Numerals

Numerals can be divided into:

• cardinals

• ordinals

• fractions

• decimals

• frequency expressions

Cardinals

0- nought, zero (in mathematics and for temperature)

- 'oh' (in telephone numbers)

- nil (in sports)

- love (in tennis) – originates from the French word “l’oeuf”

Cardinals

100- a/one hundred

We offer a/one hundred different products.

• 'a' can only stand at the beginning of a number!!!

• 100 - a hundred / one hundred

• BUT: 2,100 - two thousand one hundred

Cardinals101- one hundred andand one114- one hundred andand fourteen124- one hundred andand twenty-four241 - two hundred and forty-one (NOT *two hundreds

and forty-one) (note the spelling of forty)- 300- three hundred ((NONO plural!!!) plural!!!)

Separation between hundreds and tens

Hundreds and tens are separated by 'and' (in American English 'and' is not necessary).

• 110

• one hundred and ten

• 1,250

• one thousand two hundred and fifty

• 2,001

• two thousand and one

Cardinals

1,000

a/one thousand

We employ a thousand (one thousand) workers at present.

(NOT: one thousand of)

Note that a coma (,) separates the thousands from the other figures.

Cardinals1,101- one thousand one hundred andand one

3,000- three thousand (NO plural!!!)

NOT: three thousands

We have three thousand articles on display.

(NOT: three thousands of articles)

Cardinals

• Hundred, thousand and million take a plural –s:– when the number is not precise– after many:

• hundreds of customers

• thousands of enquiries

• many millions of dollars

Cardinals

• In approximation we put the smaller number first:

four or five thousand people

(NOT five or four thousand people)

Cardinals

4,356

four thousand three hundred andand fifty-six

6,034

six thousand and thirty-four

5,204

five thousand two hundred and four

With large numbers use commas as a separator!!!

• 57,458,302

• 45,342,001

Cardinals1,000,000a/one million

2,000,000two million (NOT: two millions)

4,334,000 four million three hundred and thirty-four thousand

6,000,034six million andand thirty-four

Cardinals• 1,000,000,000 - a/one billion (milijarda)

three billion four hundred andand fifty-six million two hundred andand thirty-five thousand four hundred andand forty-four American dollarsEXCEPTIONS: YEN/YUAN (both plural and

singular)

• 1,000,000,000,000 - a/one trillion (bilion)

US$ 3,456,235,444

Ordinals

1st

first The firstThe first of January. (spoken)

2nd

secondThis is the secondthe second time we have done

business with you.

Ordinals3rd - third This is my thirdmy third job.

4th

- fourth This is the fourththe fourth time this month that we have received wrong goods.

5th

- fifth On the fifththe fifth of June. (spoken) 9th

- ninth12th

- twelfth

Ordinals

21st - twenty-firstThis product took us into the twenty-first century.

100th - (one) hundredthThis is our (one) hundredth trade fair.

101st - (one) hundred and first1,000th - (one) thousandth1,000,000th - (one) millionth

So, the form of ordinal numbers is: just add thth to the cardinal number:

four - fourth eleven - eleventh

• Exceptions:• one - first – 1st • two - second – 2nd • three - third – 3rd • five - fifth – 5th • eight - eighth • nine - ninth • twelve - twelfth • ninety - ninetieth

Ordinals

In compound ordinal numbers, note that only the last figure is written as an ordinal number:

• 421st = four hundred and twenty-first

• 5,111th = five thousand one hundred and eleventh

Fractions

½ - (a) halfOver (a) half (of) our workers have to commute.

⅓ - a/one thirdWe offer a discount of one-third off the list price.

⅔ - two-thirdsOver two-thirds of our workers live in the village.

¼ - (a) quarterThe earliest starting time is (a) quarter past eight.

Fractions

¾ - three-quartersIt took me three-quarters of an hour to get there.

1/10 - a/one tenthThis is a tenth of our total investment.

1½ - one and a halfThe whole procedure took one and a halfhours/one hour and a half.

Decimals

• 2.5% - two point five per cent(NOTNOT: per centss)

• 3.75 - three point seven fiveseven five (NOTNOT: seventy-five)

• 26.012 - twenty-six point nought/zeronought/zero (or 'oh') oneone twotwo

• 36.432 % thirty-six point four three twofour three two per cent (NOTNOT: four hundred and thirty-

two per centss)

PERCENTAGESPERCENTAGES• Per centPer cent is the British spelling, the American

English spelling is percentpercent.• When there is a dash between two figures it

is pronounced to,to, e.g.:• 20-30% -from twenty to thirty per

cent

RATIO If you see two figures with a colon between them e.g.

• 1 : 7 you would say a ratio of one to sevena ratio of one to seven or one in sevenone in seven

Dates

BrE written:BrE written:

• We launched the new product on 5 April 2005.

BrE spoken:BrE spoken:

• We launched the new product on:

1. the fifth of April two thousand and five

2. April the fifth, two thousand and five.

Dates

AmE written:AmE written:

• We launched the new product on April 5th 2005.

AmE spoken:AmE spoken:

• We launched the new product on April fifth, two thousand five.

Dates

The order of year, month and day is different:

• 5/4/2005 5 April 2005

date/month/yeardate/month/year (BrE written)

• 4/5/2005 5 April 2005

month/date/yearmonth/date/year (AmE written)

AmE vs BrE

• BrE – the tenth of February two thousand and seven

• AmE – the second of October two thousand seven

10/2/2007

Times

• The meeting starts at 9.00 a.m./9 o'clock. (written)

• The meeting starts at nine a.m./9 o'clock. (spoken)

• The meeting will finish at 4.30 p.m./16.30. (written)

• The meeting will finish at four thirty p.m./half past four. (spoken)

Times

• There will be lectures for 1½ hours from 5.45/17.45. (written)

• There will be lectures for one and a half hours/an hour and a half from five forty-five/(a) quarter to six. (spoken)

Money

• £125 - a/one hundred and twenty-five pounds

• $ 1m - a/one million dollars

• $6.50 - six dollars fifty/fifty cents • £6.15 - six pounds fifteen

• € 1 bn - a/one billion euros

• RSD 100 - a/one hundred dinars

Dimensions

1.1. DistanceDistance

• 1 mm - a/one millimetre

• 50 cm - fifty centimetres

• 5 m - five metres

• 7.5 km - seven point five kilometres

• 2 m x 3 m- two metres by three metres

Dimensions

2. Mass2. Mass

• 10 g - ten grams

• 1,000 kg - a/one thousand kilos/kilograms

• 20 t - twenty tons

Dimensions

3. Square measure3. Square measure

• 100 cm² - a/one hundred square centimetres

• 10,000 m²- ten thousand square metres

Dimensions

4. Capacity measure4. Capacity measure

• 10 cl - ten centilitres

• 2 l - two litres

Dimensions

5. Cubic measure5. Cubic measure

• 1,000 cm³- a/one thousand cubic centimetres

• 100 m³ - a/one hundred cubic metres

Mathematical symbols

2 + 2 - two and/plus two

= 4 - is/equals/is equal to four

– 2 - minus/less two

: 6 - divided by six

x 6 - times/multiplied by six

Mathematical symbols

2 + 2 = 4 two plus two equals four

4 – 2 = 2 four minus two is two

12 : 6 = 2 twelve divided by six is equal to two

8 x 4 = 32 eight multiplied by four is thirty-two

Mathematical symbols

2² - two squared 2¹² - two to the power twelve 23 - two cubed2ⁿ - two to the power n> - is greater than< - is less than /2 - divided by two 1 : 7 - ratio of one to seven

Mathematical symbols

≡ - is identical with/is equivalent to

≈ - is approximately equal to

√5 - the square root of five3√27 - the cube root of twenty-seven

( ) - brackets

- square brackets

{ } - braces

< > - angle brackets

Phone numbers

1. Each figure is said separately.24 - two four

2. The figure 'O' is called oh.105 - one oh five

3. Pause after groups of 3 or 4 figures 376 4705 - three seven six, four seven oh five

Phone numbers

• If two successive figures are the same, in British English you would usually use the word double (in American English you would just say the figure twice)

376 4775

BE: three seven six, four double seven five

376 4775

AE: three seven six, four seven seven five

Phone numbers007 335 896

double oh seven double three five eight nine six

344 6783three double four six seven eight three

800 567 44 55eight hundred five six seven double four

double five

Temperature

32°C- thirty-two degrees centigrade

- thirty-two degrees Celsius

Mathematical terms

(ax)2

ax all squared

(a – x)3

a minus x all cubed

a3 + x4

a cubed plus x to the fourth

Write the following as you would say it:• In my first job, back in 1976, I earned £38 a week, which

was exactly £1,976 a year.• Today they're buying euros at 1.3952 and selling them at

1.2957.• It's either 0.431 or 4.031, I can't remember.• £1,000,000? But that's over $1,590,000!• No, it's 12,231, not 12.231!• You can fax them on 066-22 27 47.• For further information, call 0171-339 0131.• He's 2m11 tall, like a basketball player.• It only cost £13.99.• It's somewhere between 2½ and 2¾.• 27 x 365 is 9,855, plus 7 for leap years, plus 2 x 31, and 2 x

30, plus 16 days – I'm 10,000 days old today!• The equation is x2 – y3 = z.