Grammar / Numerals 1

Numerals

Words in bold italics cause spelling problems

cardinal numbers	ordinal numbers
1 one	1st first
2 two	2nd second
3 three	3rd third
4 four	4th fourth
5 five	5th fifth
6 six	6th sixth
7 seven	7th seventh
8 eight	8th eighth
9 nine	9th ninth
10 ten	10th tenth
11 eleven	11th eleventh
12 twelve	12th twelfth
13 thirteen	13th thirteenth
14 fourteen	14th fourteenth
15 fifteen	15th fifteenth
16 sixteen	16th sixteenth
17 seventeen	17th seventeenth
18 eighteen	18th eighteenth
19 nineteen	19th nineteenth
20 twenty	20th twentieth
21 twenty-one	21st twenty-first
22 twenty-two	22nd twenty-second
23 twenty-three	23rd twenty-third
24 twenty-four	24th twenty-fourth
25 twenty-five	25th twenty-fifth
26 twenty-six	26th twenty-sixth
27 twenty-seven	27th twenty-seventh
28 twenty-eight	28th twenty-eighth
29 twenty-nine	29th twenty-ninth
30 thirty	30th thirtieth, etc
40 forty	40th fortieth, etc
50 fifty	50th fiftieth
60 sixty	60th sixtieth
70 seventy	70th seventieth
80 eighty	80th eightieth
90 ninety	90th ninetieth
100 one hundred	100th one/the hundredth
101 one hundred and one	101st one/the hundred and first
200 two hundred	200th the two hundredth
1,000 one thousand	1,000th one/the thousandth
1.001 one thousand and one, etc	1,001st one/the thousand and first, etc
10,001 ten thousand and one, etc	10,001st one/the ten thousand and first, etc
100,000 one hundred thousand, etc	100,000th one/the one hundred thousandth, etc
1,000,000 one million	1,000,000th one/the millionth

NOTES

* 0 (nought/zero) The spoken form of 0 is:

a) nought (AmE zero) or oh.

Oh is used esp. when giving telephone numbers, and often when saying the year

e.g. 1906 can be said nineteen oh six, in the 24 hour clock,

e.g. 0903 can be spoken as nine oh three hours.

b) When talking scientifically, e.g. when giving temperatures,

0 is pronounced zero, e.g. -20° = twenty degrees below zero

c) When giving the scores of most games, e.g. football,

0 is pronounced nil or nothing: Hull 6, Leeds 0 is said Hull six, Leeds nil (or nothing)

When giving the scores of a few other games, e.g. tennis we use love for 0:

Becker leads by two sets to love (2-0)

*One hundred, one thousand, one million, etc

In ordinary speech, a is often used instead of one. However, one is preferable in calculations, etc. because it sounds more accurate. For numbers between 1,000 and 1,900

it is common to say eleven hundred, etc instead of one thousand one hundred.

*Writing numbers of more than four figures

We separate large numbers with commas, not stops. Commas may be omitted from

four-figure numbers, but they are important in numbers with five or more figures,

since they make the structure of large numbers clear.

*and in numbers over 100 In AmE this can be omitted, e.g.

six hundred sixty-eight instead of six hundred and…

*Numbers after people’s names.

When writing the names of kings, we use Roman numerals:

We write George IV (no -th), but we say George the Fourth.

Some rich American families do the same Henry Ford II.

*A dozen (i.e. twelve). Certain things, e.g. eggs, bread rolls, oranges,

are often bought in dozens A / One / Two dozen eggs please (No -s)

*Uncertain numbers.

The word odd may be used with round numbers over twenty to give an approximate figure: It's a hundred odd pounds (i.e. about). She's sixty odd (i.e. about 60 years old)

-ish, or so and or thereabouts can also be used when giving approximate numbers:

He's sixtyish. I'll meet you nineish. It cost a hundred pounds or so.

He's arriving on the seventh or thereabouts.

Telephone numbers

Telephone numbers are written with gaps between each group of numbers, not usu. with dashes or full stops e.g. 01 339 4867. The first group is usually the dialling code for a particular place and is often in brackets (01) 339 4867. 0 in phone numbers is pronounced oh

Numbers are pronounced separately and double figures are usually given as e.g. double three: oh one, double three (or three three) nine, four eight six seven.

Treble figures are normally spoken as follows: 6222 six two double two.

A number like 2222 would be spoken double two double two.

Other long numbers, like bank account numbers, national insurance numbers and so on are usu. spoken in the same way.

Mathematical symbols, fractions, decimals

= ('the equals sign') This is spoken as equal or equals, is equal to or (less formally)

is / are or make / makes so 2 + 2 = 4 could be spoken as

2 and 2 (or 2 plus 2) equal 4. // 2 and 2 equals 4. //

2 and 2 is four. // 2 and 2 are 4. // 2 and 2 make 4. // 2 and 2 makes 4.

+ ('the plus sign') This is spoken as plus or and: 2 plus 2 makes 4. // 2 and 2 make(s) 4.

– ('the minus sign') This is spoke as minus or (less formally) take away or from:

9 – 3 = 6 could be spoken as 9 minus 3 equals 6. //

9 take away 3 equals 6. // 3 from 9 equals / is / makes 6.

x ('the multiplication sign') This is spoken as multiplied by or times:

9 x 3 = 27 could be spoken as: 9 multiplied by 3 equals 27. //

9 times 3 is 27. // Three nines (or nine threes) are 27.

÷ ('the division sign') This is spoken as divided by or over: 9÷3 = 3 could be spoken as

9 divided by (or over) 3 equals 3. // 3 into nine is / goes 3.

% ('the percentage sign') This is usually said per cent: 3% = three per cent;

3 1/2% = three and a half per cent; 3.5% = three point five per cent

Fractions Fractions are usu. printed and written with a horizontal line not a diagonal line

1/4 = a (or one) quarter; 2 1/4 = two and a quarter; 1/2 = a (or one) half;

21/2 = two and a half; 3/4 = three quarters; 3 3/4= three and three quarters

Decimals The decimal point is usually raised: i.e. it is not written as if it was a full stop.

A comma is never used. We say each number after the decimal point separately:

45. 987 = forty five point nine eight seven.

Dates Centuries, years 35 BC ('Before Christ'), A.D. 100= A.D. one hundred

(i.e. 'Anno Domini', 'in the year of our Lord' in Latin)

A.D. is not usu. necessary, except with the early centuries to avoid possible confusion.

B.C. is usu. necessary: Pompey died in 48 B.C. Tiberius died in A.D. 37.

The 11^th …the 20^th century will always be taken to mean A.D.

The name of the century is 'one ahead' of the way the years in it are written /said

e.g. 1500-1599 is the sixteenth century. We can refer to the fifteen twenties, etc. and in this century to the fifties, the sixties. We refer to 1900-1910 as the nineteen hundreds.

Years are said in two parts: 1066 ten sixty-six; 1917: nineteen seventeen.

The early years of a century, e.g. from (19)01 to (19)12 have two forms:

nineteen hundred and one, or nineteen-(oh)-one. Years ending in '00' are said

with 'hundred' 1900 nineteen hundred, but note 2,000: the year two thousand.

The date: We can write the date in different ways e.g. Day/month/year: 6th January, 1990 (or'90). Month/day/year: January 6th 1998 (or'98). The letters that follow the numbers (-st, -nd, -rd -th) may be omitted, as can the comma before the year. Abbreviations can be used for months. [App 24]. The date can also be written entirely in figures 6.1.90, or 06.01.90. In BrE this means January 6, 1990. In AmE it means June 1, 1990 since the number of the month is written before the day. When we say the date we add the: January the sixth, or the sixth of January (BrE); but January sixth (AmE)

The time: Telling the time in everyday speech

If a clock shows (say) 10.00, the fullest answer to the question 'What s the time' is:

It's ten o'clock. But we can also say Ten (very informal) or It's ten. The word o’clock is used only with exact hours, never with other times: It's five past ten, etc. Where the hour is known, we can just say (It's) five past (It's) five to, etc. For past the hour we say: e.g. (It's) five past (ten), (a) quarter (Not "fifteen") past (ten), ten/twenty past (ten), twenty-five past (ten). For before the hour we say e.g. (It's) twenty- five to (eleven), twenty to (eleven), (a) quarter to (eleven), ten/five to (eleven). With all other combinations before the hour and past the hour, we say minutes, e.g. three minutes to ten, twenty-two minutes to eleven. In AmE after is commonly used in place of past and of instead of to: a quarter of eleven. Informally we sometimes say, e.g. half ten instead of half past ten and ten fifteen, ten thirty instead of using a quarter and half. Sometimes we say am (= ante meridiem, i.e. before midday) or p.m. (= post meridiem i.e. after midday) for times before and after 12 noon: I’ll meet you at 5 p.m. We also sometimes say at noon or at midnight for 12 a.m. or 12 p.m.

The time in schedules and timetables

The twenty-four hour clock is generally used for, e.g. railway timetables. These are written and spoken as follows:

09.00 nine hundred hours 21.00 twenty-one hundred hours

09.03 nine oh three 21.03 twenty-one oh three

09.10 nine ten 21.10 twenty-one ten

09.15 nine fifteen 21.15 twenty-one fifteen

09.30 nine thirty 21.30 twenty-one thirty

09.36 nine thirty-six 21.36 twenty-one thirty-six

09.45 nine forty-five 21.45 twenty-one forty-five

Which tram do you want to catch?' - I think I'll try to get the ten eighteen.