UNIT 2

• Numbers in English

Learning how to read and pronounce numbers is very important for all the English learners.
That is why this lesson is about numbers: how to pronounce them correctly and how to use them
when we are talking about quantities, figures, weight, dates, etc.
The most important rule when dealing with numbers is:

Numbers larger than

nine should always be
expressed by numbers
in written English
(figures), whilst
numbers under 10
should be written out
(word).

Examples:
• I have 13 friends in Mexico City.
• He ate four cupcakes.
• She received 150 likes on Facebook.

Now, let’s try numbers in English!

Numbers are divided into groups according to their use. In this lesson, we will learn about cardinal
and ordinal numbers. What are they used for?

Cardinal Ordinal
They say how many of They tell us the
something there are. position of something
Refers to quantity. in a list.
Refers to order or
sequence.

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Cardinal numbers

Digits Teens Twenties Thirties forties

tens
Remember that ordinal
numbers basically help us
to count things: they say
how many people or
things there are.

digits One, two, three, four, five, six, etc.

teens Thirteen, fourteen, sixteen, seventeen, etc.

twenties Twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, etc.

thirties Thirty-two, thirty-three, thirty-four, etc.

forties Forty-two, forty-three, forty-four, etc.

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Hundreds, thousands, millions

100 A/One hundred

1,000 A/One thousand
10,000 Ten thousand
100,000 A/One hundred thousand
1,000,000 One million
10,000,000 Ten million
100,000,000 A/One hundred million
1,000,000,000 One billion
10,000,000,000 Ten billion
100,000,000,000 A/One hundred billion
1,000,000,000,000 One trillion

In their website clarkandmiller.com, expert English teachers Gabriel and Lisa give some good advice
about how to deal with big or larger numbers, which are worth to check and practice, so you can read
them and pronounce them correctly.
Check this out!
Take a look at these sentences and see if you can say the numbers correctly.
Don’t leave this part of the lesson until you’ve really tried to say them:

• There were about 120,000 people at the gig. It was massive!

• We produce 342,876,288 cans of dog food every year.
• I can’t leave until I’ve beaten Kat’s score of 12,073. I’m going to be here all night

Did you make it? Could you read the figures correctly? Did you try? You should have said that those
numbers are…

• 120,000 → one hundred and twenty thousand or a hundred and twenty thousand
• 342,876,288 → three hundred and forty-two million, eight hundred and seventy-six thousand,
two hundred and eighty-eight
• 12,073 → twelve thousand and seventy-three

Were you right? If you did, congratulations, you actually can read numbers in English. But if you
didn’t, then follow the next suggestions to tackle down those figures.

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 The commas between
the numbers show you
how to break it up, so
just say the numbers
between the commas
and add “billion,”
Break it “million,” “thousand,”
up! etc. afterwards.

Generally, every time we

say “hundred,” we say
“and” next.

Use ‘and’

UNLESS

That rule doesn’t work if

there are just zeros after
the hundred.

Not with
zeros

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 HOWEVER Most English speakers don’t add
“and” (usually just the Brits), so you
can ignore this rule if you like.

Images taken from: Numbers in English: The Ultimate Guide | Clark and Miller. (s/f). Recuperado el 9 de julio de 2021, de https://www.clarkandmiller.com/numbers-in-english-the-ultimate-guide/
Do not use Numbers are not pluralized…
plural So don’t say: 4,000 — “four thousands”
Say: 4,000 — “four thousand”

Saying prices

We said the first number

first (the one before the
point), then the currency,
then the other number
(the one after the point).

Word
order

Actually, it is very common not to say the

currency (dollars, pesos, pounds, euros, etc.),
but just say:

That’ll be six eighty-three, please

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 It doesn’t make sense
saying a long word like
“thousand” again and
again, we can shorten
“thousand” to either
“grand” or “K.”
‘Grand’ or
‘K’

But…

It only works when the

number is exactly on the
thousands.

Decimals
Check this number.
66.666666666
1) Say “point”…
→ Sixty-six point…
2) After “point,” say the numbers one by one…
→ Sixty-six point six...
3) When numbers repeat forever, just say
“recurring”…
→ Sixty-six point six recurring

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Spelling years
This are the simple rules for you to learn how to
express years in English.

CUT

We cut the numbers into two:

the first two numbers and then
the second two.

REMEMBER

When the year ends with zero

plus a number just say “oh”
instead of “zero”.

This only works for

years after 1000
and not years
1903 →  nineteen zero three  nineteen oh three beginning with 20
(e.g. 2009).
1109 →  eleven zero nine  eleven oh nine
1601 →  sixteen zero one  sixteen oh one

LOTS OF ZEROS

If the year ends in double zero 1400 →  fourteen hundred

just say “hundred” after the first 1100 →  eleven hundred
numbers . 2100 →  twenty-one hundred

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With triple zero, you just say “thousand”…
1000 →  one thousand
2000 →  two thousand
3000 →  three thousand

Years from 2000 up to 2009

For 2001 to 2009, we say the full number.

2004 →  two thousand and four

2007 →  two thousand and seven

Years from 2011 up to 2019

For this years, we have two options....

2013 →  two thousand and thirteen

or
2013 →  twenty thirteen

Years from 2020 onwards

Years from 2020 and up, we go back to cut the
number into two.

2020 →  twenty twenty

2025 →  twenty twenty-five

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Ordinal numbers
These are numbers that tell us the position of something in a list, such as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th etc.
Most ordinal numbers end in "th" except for:
• one → first (1st)
• two → second (2nd)
• three → third (3rd)

You need to be careful with the spelling of these ordinal numbers…

• five → fifth (not “fiveth“)
• nine → ninth (not “nineth “)

…And also with the spelling of the words for 8th, 12th and the words ending in -y.
• eight → eighth
• twelve → twelfth
• twenty → twentieth

We use for…

Giving a date
 Her birthday is on the 29th (Twenty-ninth).
 Their Independence Day is on the 4th of July.
(Fourth of July).

Sequence or order
 I came third in the race.
 This is the first time it happens.

Birthdays
 His birthday is on the 19th of March.
 He had a huge party for his twenty – first Floors of
birthday! a building
Centuries, kings and queens  Our office is on
the ninth floor.
 Shakespeare was born in the16th century.  She lives on the
 Louis XVI (Louis the Sixteenth) was the last second floor.
king of France
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 How to write and say dates in English

BRITISH ENGLISH AMERICAN ENGLISH

DAY + MONTH + YEAR MONTH + DAY + YEAR

You write… You write…

14th September 1991 September 14th, 1991

You say… You say…

The fourteenth of September the
September nineteen fourteenth nineteen
ninety-one ninety-one

DAYS are always MONTHS always YEARS are usually

said in ORDINAL start with a divided into TWO
numbers: CAPITAL letter: PARTS:

First (1st) January You write:

February 1991
Second (2nd)
March
Third (3rd) You say:
April
Fourth (4th) Nineteen ninety-one
May
Ninth (9th) June
Fifteenth (15th) July
August
Twentieth (20th) September
Twenty-fifth (25th) October
Thirty-first (31st) November
December

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