2. Subtraction

In conversational style, dealing with small numbers, people say:

Four from seven leaves/is three.

Seven take away four leaves/is three.

In a more formal style, or dealing with larger numbers, minus and equals are used:

Six hundred and nineteen minus four hundred and twenty-eight equals a hundred and ninety-one.

3. Multiplication

In small calculations, the most common approach is to say three fours, six sevens, etc, and to use are for = :

Three fours are twelve.

Six sevens are forty-two.

I n larger calculations, there are several possibilities. One way is to say times for × , and is or makes for = :

Seventeen times three hundred and eighty-one is/makes six thousand, four hundred and seventy-seven.

In a more formal style, they say multiplied by and equals:

17 multiplied by 381 equals 6, 477.

4. Division

The simplest way is to use divided by and equals:

Two hundred and sixty-one divided by nine equals twenty-nine.

But in smaller calculations, people might say, for example:

Three into nine goes three (times).

Example of a spoken calculation

Here is a multiplication 146 × 281 (a hundred and forty-six times two hundred and eighty-one), together with all its steps, in the words that an English speaker might say as he was doing it.

146

281

29200

11680

146

41026

1. Put down two noughts.

2. Two sixes are twelve; put down 2 and carry 1; two fours are eight and one are nine; two ones are two.

3. (Next line). Put down one nought.

4. Eight sixes are forty-eight; put down 8 and carry 4; eight fours are thirty-two and four is thirty-six; put down 6 and carry 3; eight ones are eight and three is eleven.

5. (next line) One times 146 is 146.

6. (The addition) Six and nought and nought is six; eight and four and nought is twelve; put down 2 and carry 1; six and two are eight and one is nine and is ten; put down 0 and carry 1; nine and one are ten and one is eleven; put down 1 and carry 1; two and one are three and one are four.

7. (Total) forty-one thousand and twenty-six.

(the example is taken from /Michael Swan. Practical English Usage.– OUP, 1986/).

E x e r c i s e s

1. Practise reading the following dates.

28 February, 1 May, 25 October, 29 March, 17 August, 25 December

56 B.C., 97 A.D., 878, 1001, 1604, 1917, 1989, 2000, 2005, 1900.

2. Practise reading the following numbers.

105; 189; 200; 247; 967; 1,300; 5,698; 7, 987, 009; 476,309,254.

3. Practise reading the telephone numbers.

76 907 3457; 0854 75499; 2234 06534; 245 3890; 2006 19857; 203 5678; 3389 9877; 4556 5678. Dial 7050 and ask for extension 90.

4. Answer the questions.

1. What’s the date today?

2. When’s your birthday?

3. What’s your date of birth?

4. When’s Christmas Eve?

5. When’s New Year’s Day?

6. What’s the population of your country?

7. What’s your address?

8. What’s the rate of unemployment in your country?

9. What’s the exchange rate between Euro and your currency?

10. What’s your telephone number?

5. Proofread the following sentences for errors in expressions of numbers.

1. We expected 329 members to attend the 3rd annual convention.

2. During the past 10 years, I have moved 22 times.

3. Paula won $2,000,000 as 1st prize in the lottery.

4. The revolutions of the 1840s were a turning point in 19th century European history.

5. 1,139 students attended the rally.

6. We found 4 case studies in section eight of the first-year law book.

7. When she was a schoolgirl, she had a 3.2 average.

8. 225 people died in a plain crash.

9. They bought 12 chairs.

10. It is reported that 3 more soldiers were killed today in Iraq.

11. 135 men and 118 women joined the club last year.

12. A few minutes later a 3^rd man entered the room.

13. At the spring graduation ceremonies, the university awarded over 2,000 bachelors’s degrees.

6. Practise reading numerals. Say what numerals are recommended to be written out and why.

Hello, and good evening.

It is feared that 182 people may have died in a plane crash this morning. The accident happened at 7.20. It was flight 409, going from Singapore to New York. The plane had covered ¾ of the 12,000 mile trip, and had stopped to refuel. Eye witnesses said that the plane had reached its take-off speed of 150 mph when a fire broke out in the rear engine. 106 people managed to escape the blaze.

672 car workers walked out on strike today in Coventry. They had asked for a pay rise of 8.7%, but the management said they could only offer 5 1/2 %. This would mean an extra ₤7.50 per week. A union spokesman said ‘It’s not enough’.

A man armed with a shotgun held up cashiers at the National Bank today and stole ₤ 5,500. Police have appealed for witnesses. The number to ring is 0106 744391.

Unemployment figures were released today. Last month there were 3,649,712 registered unemployed. That’s 14.5% of the work force. Over the past year this number has increased by over 260,000.

And that’s the end of tonight’s news. Good night.

7. Practise reading numerals.

(A) If A is the amount of sales for store T in 1999, then 0.08 A is the amount of decrease and A – 0.008 A = 0.92 A is the amount of sales for 2000. Therefore the desired result can be obtained by dividing A by 0.92 A, which equals 1/0.92 or approximately 109 %.

(B) The home valued at $54,000 has 1 1/5 the value of the $45,000 home. Since the one valued at $45,000 is taxed at $1,200, the tax on the $54,000 home should be 1 1/5 × $1,200, or $1,200 + 1/5 ($1,200), which is $1,200 + $240 = $1,440.

8. Translate into English.

1. Пятьдесят одна книга.

2. Сто человек.

3. Триста семьдесят одно заявление.

4. Шестьсот человек.

5. Миллион алых роз.

6. Сотни людей приезжают сюда ежегодно.

7. 427 520

8. 2 000 покупателей.

9. Двадцать один день.

10. 23 000.

11. 1 250.

12. Тысяча первый турист.

13. Англия выиграла футбольный матч 4 : 0.

14. Пятьдесят килограммов.

15. Триста автомобилей.

16. Шестьдесят один грамм.

17. Два миллиона двести тысяч сто одна тонна.

18. Сотни ящиков.

19. Три тысячи один рубль.

20. Трое моих друзей.