 Business English: Numbers,
Numbers, Numbers!
Students of Business English
often have trouble with counting,
figures, duration of time
and other issues related to
numbers.
One of the most frequent
problems is pronouncing
numbers in an understandable
way. Even native
speakers sometimes double
check if a customer said
sixteen or
sixty. Big
difference if you get the
order wrong!
Following is the easiest way
to get the pronunciation
correct.
Use the "respelling" for
pronunciation to help you
get it right.
STRESS the
syllable that is
capitalized.
|
13 |
thir-TEEN |
THIR-tee |
30 |
|
14 |
four-TEEN |
FOUR-tee |
40 |
|
15 |
fif-TEEN |
FIF-tee |
50 |
|
16 |
six-TEEN |
SIX-tee |
60 |
|
17 |
seven-TEEN |
SEV-en-tee |
70 |
|
18 |
eight-TEEN |
EIGHT-tee |
80 |
|
19 |
nine-TEEN |
NINE-tee |
90 |
Other problems for Business
English students include the
how number zero is used,
decimal points,
larger numbers, phone numbers and more.
ZERO, NOUGHT, OH
British English and American
English vary a bit as you
will only rarely hear an
American use NIL or NOUGHT
for Zero. In British
English it common to use OH
after a decimal point and
NOUGHT before it. In
American English ZERO point
OH. Numbers after a
decimal are all stated
separately.
Telephone numbers are
usually stated individually,
though sometimes in pairs or
triplets.
So, let's try this:
| |
When |
Number |
Example |
Variant |
|
Say OH |
following
decimals |
3.02 |
three point oh
two |
|
|
Say ZERO or
NOUGHT |
before decimals |
0.02 |
zero point oh
two |
nought point oh
two
- BrEng
|
|
Say OH |
telephone
numbers |
325-1605 |
three two five
-
one six oh five |
|
| |
|
325-2045 |
three two five
-
two oh four five |
three two five
-
two oh
forty-five |
| |
|
325-6055 |
three two five
-
six oh five five |
three two five
-
six oh double
five** |
| |
bus, train or
flight numbers |
SQ305 |
SQ three oh five |
|
|
Say ZERO |
temperature |
0° |
zero degrees |
|
NOTE: Say POINT
for decimal points.
**This variant
confuses some non-native
speakers and listeners -
avoid it, but know it is
there.
Practice the following
statements using the rules
above:
1. Room
Service? Please bring my
dinner up to room 3205.
2. Flight MI2055 is
boarding at gate B22.
3.
It's freezing outside it's
20°
below 0!
4. Do you have my
number? It's
089-875-3003.
5. The
exact size of the specimen
is 0.06cm.
MONEY, MONEY, MONEY!
How to state amounts of
money is always a difficult
point for students of
Business English, but the
rules are relatively simple.
Numbers before decimals are
stated in full - after the
decimal they are also stated
in full EXCEPT for .01
through .09. Please
see the examples below:
|
Amount |
is spoken as |
or ** |
|
$66.50 |
sixty-six fifty |
sixty-six
dollars and
fifty cents |
|
£3.05 |
three oh five |
three pounds and
five pence |
|
€8.88
|
eight
eighty-eight |
eight euros and
eighty-eight
cents |
|
¥2005
|
two thousand and
five |
two thousand
and five yen |
**The "and" is
sometimes dropped and/or not
always used by all native
speakers. Students
usually understand better
and are better understood if
they use the "and".
YEARS and BIG NUMBERS
|
Number |
is spoken as |
|
the year 2005 |
two-thousand and
five |
|
year 1995 |
nineteen
ninety-five |
|
number 1995 |
one**-thousand
nine-hundred and
ninety-five |
|
year 2012 |
twenty twelve |
|
year 2055 |
twenty
fifty-five |
|
number 1022 |
one**-thousand
and twenty-two |
|
year 1022 |
ten twenty-two |
|
number 1,325,455 |
one**-million,
three-hundred
twenty-five
thousand,
four-hundred
fifty-five |
** Sometimes native speakers
will substitute an "a" for
"one" - thus, for 1022,
saying "a thousand and
twenty-two".
LITTLE NUMBERS: Fractions
Fractions are usually spoken
as ordinal numbers:
|
number |
is spoken as
|
variant |
|
1/5 |
one fifth |
a fifth |
|
1/7 |
one seventh |
a seventh |
|
1/3 |
one third |
a third |
|
3/4 |
three fourths |
|
|
7/8 |
seven eighths |
|
Note some exceptions
and variants however:
|
number |
is spoken as |
variant |
|
½ |
a half |
one half |
|
¾ |
three
quarters |
three
fourths |
|
2½ |
two and a
half |
|
|
4¾ |
four and
three
quarters |
four and
three
fourths |
|
¼ |
one quarter |
one fourth |
|
