Introduction

Some of the following materials are designed specifically for persons whose native language is Chinese.

Lesson 9

Section 1

The Use of Numbers in English language

Expressing numbers in English can be confusing. We need numbers all the time. We need numbers when we talk about money, our telephone number, what time it is, how long the movie was, what the temperature is or the address of our house.

Numbers are everywhere. So let’s make sure you are an expert in saying numbers in English.

Section 2

Numerical Expressions

The numbers “one”, “two”, “three”, are adjectives referring to quantity. They are called cardinal numbers. The numbers “first”, “second”, “third”, refer to distribution, and are called ordinal numbers.

 Examples:

“There are twenty-five people in the room.”

“He was the fourteenth person to win the award.”

“Six hundred thousand people were left homeless after the earthquake.”

“I must have asked you twenty times to be quiet.”

“He went to China for the third time this year.”

Section 3

Decimals

Decimals are read in English by pronouncing the decimal point as "point", then read each digit individually.

Examples:

“It is point five (.5) millimeters thick.”

“The long side measures six point six five two inches.”

“The solar vehicle reached a record speed of a hundred and thirty-one point six eight miles per hour.”

Section 4

Fractions

Fractions are read using the cardinal number for the numerator and the ordinal number for the denominator, making the ordinal number plural if the numerator is larger than 1. This applies to all numbers except for the number 2, which is read "half" when it is the denominator, and "halves" if there is more than one.

Section 5

Percentages

Percentages are easy. Just say the number and then add the word "percent".

Examples:

“Nearly 100% of students successfully completed ESL class.”

“Patients older than 75 years were 61% among women and 21% among men.”

“The test had a low percentage of positive results, averaging fewer than 10%.”

Section 6

Money

To read a sum of money, first read the whole number, then add the currency name. If there is a decimal, follow with the decimal pronounced as a whole number, and if coinage has a name in the currency, add that word at the end. Note that normal decimals are not read in this way. These rules only apply to currency.

Examples:

“Milk cost $2.59 per gallon this week.”

“It cost $35 to have my car inspected.”

Section 7

Measurements

Just read out the number, followed by the unit of measurement, which will often be abbreviated in the written form.

Examples:

“The island is 100 ft above sea level.”

“We were traveling at 45 mph.”

“The bucket holds 5 gal.”

Section 8

Years

When the year is a four digit number, like 1965, read the first two digits as a whole number, like nineteen, then the second two digits as another whole number, like sixty-five.

There are a few exceptions to this rule. Years that are within the first 100 years of a new millennium (like the years 2000 to 2099) can be read as whole numbers even though they have four digits, or they can be read as two two-digit numbers. Millennia are always read as whole numbers because they would be difficult to pronounce otherwise. New centuries are read as whole numbers of hundreds. We do not use the word "thousand", at least not for reading years within the past 1000 years.

Years that have just three digits can be read as a three digit number, or as a one digit number followed by a two-digit number. Years that are a two digit number are read as a whole number. You can precede any year by the words "the year" to make your meaning clear, and this is common for two and three digit years. Years before the year 0 are followed by BC, pronounced as two letters of the alphabet.

These rules apply to reading street addresses as well.

Years

For years up until 2000, separate the four numbers into two pairs of two:

1965 = “nineteen sixty-five”

1871 = “eighteen seventy-one”

1999 = “nineteen ninety-nine”

For the decade 2001 – 2010, you can say:

2001 = “two thousand one” or “two thousand and one”

2009 = “two thousand nine” or “two thousand and nine”

However, from 2010 onwards you have another choice. For example, 2012 can be either “two thousand twelve”, “two thousand and twelve” or “twenty twelve“.

Section 9

How to say 0

There are different ways to pronounce the number 0, used in different contexts.

Examples:

“There is a 0% chance of rain.”

“He became king in 1409.”

“3.04+2.02=5.06”

You can reach me at (978) 123-4567.

Section 10

Large Numbers

We say large numbers by listing the numbers in order of size, biggest first. When reading a single number, all the number labels should be singular, for example 10,400 is ten thousand four hundred and not ten thousands four hundreds.

We describe three digit numbers in hundreds, then tens. Note that hundreds, thousands and millions are not connected to each other with and.

For example:

345 is three hundred forty-five.

59,321 is fifty nine thousand, three hundred twenty one. (not fifty nine thousand and three hundred…)

You can then describe large numbers with a series of different figures, grouping numbers in hundreds and tens, starting with the biggest number. So we describe hundreds/tens of millions, then thousands, then hundreds:

1,345,612 = one million, three hundred and forty five thousand, six hundred and twelve or one million, three hundred forty five thousand, six hundred, twelve

153,200 = one hundred and fifty three thousand, two hundred or one hundred fifty three thousand, two hundred

Using “In the…”

When we want to say where a number generally lies, in the above groups, we can say it is in the… For example, 14 is in the teens, 325 is in the hundreds. For tens and hundreds of larger numbers (thousands, millions), we say in the tens (or hundreds) of… So: hundreds of thousands and tens of millions.

Hundreds and thousands

Often it is easier to describe four figure numbers in hundreds instead of thousands. This is perfectly acceptable. For example, 1500 might be described as fifteen hundred, instead of one thousand five hundred (or one and a half thousand), because it is simpler to say.

Section 11

Numbers as adjectives

All of these numbers can be referred to by the number of figures they contain, with plurals, for instance a number is in single figures (3), double figures (20) or quadruple figures (1,000). However, when we use the figure size of the number to describe a noun (such as a salary, price or to refer to a number itself) we simply use number + figure + noun. For example, a six-figure salary, a four-figure discount.

Alternative names for number groups

There are many informal alternative names for groups of numbers that can be used to simplify names. Beware you may not always be understood using these.

Listening Quiz

Listen to the audio track and write down the numbers you hear in the sentence. Then check the

1. I’ve got ____________ goats and ____________ sheep.

2. That portrait was appraised at $____________.

3. We manufacture _________ varieties of candles and _____ types of soap.

4. The oldest known pyramid in Egypt was built _____________ years ago.

5. Narwhal’s tusks can be up to ______ feet long.

6. The list price for this car is $____________, but I can knock that down by ____________% if you finance through us.

7. He’s got ____________ people on his email list and ____________ followers on Twitter.

8. I’m sorry, did you say ____________ or ____________?

9. Mount Kilimanjaro is ____________ feet high. Mount Everest is even taller at ____________ feet.

10. I love Sausage McGriddles, but each one has ____________ calories, ____________ grams of fat, ____________ milligrams of cholesterol, and ____________ grams of carbs.

11. My husband has ____________ brothers and ____________ sisters.

12. I love ESL listening practice! I could do ____________ quizzes a day, happily!

13. The melting point of carbon is __________ ° F.

14. If you book through Icelandair, a roundtrip ticket will cost you $____________.

15. As of the last census, this town had a population of exactly ____________.

16. The number of native Gaelic speakers in Scotland has dwindled to just ____________, as of the ____________ census.

17. Since using Facebook Ads, we’ve seen a ____________% increase in traffic to our website.

18. The Mariana Trench is ____________ meters deep, or ____________ feet.

19. The average human head contains about ____________ hair follicles.

20. The King James Bible contains exactly ____________ words. By contrast, War and Peace contains ____________ words. And Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein contains just ____________ words.

Section 12

Learning Assessment:

Practice reading these numbers out loud. You will be called upon to pronounce them in class:

1. 4,567

2. 367

3. 98,745

4. 120,005

5. 5,000

6. 34,230

7. 873,120

8. 10,043

9. 7,340,200

10. 54,500

11. 24

12. 4,567,090

13. 67,000

14. 92,000,031

15. 1,000,010,000,023

Answers

1. 4,567 – four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven

2. 342 – three hundred and forty-two

3. 98,745 – ninety-eight thousand, seven hundred and forty-five

4. 120,005 – one hundred and twenty thousand and five

5. 5,000 – five thousand, or five k, g or grand

6. 34,230 – thirty four thousand, two hundred and thirty

7. 873,120 – eight hundred and seventy three thousand, one hundred and twenty

8. 10,043 – ten thousand and forty three

9. 7,340,200 – seven million, three hundred and forty thousand, two hundred

10. 5,500 – five thousand, five hundred or fifty-five hundred

11. 24 – two dozen

12. 4,567,090 – four million, five hundred and sixty seven thousand and ninety

13. 67,000 – sixty seven thousand, sixty seven k, grand or g

14. 92,000,031 – ninety two million and thirty one

15. 1,000,010,000,023 – one trillion, ten million and twenty three

Section 13

Learning Assessment

Practice dividing large numbers into units of hundreds and thousands:

400,000 = “four hundred thousand” (no s plural)
450,000 = “four hundred and fifty thousand” or “four hundred fifty thousand
400,360 = “four hundred thousand, three hundred and sixty” or “four hundred thousand, three hundred sixty”

Section 14

Learning Assessment

Practice pronouncing fractions, ratios and percentages:

1/2 = “one half”
1/3 = “one third”
1/4= “one quarter” 1/5 = “one fifth”
1/ 6 = “one sixth”
3/5 = “three fifths”

1.5% = “one point five percent”
0.3% = “point three percent, or, zero point three percent”

2:1 = “two to one”

Section 15

Saying 0

Depending on the context, we can pronounce zero in different ways:

7-0 (football) = “Seven nothing” or “seven zero”
30 – 0 (tennis) = “Thirty love”
604 7721 (phone number) = “six oh four…”
0.4 (a number) = “point four” or “zero point four”
0 (temperature) = “zero degrees”

Section 16

Talking about calculations in English:

+ (plus)
= (equals / makes)

For example: 2 + 1 = 3 (“two plus one equals / makes three“)

– (minus / take away)

For example: 5 – 3 = 2 (“five minus three equals two” or “five take away three equals two“)

x (multiplied by / times)

For example: 2 x 3 = 6 (“two multiplied by three equals six” or “two times three equals six“)

/ (divided by)

For example: 6 / 3 = 2 (“six divided by three equals two“)

Section 17

Dates

In English, we can say dates either with the day before the month, or the month before the day. Therefore the first day of the first month of the year is:

“The first of January” or “January the first.”

Remember to use ordinal numbers for dates in English. (The first, the second, the third, the fourth, the fifth, the twenty-second, the thirty-first etc.)

Section 18

Time

There are two ways of telling time in English; the 12-hour clock and the 24-hour clock. The 24-hour clock uses numbers from 0–23 to indicate the hours. The 12-hour clock uses 1–12. To tell the difference between morning and afternoon, we use ‘am’ after the time in the morning and ‘pm’ after the time in the afternoon. Remember, ‘pm’ starts at 12:00 near lunchtime.

One o'clock, two o'clock and three o'clock are all words you can use to describe the time at 1:00, 2:00 and 3:00. You can also simply use a number, such as “I go to work at 9.”

Section 19

Telephone Numbers

In spoken English we normally say phone number instead of telephone number but either can be used.

In English, we give telephones numbers by saying each individual number in it:

“My phone number is (978) 123-4560.” = “My phone number is nine seven eight, one two three, four five six zero.”

How to say 0 in a phone number

When there is a 0 (zero) in the telephone number, there are two ways of saying it:

In American English, the Zero is most often pronounced as Zero. But it can be pronounced as the  letter O (pronounced oh):

(978) 505-1023 = nine seven eight, five zero five, one zero two three.

This phone number can also be pronounced:

(978) 505-1023 = nine seven eight, five oh five, one oh two three.

Consecutive numbers

If a phone number contains two of the same numbers together, we sometimes say double (then that number):

(978) 718-3369 = nine seven eight, seven one eight, double three, six, nine.

If a phone number contains three of the same numbers together, we often say triple (then that number):

(978) 149-8777 = nine seven eight, one four nine, eight triple seven.

However the phone number that starts with (888) would most often be pronounced as eight, eight, eight … and not triple eight. 

How can you ask for someone’s telephone number?

If you want to know someone’s phone number, you can ask:

• What’s your phone number?

We don’t normally say “What’s your telephone number?” (Though it is still correct.)

The person will normally respond with:

• It’s and the number.

“What’s your phone number?” “It’s (978)123-4567.” 

Mobile phone vs. Cell phone?

Both mobile phone and cell phone are used.

Another way of asking for someone’s number is:

• What’s your mobile number? or

• What’s your mobile phone number? or

• What’s your cell phone number?

 International phone numbers

An international phone number can be divided into different parts:

Country Code + Area Code + Local Number  

Country Code:

The first number is the country code. Sometimes it is one digit like the country code of the United States, which is 1. Sometimes it is two digits like the country code of New Zealand which is 64. Sometimes it is three digits like the country code of Ecuador which is 593.

Area Code:

The area code identifies the town, region or specific area. For example, the area code of Andover is 978.

Local number:

In the United States, the local number is 7 digits long, but other countries vary depending on the country.

Emergency Services Numbers:

Emergency services refers to when you need an ambulance, the fire brigade, or the police. The emergency services phone number is a three-digit number that varies from country to country. In the United States, you would call 911 in an emergency

Section 20

Expressing Quantities

Using numbers to express quantities is easy. The number reads exactly the way it is written. In the following examples, you will see the number written with digits. You will see it as it is pronounced in parentheses.

7 (seven)–”My friend has 7 children.”

32 (thirty-two)–”He is 32 years old.”

396 (three hundred ninety six or three hundred and ninety-six)–”The new hospital has 396 beds.”

1,848 (one thousand eight hundred and forty-eight or one thousand eight hundred and forty-eight or eighteen hundred forty-eight)–”When the factory closed, 1,848 people lost their jobs.”  Note that the thousands place is set off  with a comma, not a period.

Section 21

Using numbers to express an identity

Sometimes we use a number to express and identity such as a page number, a flight number, or a phone number. When this happens, the rules are a little different.

To express a page number or a flight number, we read the number as written if it is under 100.

6 (six)–”The illustration is on page 6.”

42 (forty-two)–”I’m leaving on United Flight 42 in three hours.”

If the number has three or more digits, we read it this way: X  XX,   XX  XX, or  X  XX  XX.

362 ( three-sixty-two)–”Please turn to page 362 in your textbook.”

1658 (sixteen-fifty-eight)–”Mary is arriving on Flight 1658 tomorrow.”

When the number contains a zero, we often call it “oh,” even though o is a letter and not a number.

“Page 302” (three-oh-two)

“Flight 1709” (seventeen-oh-nine)

To express a phone number, we simply say each number individually.

“My office phone number is 303-555-1624” (three-oh-three-five-five-five-one-six-two-four).

Section 22

Street Address

When we talk about an address, we use the same rules that apply to a page number or a flight number to express the house number and the apartment number.

In the sentence below we would say three for 3 and four-twelve for 412:

"My address is 3 S. Adams St., Apt. 412.”

In the sentence below we would say ninety-six for 96 and six B for 6B:

“I live at 96 E. Center Ave. Unit 6B.”

In the sentence below we would say five-fourteen for 514:

“I work at 514 W. Dakota Ave.”

In the sentence below we would say ten-oh-three for 1003:

“My office address is 1003 Oak St.”

In the sentence below we would say one-twenty-three thirty-eight for 12338:

“Please come to 12338 N. Frontage Rd.”

To  pronounce the address including the zip code, we say each number individually:

“1743 Ash St.” (one seven four three or seventeen forty three Ash Street)

“Denver, CO 80207” (eight-oh-two-oh-seven)

Section 23

Learning Assessment

Work with a classmate to …:

• fractions, ratios and percentages

• saying 0

• talking about calculations

• dates

• time

• telephone numbers

• expressing quantities

• expressing identity

• street address

Practice by each of you taking a role and reading the questions and answers out loud. Then switch roles and practice reading the other person’s role.

Practice by reading your question and answer dialogue out loud as many times as possible.

This is the end of Lesson 9.