Saturday, 10 July 2010

Numbers:How to say- Fractions, Decimals, zero, Spoken calculations...

1 Fractions

We say fractions like this:

  • 1/8 one eighth

  • 3/7 three sevenths

  • 2/5 two fifths

  • 1/16  eleven sixteenths


We normally use a singular verb after fractions below 1.

  • Three quarters of a ton is too much.


We use a plural noun with fractions and decimals over 1.

  • one and a half hours (NOT one and a half hour)

  • 1 -3 millimetres (NOT 1 3 millimetre)


2 Decimals

We say decimal fractions like this: 0-125  nought point one two five (NOT 0,125nought comma one two five)

3-7  three point seven

3 nought, zero, nil etc

The figure 0 is usually called nought in British English, and zero in American English.
When we say numbers one figure at a time, 0 is often called oh (like the letter 0).

  • My account number is four one three oh six.


In measurements of temperature, 0 is called zero.

  • Zero degrees Centigrade is thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit.


Zero scores in team games are called nil (American zero).
Zero in tennis and similar games is called love.

4 Telephone numbers

We say each figure separately.
When the same figure comes twice, we usually say double (British English only).

  • 307 4922    three oh seven four nine double two.


5 Kings and Queens

We say the numbers like this:

  • Henry VIII

  • Henry the Eighth (NOT Henry Eight)

  • Louis XIV

  • Louis the Fourteenth


6 Floors

The ground floor of a British house is the first floor of an American house;
the British first floor is the American second floor, etc.

7 and

In British English, we use and between the hundreds and the tens in a number.

  • 310    three hundred and ten (US three hundred ten)

  • 5,642    five thousand, six hundred and forty-two


Note that in writing we use commas (,) to separate thousands.

8 a and one

We can say a hundred or one hundred, a thousand or one thousand. One is more formal.

  • I want to live for a hundred years.(NOT . . . for hundred years.)

  • Pay Mr J Baron one thousand pounds, (on a cheque)


We only use a at the beginning of a number. Compare:

  • a hundred

  • three thousand one hundred


We can use a with other measurement words.

  • a pint

  • a foot

  • a mile


9   Plurals without -s

After a number or determiner, hundred, thousand, million and dozen have no final -s. Compare:

  • five hundred pounds

  • hundreds of pounds

  • several thousand times

  • It cost thousands


Other number expressions have no -s when they are used as adjectives

  • a five-pound note

  • a three-mile walk


10 Measurements

We use be in measurements.

  • She's five feet eight (inches tall).

  • I'm sixty-eight kilos.

  • What shoe size are you?


In an informal style, we often use foot instead of feet when we talk about people's heights.

  • My father's six foot two.


11 Money

  • 1p    one penny or a penny

  • 5p    five pence

  • £3.75    three pounds seventy-five


When we use sums of money as adjectives, we use singular forms.

  • a five pound note (NOT a five-pounds note)


12 Adjectives

When expressions of measurement, amount and quantity are used as adjectives, they are normally singular.

  • a ten-mile walk (NOT a ten-miles walk)

  • six two-hour lessons

  • a three-month-old baby


We can use possessives in expressions of time.

  • a week's holiday

  • four days' journey


13 there are . ..

When we count the number of people in a group, we often use the structure there are + number + of+ pronoun.

  • There are only seven of us here today.

  • There were twelve of us in my family.
    (NOT We were twelve . . .)


14   Spoken calculations

Common ways of calculating are:

  • 2 + 2=4
    two and two is/are four
    (informal)
    two plus two equals four
    (formal)

  • 7-4=3
    four from seven is three (informal)
    seven minus four equals three
    (formal)

  • 3x4 = 12
    three fours are twelve
    (informal)
    three multiplied by four equals twelve
    (formal)

  • 9 / 3=3
    nine divided by three equals three

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