Numbers
8
Numbers
“I have often admired the mystical way of Pythagoras, and the secret magic of numbers.”
(Religio Medici)
Everyone speaking English needs to say numbers. Saying numbers usually requires practice. Being skilled in saying numbers makes it easier for students of management to perform more accurately in their future everyday work (e.g. in meetings, negotiations, presentations, on the telephone, etc.). This material should help you review things you have already learned about numbers. Furthermore, it adds some relevant information on how to say or write more complex numerical expressions.
1 Cardinal numbers (základné číslovky)
1 / one / 20 / twenty / 100 / a hundred / one hundred2 / two / 21 / twenty-one / 101 / a hundred and one
3 / three / 22 / twenty-two / 110 / a hundred and ten
4 / four / 25 / twenty-five / 112 / a hundred and twelve
5 / five / 30 / thirty / 195 / a hundred and ninety-five
6 / six / 33 / thirty-three / 199 / a hundred and ninety-nine
7 / seven / 37 / thirty-seven / 200 / two hundred
8 / eight / 40 / forty / 256 / two hundred and fifty-six
9 / nine / 44 / forty-four / 300 / three hundred
10 / ten / 48 / forty-eight / 389 / three hundred and eighty-nine
11 / eleven / 50 / fifty / 400 / four hundred
12 / twelve / 56 / fifty-six / 405 / four hundred and five
13 / thirteen / 60 / sixty / 500 / five hundred
14 / fourteen / 69 / sixty-nine / 600 / six hundred
15 / fifteen / 70 / seventy / 672 / six hundred and seventy-two
16 / sixteen / 75 / seventy-five / 700 / seven hundred
17 / seventeen / 80 / eighty / 800 / eight hundred
18 / eighteen / 83 / eighty-three / 900 / nine hundred
19 / nineteen / 90 / ninety / 999 / nine hundred and ninety-nine
Notice that in British English we use and before the tens in a number.
In American English and is normally omitted.
British English
/American English
110 / a hundred and ten / a hundred ten526 / five hundred and twenty-six / five hundred twenty-six
831 / eight hundred and thirty-one / eight hundred thirty-one
Exercise
Practise saying these numbers.
a / 556 / d / 341 / g / 669 / j / 432b / 97 / e / 748 / h / 82 / k / 333
c / 823 / f / 111 / i / 905 / l / 90
2 Large numbers
When writing numbers greater than 999 we use a comma (,):
1,201 / a thousand two hundred and one14,225 / fourteen thousand two hundred and twenty-five
25,000 / twenty-five thousand
Note that commas are not used in dates (the year 2005). For more information see point 9.
1,000 / a thousand / one thousand5,836 / five thousand eight hundred and thirty six
10,000 / ten thousand
12,000 / twelve thousand
100,000 / a hundred thousand / one hundred thousand
254,789 / two hundred and fifty-four thousand, seven hundred and eighty-nine (BrE)
two hundred fifty-four thousand, seven hundred eighty-nine (AmE)
1,000,000 / a million / one million
3,000,000 / three million
500,000,000 / five hundred million / half a billion
1,000,000,000 / a billion / one billion / a thousand million
2,000,000,000 / two billion
3,270,000,000 / three billion, two hundred and seventy million
1,000,000,000,000 / a trillion / a million million
In the singular, the words hundred, thousand, million or billion are preceded by a or one (for example we can say a thousand or one thousand). One is a more formal expression and a greater stress is usually put on this word by speakers than on the word a.
These days, financial statements are usually prepared on a computer. Excel spreadsheets can be set to insert commas in large numbers but sometimes commas are not used. That means that the number 75,684 appears as 75684 or 75 684. In many scientific books and papers commas are not normally used but instead spaces are left (2 500 000 – two million, five hundred thousand).
Exercise
Practise saying and writing numbers a – l.
a / 26,000,000b / 8,000,000,000,000
c / 1,262
d / 5,004
e / 2,473
f / 3,630,005
g / 6,000,000,000
h / 2,224,000
i / 1,066
j / 10,000,001
k / 64,975
l / 9,897,123
In imprecise numbers, hundreds, thousands, millions or billions take a plural form.
Compare:
The coat cost nine hundred pounds.The coat cost hundreds of pounds.
· The antique clock cost thousands of pounds.
· The cruiser Queen Mary 2 cost hundreds of millions.
· I can give you hundreds of examples.
· The article the and the preposition of occur in millions of English sentences.
· The company is selling thousands a week.
· Some execs earn millions of dollars a year.
· During the night 400,000 bats can eat tons of insects.
3 Decimal points
Unlike the Slovak language, English uses a decimal point (.) for decimals (desatinné čísla).
Compare:
12,001 / twelve thousand and one12.001 / twelve point oh oh one
4 The figure 0 (zero)
The figure 0 is usually called nought [no:t] in British English, and zero [zi:rƏu] in American English.
4a The figure 0 in decimals
Before a decimal point we say either nought or zero:
0.7 / nought point seven (BrE)zero point seven (AmE)
After a decimal point we say oh [Əu]:
0.02 / nought point oh two0.006 / nought point oh oh six
4b The figure 0 in some situations
a / Hotel room numbers / I’m on the top floor, room 901. / (nine oh one)b / Bus numbers / You can take the bus No. 802. / (eight oh two)
c / Flight numbers / IB 340 / (three four oh)
BA 401 / (four oh one)
d / Years / 1905 / (nineteen oh five)
e / Car registration numbers / BA 307 DM
f / Bank account numbers / 0200834061
g / Temperature / –3°C / three degrees below zero (or minus three degrees)
+5°C / five degrees above zero (or plus five degrees)
4c The figure 0 in sport
Zero scores in team games are called nil [nil]. We say it e.g. in football scores.
Artmedia Bratislava – Glasgow Rangers: 0 – 0 (nil all)Juventus Turin – Bayern Munich: 2 – 1 (two one to Juventus)
A: ‘What’s the score?’ / B: ‘3 – 0’. (three nil)
Spain won the match 1 – 0 (one nil).
In tennis the word love is used. It is said that this expression comes from the French word l’oeuf that means ‘the egg’ – the figure 0 looks like an egg.
Forty – love; Agassi to serve.The score is 15 – 0 (fifteen love).
5 Telephone numbers
We say each figure separately pausing after groups of three or four. When the same digit comes twice we usually say double. Numbers of area codes are grouped together.
035 442 368 / oh three five / double four two / three six eight0421 2 5349 1122 / oh four two one / two / five three four nine / double one double two
043 553 877 / oh four three / double five three / eight double seven
041 643 999 / oh four one / six four three / nine double nine
Exercise 1
What’s your phone number? ______
Practise saying it as quickly as possible.
Exercise 2
Write these numbers in full. Show breaks ( / ) between groups.
a / (0181) 645 744b / (0033) 135 786 390
c / (0043) 718 578 88
d / (0192) 553 449
e / (00420) 654 27 389
6 Decimals
In English all the digits after a decimal point are read separately.
a / 10.66 / ten point six six (NOT ten point sixty six)b / 0.328
c / 6.55
d / 3.14159
e / 0.002
Prices
If the number after the decimal point is a unit of money, it is read like a normal number.
a / €12.70 / twelve euros seventy OR twelve euros and seventy centsb / £8.30 / eight pounds thirty
c / SKK 98.50 / ninety-eight crowns fifty OR ninety-eight Slovak crowns fifty
d / $46.90
e / SFr14.25
British money
There are 100 pence in a pound. Sums of money are named as follows:
1 p / one penny (informal one p OR a penny)5 p / five pence (informal five p)
£4.65 / four pounds sixty-five OR four pounds and sixty-five pence
American money
There are 100 cents (¢) in a dollar. Sums of money are named very much as in British English. However, some coins have special names.
· one-cent coins / = / pennies / · ten-cent coins / = / dimes· five-cent coins / = / nickels / · a twenty-five cent coin / = / a quarter
7 Calculating
+ / plus / and / add– / minus / subtract / deduct / take away
´ or * / times / multiplied by
¸ or / / divided by
= / equals / is
20 + 5 = 25 / Twenty plus five is twenty-five.
Twenty and five equals twenty-five.
20 – 4 = 16 / Twenty minus four is sixteen.
Twenty take away four equals sixteen.
5 x 4 = 20 / Five times four equals twenty.
Five multiplied by four is twenty.
10 : 3 = 3.333 / Ten divided by three is three point three recurring.
8 Square, cube and root
102 / ten squared103 / ten cubed
104 / ten to the power (of) four
106 / ten to the power (of) six
The preposition ‘of’ is optional.
√25 / the square root of 25
9 Ordinal numbers (radové číslovky)
1st / first / 11th / eleventh / 21st / twenty-first2nd / second / 12th / twelfth / 30th / thirtieth
3rd / third / 13th / thirteenth / 40th / fortieth
4th / fourth / 14th / fourteenth / 50th / fiftieth
5th / fifth / 15th / fifteenth / 60th / sixtieth
6th / sixth / 16th / sixteenth / 70th / seventieth
7th / seventh / 17th / seventeenth / 80th / eightieth
8th / eighth / 18th / eighteenth / 90th / ninetieth
9th / ninth / 19th / nineteenth
10th / tenth / 20th / twentieth
The names of kings and queens are said with ordinal numbers.
Henry VIII / Henry the EighthLouis XIV / Louis the Fourteenth
Elizabeth II / Elizabeth the Second
10 Fractions
Fractions are usually like ordinal numbers, however, there are some exceptions:
1/2 / a half1/4 / a quarter
3/4 / three quarters
21/2 / two and a half
13/4 / one and three quarters
Complete the table.
1/3 / a third / 5/8 / five eighths3/5 / 2/3
1/8 / 5/6
61/2 / 23/4
11 Dates
In English we write 20 December but we say the twentieth of December or December the twentieth.
We can write the date using dots (.) or slashes (/): 20.12.05 or 20/12/05.
In British English the day of the month comes first and the month follows, so 21.12.05 is 21 December 2005. On the other hand, in American English, the month comes first, and the day second, so 12.01.05 is December 1, 2005.
12 Years
We write 1997 and 2005 but say nineteen ninety-seven and two thousand and five or twenty oh five.
We write decades as the 1960s or 1980s or just the ‘80s and we say the nineteen sixties or the nineteen eighties or the eighties. Notice that there is no apostrophe before the s.
Practise saying the following dates:
(1) 31 December 2005 ………………………………………………………………….(2) 6 January 2006 ……………………………………………………………………..
(3) 25 February 1987 …………………………………………………………………..
(4) 1 August 2004 ……………………………………………………………………...
(5) 11 September 2001 …………………………………………………………………
(6) 1 May 2002 ………………………………………………………………………...
(7) 30 June 2003 ……………………………………………………………………….
(8) 1 November 1999 ………………………………………………………………….
(9) 4 August 1998 ……………………………………………………………………..
(10) Your birthday: ______
13 Centuries
Note how the names of centuries relate to the years in them.
1501 – 1600 / the 16th century1601 – 1700 / the 17th century
1701 – 1800 / the 18th century
1801 – 1900 / the 19th century
1901 – 2000 / the 20th century
14 Numbers as nouns and adjectives
Note that numbers can also function as nouns in both singular and plural.
c a football elevenc the eighties
· a five-pound note / · an eight-month waiting list
· a ten dollar note / · a twenty pound price cut
· a five-foot deep hole / · a fifty thousand dollar car
· a six-mile walk / · a ten-minute walk to work
· a two-month old baby / · an eleven degree fall in temperature
· a six-foot tall man / · a five pence stamp
· a twelve week term / · four four-hour lessons
15 Numbers in English Idioms
Idioms are fixed expressions whose meaning is not immediately obvious from looking at the individual words in the idiom. For example, the expression at the eleventh hour means almost too late, but we cannot deduce this by only looking at the words. Moreover, Slovak uses a little bit different phrase(s) (e.g. vhodine dvanástej, or opäť minút dvanásť) to express the same idea. In addition, while some idioms are fixed in their form, and can be neither changed nor varied, it is possible to make grammatical or vocabulary variations in many other idioms. This makes it difficult for learners of English to study and use idiomatic expressions in suitable situations accurately and appropriately.
Negotiators reached agreement at the eleventh hour, just in time to avoid bringing production to a complete standstill.
Idioms below are based on the fact that all of them contain a number or numbers. Read them and try to find some equivalents in Slovak. Learn them by heart.