'June third'.
British English: Write 3 June/3rd June/June 3/June
3rd. Say 'the third of June' or 'June the third'.
3/6 (or 03/06) means March 6 in American
English, and 3 June in British English. British and American speakers
put the month and day in different orders.
| ten sixty-six |
| sixteen oh five |
| seventeen seventy-six |
| nineteen hundred |
| nineteen ninety-nine |
| (the year) two thousand |
two thousand and one
American English also two thousand one |
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Money
These are some common ways of saying amounts of money.
American speakers talk about money in the following way:
| forty-five cents |
| a dollar |
| a dollar fifty |
| two dollars |
| two dollars and fifty-five cents or two
fifty-five |
| a/one hundred dollars |
| a/one hundred fifteen dollars and ninety-nine
cents or a/one hundred fifteen, ninety-nine |
| two hundred (and) fifty dollars or two
fifty dollars |
| two thousand six hundred eighty-two dollars
and seventy-four cents |
British speakers talk about money in the following way:
| forty-five p or forty-five pence |
| one pound |
| one pound fifty or one fifty |
| two pounds |
| two pounds fifty-five or two fifty-five |
| a/one hundred pounds |
| a hundred and fifteen pounds, ninety-nine
p/pence |
| two hundred and fifty pounds or two fifty
pounds |
| two thousand six hundred and eighty-two
pounds, seventy-four p/pence |
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Phone Numbers
Say phone numbers as series of numbers, with pauses between
the groups of numbers. For example, say 555-8473 as five five five
eight four seven three or five five five, eighty-four seventy-three;
and say (555) 876-0934 as five five five, eight seven six,
oh nine three four.
American English: People often say "area code" before
the first part of the number, which represents the area where they live;
for example, area code five five five, six three two, nine eight two
one (=(555) 632-9821).
British English: For phone numbers like 5155, people
often say five one double five. For numbers like 1555, people often
say one treble five or one five double five.
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Route and
Road Numbers
These are some common ways of saying the numbers of routes
or roads.
| American English |
| one oh one |
| two eighty |
| highway one |
/a /
five, interstate five |
| British English |
| /em/ one |
| /em/ sixty-two |
| /e/
five |
| /e/
thirty-four |
/bi /
one five six two |
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