Numerals

Numerals is a part of speech which includes words denoting number.

They are divided into cardinals (one, two, eleven, a hundred) and ordinals (the first, the fourth, the thousandth).

1. Mind the pronunciation

15 − fifteen 50 − fifty

16 − sixteen 60 − sixty

2. 100 a (= one) hundred

300 three hundred s

1000 a thousand

11,000 eleven thousand s

But: some thousands; millions and millions of people.

3. Saying “0”

oh [ ou ], zero, naught, nothing, nil.

Mind “0” can be spoken in different ways in different contexts.

Phone number: 067 922 00 78 − oh, six, seven, nine, double oh, seven, eight.

Maths: 0.7 − naught point seven

oh point seven

zero point seven

4. Fractions and decimals

− a fourth, a quarter

= 0.5 – a second, a half, zero point 5

− two thirds − five sixths

1 − one and three quarters

1.75 – one point seventy-five,

one point seven five,

two but a quarter

0.5 =.5 – oh point 5; point 5.

5. Ordinal numbers and dates

Mind the following:

	the first
Exception	the second	the... the
	the third

One of the problems with dates is that we write them and say them in a different way.

4 January − the fourth of January

or January the fourth

or January fourth

6. Room 5 – not “the fifth room”. Page 10 – not “the tenth page”.

7. Notice the following:

odd numbers − 3, 5, 11…

even numbers – 2, 10, 22…

12 – a dozen,

20 – a score,

60 – three scores,

2000 − twenty hundred