Children first begin learning a foreign language in kindergarten. Learn simple words that are found in everyday life. Every first grader should know how to count within ten in English. This is a basic program that a child must master when entering school. Numbers in English can be learned not only easily, but also in a fun way. Today, many interesting ways and methods have been invented for this.

Learning numbers from 1 to 19

English numbers from 1 to 100 are easy to count and learn if you approach the learning process with ingenuity. To quickly master a new language, you need to understand the process of creating an invoice. At the initial stage, it is worth learning only 12 numbers, which will help you master the entire grammatical series. Every schoolchild and adult knows them. Therefore, any parent can teach their child with ease.

First, you need to memorize the numbers from 1 to 12. A special table will help you do this.

The presented English number series is usually taught in poetic form, so it is easy to remember.

Counting from 13 to 19, knowing the previous numbers by heart will be easy. To do this, you need to learn how to compose a number series yourself using learned numbers.

To get 13, you need to add the suffix teen (teen) to the number 3, you get three (free) + teen (teen) = thirteen (fetin). The same rule applies to the numbers five and four:

• four (fo) + teen (teen) = fourteen (fotin) - 14;
• five (fife) + teen (teen) = fifteen (fiftin) - 15.

This series can be continued until 19: 16 - sixteen, 17 - seventeen, 18 - eighteen, 19 - nineteen. If a child understands the process of forming numbers from 1 to 20, English will become the child’s favorite language, which is not at all difficult to learn on your own or with the help of your parents.

Making tens

Tens in English are just as interesting to learn as other numbers in counting. Because they are formed according to the same pattern as the previous numbers. Round numbers are obtained by adding the suffix ty. For example, to understand how to pronounce and write 20, 30, 40, 50, you need:

This creates a table of round tens.

It is worth remembering how the numbers 50, 40, 30, 20 are written and pronounced. These are exception words. During their formation, the root is modified.

Getting the rest of the numbers from one to one hundred is also not difficult. Any schoolchild can do this if he understands the technology of their education. An example can be given using numbers 54 and 45:

• 54 consists of fifty and four, so in English it would sound like fifty (50) + four (4) = fifty-four (fifty-fo);
• 45 consists of forty (forty) and five (five), resulting in forty-five (forty five).

As shown above, the number is made up of tens and ones, which is closely related to the Russian language - 20 (twenty) + 5 (five) = 25 (twenty-five). In your native language, numbers are readable. This makes the learning process easier.

Any child will be able to understand the pattern of creating the numbers four, five, ten, twenty-four, etc. up to 100 if his parents help him and guide him. Already in elementary school, he will have extensive acquaintance with English and British pronunciation and their differences. In the first grades, children are already learning how to write and pronounce numbers up to 100. Therefore, it is extremely important to help your child master a foreign language perfectly before entering school.

The topic of English numerals is quite complex, since the formation of English numerals differs from the formation of Russian ones. There are rules, and there are exceptions, and both have their own peculiarities. Let's look at English numbers with transcription and Russian pronunciation, give striking examples and focus on exceptions. Go ahead for new knowledge!

Numbers in English are formed in different ways. Numerals from 1 to 10 have some rules of formation, from 13 to 20 - others. Tens, hundreds and thousands also have peculiarities of education.

Features of the formation of numerals from 1 to 12

The table below shows the numerals from 1 to 12 with transcription, Russian pronunciation and examples:

• We wanted one cake, two bananas ang eight apples => We wanted one cake, two bananas and eight apples.
• We need to buy avocado fot this recipe. Or better two ones => For this recipe we have to buy an avocado. Or better yet, two.
• Three kilos of meat, four big tomatoes, five eggplants and garlic will make this evening much more better. I will prepare very delicious dish by my own recipe! => Three kilograms of meat, four large tomatoes, five eggplants and garlic will make the evening much better. I will prepare a very tasty dish according to my own recipe!
• Eleven foxes and twelve wolves were seen on this week at this place => Eleven foxes and twelve wolves were seen this week at this place.

Features of the formation of numerals from 13 to 20

The table shows that numerals from 13 to 19 (inclusive) are written according to the same rules; a particle is added to the cardinal number (one, two, three) –teen. And do not confuse cardinal numbers with ordinal numbers! in English they are formed in a completely different way!

On a note! It must be remembered that every rule has exceptions. In this case, the exceptions will be the numerals 13 and 15. Their roots three and five will have a modified form:

• Three => thirteen
• Five => fifteen.

Not threeteen/fiveteen!!!

Some examples:

• Seventeen girls were seen at this party while only eight boys came. — Seventeen girls were seen at the party, while only eight guys came.
• Seventeen pieces of cake were given to all those children. — All these children were given seventeen pieces of pie.
• There is a lot of fish in this river. Nineteen kinds were known 5 years ago. — There are a lot of fish in this river. Five years ago, nineteen species were known.

Tens of English numerals

The table clearly shows that tens of numbers are formed using a particle (suffix) –ty. These numerals are derivatives of cardinal ones, but you also need to add the suffix –ty.

Important! Remember that when forming the numbers 20,30, 40 and 50, the root of the cardinal digits, which serve as the basis for the formation of tens, will change:

• two – 20 twenty [ˈtwenti]
• three – 30 thirty [ˈθɜːti]
• four – 40 forty [ˈfɔːti]
• five – 50 fifty [ˈfɪfti]

And one more nuance: the number 80 [ˈeɪti] is characterized by the absence of repetition of the letter t: eight (eight) = eighty(eight+ty =eightty).

Examples:

• Thirty exotic animals were needed to make the idea of ​​the movie complete => Thirty exotic animals were needed to make the idea of ​​the movie complete.
• Sixty soldiers will come on parade in front of the palace => Sixty soldiers will come to the parade that will be in front of the palace.
• Fifty of them knew the road but only thirty agreed to follow us => Fifty of them knew the road, but only thirty agreed to follow us.

As for the stress of numerals that are formed with the help of –ty, then everything is simple - stress Always will be on the first syllable.

Reference: It happens that beginning students find it difficult to separate numerals with –ty and –teen in colloquial speech. And here stress comes to the rescue - if it is on the first syllable, then 100% we are dealing with tens of numerals.

Basics: How numbers are formed in English

When studying the formation of English numbers, it is important to remember that numbers from 1 to 12 are simple cardinal numbers. Their task is to indicate the number of objects. Such numerals consist of one word. It is very important to remember the spelling of the first twelve digits, since they are the basis for the formation of all other digits - from thirteen to a billion.

How to pronounce numerals that are formed by adding the particle –teen? Here you need to be very careful => the pronunciation of numerals (English numbers) will have two stresses: on the first and second syllable. At the same time, we immediately note that the stresses will not be equal in strength. One of them will be secondary, and the other will be primary.

For example, how do you pronounce thirteen? From the transcription of [ˌθɜːˈtiːn] it is clear that the word has two stresses. The bottom line indicates secondary stress, the top line indicates primary stress. The same goes for fourteen [ˌfɔːˈtiːn] and fifteen [ˌfɪfˈtiːn]. There are also two stresses here – main and additional.

What to do to avoid making mistakes with pronunciation? To do this, you should always look at the transcription. Each numeral, like any other word, should be studied according to the following scheme: transcription - translation - the presence of several meanings.

Note! In some dictionaries, the stress of numerals is determined by the presence (absence) of a noun after it. For example, if a numeral is next to a noun, then the stress falls on the first syllable =>

• fifteen rivers [ˈfɪftiːn ˈrɪvər z]
• sixteen cats [ˈsɪkstiːn ˈkæts]

But! If a numeral stands alone in a sentence, without a noun, then the stress falls on the second syllable (on the suffix –teen):

• fifteen
• sixteen

Examples:

• Fifteen cats were sold this week (emphasis is on the first syllable) => Fifteen cats were sold this week
• How many cats were sold this week? – Fifteen (emphasis on the suffix –teen) => How many cats were sold this week? - Fifteen.

A hundred, a thousand, a million: is there a difference?

First of all, it should be noted that before the numerals hundred (one hundred), thousand (thousand) and million (million) there will always be either the word one or the indefinite article a (meaning ‘one’).

• a/one hundred => One h’andrid [ə wʌn ˈhʌndrəd]
• a/one thousand => One Southend
• one million => One m'ilyan.
• One hundred and twenty => one hundred and twenty
• One hundred singers => one hundred singers
• One hundred thirty eight cars => one hundred thirty eight cars.

But! Other cardinal numbers are characterized by the absence of an article! =>

• Five dresses => Five dresses.
• Eight balls => Eight balls.

Important! The numerals hundred, thousand and million do not have the ending –s, which determines the plural.

• Two hundred => two hundred
• Five hundred => five hundred
• Nine hundred => nine hundred, etc.

If we are talking about thousands, then the same rule applies:

• thousand (one thousand) – one thousand or a thousand
• five thousand – five thousand
• seven thousand – seven thousand.

Millions are formed by the same principle:

• million (one million) – one million or a million
• seven million – seven million
• nine million – nine million.

But! English wouldn't be as fun to learn if it didn't have exceptions. What would it be like without them? Students will be interested to know that the ending –s in millions, thousands and hundreds is still used. When does this happen? When measures denote an indefinite number of these same millions, thousands and hundreds.

Examples

• Hundreds of pages to read for understanding => Read hundreds of pages to understand (something, a foreign language, for example).
• Five millions of tons of gold => Five million tons of gold.
• Thousands of kilometers to walk to win marathon => Walk thousands of kilometers to win the marathon.

From the examples it is clear that after hundreds, thousands and millions with the ending –s (when translated into English) comes a noun or verb. In most cases, the additional part of the sentence will still be a noun. And if it is present, it must be with the preposition of:

• Seven or eight thousand of specie were made of pure silver => Seven or eight thousand metal coins were made of pure silver.

A song about English numbers for children

Let's sum it up

Numbers in English are formed in a different way from the one we studied in Russian grammar. Tens and hundreds have their own peculiarities of education, in which, naturally, there will certainly be exceptions to the rules. At the same time, in order to learn numerals correctly, it is extremely important to learn how to pronounce them correctly.

When writing numerals, they also have their own nuances; you also need to know the subtleties of spelling. Therefore, we are learning the topic of English numbers with transcription and Russian pronunciation little by little and with examples (translation) in order to better understand the intricacies of the material. And don’t forget to regularly review the topics you’ve already studied so that you don’t forget them.

Good luck and new achievements! Remember that everything was not given to anyone at once. Start small and gradually develop your abilities. If you want, you will succeed! See you again and more interesting topics to study!

A couple more videos on the formation of English numbers from 1 to 100 and from 100 and above from an English-speaking teacher:

Numbers in English begin to be taught from the first stages of acquaintance with the English language. Particularly in teaching children, the first ten English numbers are perhaps the easiest words to teach with visual support. As soon as you show pictures with numbers or start bending your fingers, the simple numbers fit into your head by themselves.

Older students also encounter numbers in English almost immediately - already at the stage of acquaintance dialogues. They are needed to tell about ages, give dates, and are a common addition for plural words.

The principle of formation of English numerals

The rules for forming English numerals are logical and easy to understand. The English numbers from 1 to 20 need to be memorized (this is quite easy to do, because their order corresponds exactly to their Russian equivalents), and to form the rest, certain suffixes are needed that need to be added to the first ten numerals.

For greater clarity, let's put the numbers in a table and analyze how suffixes affect the meaning of words.

Numbers with “teen”

From this table it is easy to see that the English numerals of the second ten, starting with thirteen, are formed using the suffix -teen. Everyone knows the word teenager (teenager), which came to us from the English language, which contains this very suffix, as well as the word age (age). This word means teenager, i.e. a person between the ages of thirteen and nineteen. It is in these English numerals (the second section of the table) that the suffix -teen is used.

Dozens

If you look at the third section of the table, it is easy to understand the principle of the formation of numerals meaning tens (twenty, thirty, etc.) - they require the suffix -ty. The suffixes -teen and -ty are added to the corresponding numerals of the first ten. The only exceptions are 11 (eleven) and 12 (twelve), which are learned along with the first ten digits. Also look at the numbers three, four and five in the table and their derived numerals with suffixes. Remember the changes in their spelling.

Compound numerals

So, we have looked at the principle of forming English numerals up to one hundred. All that remains is to figure out what needs to be done to name compound numerals - of an order such as, for example, seventy-eight, fifty-four, etc. In fact, there is no difficulty here. Similar numbers in English are called similarly to Russian. The result is a direct translation: seventy-eight - seventy-eight, fifty-four - fifty-four, etc. The only detail worthy of attention is that in English numerals of this type, unlike Russian ones, a hyphen is needed between parts.

Large numbers in English

We also suggest that you familiarize yourself with the method of forming large numbers in English.

As for hundreds, they are formed as follows: the base “hundred” is taken (translated into Russian as “hundred”), and the amount that is needed is added to it. If we are talking about two hundred sheep, then we say “two hundred”; if we mean a hundred years, we use “one hundred”, etc.

Further, the counting in English is constructed as follows: ten hundreds form a thousand, which translates as “thousand”. If it is necessary to indicate a specific number of thousands, you must resort (as in the case of hundreds) to numbers from 1 to 999. For example, “two thousand” is “two thousand” in English, five is “five thousand”.

Now let's write the numbers in Russian and translate them into English:

378 - three hundred and seventy-eight - three hundred and seventy- eight

5964 - five thousand nine hundred sixty-four - five thousand _ nine hundred and sixty-four

Please note:

• hundreds and thousands in complex numerals are put in the singular, not the plural (without the ending -s at the end of the word);
• before the last part of the numeral we insert the conjunction and (and);
• Don’t forget about the hyphen in compound numerals with tens and ones.

Difficulties, as a rule, arise when reading precisely such complex numbers. Four-digit numbers in English in educational texts are most often found as years of some events. Beginners need not be afraid of such numbers indicating years (up to 2000). After all, when pronouncing them in English, they are usually divided into two parts: first we read the number from the first two digits, and then from the second two.

For example, someone was born in 1967 - in 1967. You need to read not “in (one) thousand nine hundred and sixty-seven,” as it would be in the Russian version, but “in nineteen sixty-seven” (“in nineteen sixty-seven ").

For the first ten years since 2000, the usual rule applies, i.e. 2000 - two thousand, 2007 - two thousand (and) seven.

Starting from 2011, you can simplify the reading again - twenty - eleven (twenty eleven), twenty - twelve (twenty-twelve), etc.

Ordinal numbers in English

It is also important to know how ordinal numbers are formed, since they have their own characteristics. The main rule in this case is to substitute the ending -th to the cardinal number, for example, eleventh (eleven), fifteenth (fifteen). At the same time, we recommend remembering the first nine ordinal English numbers - they deviate slightly from the general rule:

If we are talking about a serious scientific article or official document, then it is better to use “firstly, secondly, thirdly”. However, in situations of everyday communication, we recommend using “first, second, third” - this will be easier and more familiar to the ear of any native speaker.

Fractions in English

Fractions require a separate discussion. There are only a few rules for ordinal ones:

1. The numerator is read as a cardinal number, and the denominator as an ordinal number.
2. If the numerator is more than one, the denominator gets an “-s” at the end.
3. The integer part, if present, is joined to the fractional part using the conjunction “and”.

For example, ⅓ is pronounced as “one third”, ⅗ - as “three fifths”, 1⅔ in speech is reproduced as “one and two thirds”.

With decimal fractions everything is much simpler - the available characters are read in order. If there is a zero in front, we use “nought”. The point between the integer and fractional parts is “point”.

For example, 55.5 - five five point five; 0.4—nought point four, 1.22—one point two two.

Pronunciation of English numerals

In the following table we present numbers in English from 1 to 20 with transcription and Russian pronunciation:

Taking into account all the above information, now you can name any number in English. Continue this table yourself, for example, continue counting in English from 1 to 100.

By the way, to learn to confidently name numbers in English, you can ask relatives or friends to name any numbers in Russian, but you will need to pronounce them in English. In addition, name the birth years of your relatives in English, mentally pronounce in English the prices in the supermarket, the time on the electronic clock, etc.

Exercises for memorizing English numbers

Practice and test your knowledge. Do three exercises to practice English numerals.

Choose the options where the numbers are written correctly.

Write the result of the calculation in words.

Choose the correct corresponding ordinal number.

Knowing how to count in English is as important as speaking it. In any tourist country, all salespeople, taxi drivers, and hotel staff have a count of up to 20. Are you any worse? In general, you understand what's what. To learn how to count to a million in English, you need to learn only 31 words. But everything is in order. In this article we will learn how to count to 20.

In Russian, to learn numbers, you need to know over 100 words. The same rules apply in English counting, but it is worth mentioning a couple of important points that will greatly facilitate the process of learning numbers and numbers:

• In English, unlike Russian, numbers are not declined according to gender. If we have “two thousand”, but “two million”, then here it is the same as “two thousand”, as “two million”
• They do not decline according to cases, that is, the endings do not change. Instead of “a thousand - thousand-thousand-thousand...”, for everything the simple word “thousand”
• Also, instead of "1 million - 2 million - 5 million" it all comes down to using one word "million" and no additional endings
• There are no personal names for hundreds. Instead of “two hundred” there will be “two hundred”, instead of “six hundred” the Englishman will say “six hundred”, etc.
• Well, fifthly, there are much fewer exceptions in the English account

Well, now let’s move from theory directly to practice: Numbers from one to ten are the basis of the basics!

Counting to 20 in English with transcription

Numerous numbers are based on basic numbers - from 1 to 9, you can also include 0 and 10 here. You just have to memorize these numbers:

Further, the next numbers 11 and 12 are those few exceptions from the top 20. You will have to remember them too. Then everything is much simpler. From the 13th to the 19th the numbers are formed in the same way “digit (3 to 9) + teen”. For example, six + teen = sixteen. Similar to thirteen, fifteen in Russian. This is -eleven and is -teen. The number is written together and read with the emphasis on the last syllable.

There are minor changes here too. In pronunciation they are not noticeable, but in writing it is worth paying attention to the radical changes:

• 13: the spelling of "three" is modified to "thir"
• 15: in the second syllable “five” the v changes to f and the letter “e” disappears
• 18: when adding the suffix “teen” to “eight”, the letter t that appears is not duplicated, but replaced with a single letter

In fact, the ending “teen” is a full-fledged word meaning the age from 13 to 19 years.

How to teach a child to count in English?

Once you start teaching your children English, it also needs to be taught numeracy. Be sure to do this through play to instill in him a love and desire to learn the language. Here are some ways to teach your child to count in English:

• Buy or download number cards from the Internet. It is better if on each of them it is written in letters and with pronunciation. Lay out the pictures on the floor. Say the number in English, and let the child bring you the card you need or point to it
• The previous game, only the adult already names the number in his native language, and the child takes a card with a number and calls it in a foreign language
• Take the ball. Stand opposite, and throwing the ball into the child’s hands, say the number in a foreign language, and the child, returning the toy to you, says it in his native language.
• Game "Who has more". Turn the cards over with the numbers down, and draw out one picture at a time with your baby. Say the number in English. Whoever has more gets both cards. And so on until the end. The one with the highest amount wins
• Ask your child to draw numbers, give them human features - eyes, hands, and their name will be the name of the number
• Use fun rhymes that children can easily remember
• Another option is the game “Crocodile”, but instead of words, the child must turn into a number
• You can also ask your child to draw a number that you will voice in the air.

Not a day goes by without using numbers. Find out what time it is; write down the phone number of a business partner or a girl you like; dictate the delivery address for sushi or pizza—everywhere you will need to know the number in English. As in the Russian language, British vocabulary has its own characteristics depending on the area of ​​use. Let's look at them.

Writing numbers in words

Many people remember with pain their school Russian language lessons on the topic “Numerals”. There were so many rules, exceptions and caveats! How difficult were the numerals to decline? But English numbers, like many other aspects, are much simpler.

Initially, you will need to remember 13 basic numerals:

zero - zero or thought
one - one
two - two
three - three
four - four
five - five
six - six
seven - seven
eight - eight
nine - nine
ten - ten
eleven - eleven
twelve - twelve

Most likely, these words are familiar to everyone, since they are often used in popular songs, and are also part of the school English curriculum.

To continue counting in English, you only need two suffixes: - teen And - ty, which are attached to the root of one of the 13 basic numerals. Teen used for numbers from 13 before 19 . For education ten(twenty, thirty, forty, etc.) the suffix is ​​used - ty.

For example, to write the number 13 we take the root of the number three - thir and add the suffix to it - teen — thirteen. And for 30 in English you need the same root thir, but already the suffix ten - ty — thirty thirty.

The suffixes -teen and -ty sound very similar, so confusion arises. But there is a tricky hint that will help put everything in its place once and for all. Remember who they are teenagers? Once again, simple English provides a clue for all times. age- age, teen- numeral suffix " transitional» ages - from 13 to 19. For other numbers in English you will need the suffix -ty. We hope this trick will forever help clear up the confusion between whether 17 is seventeen or seventy in English. We remember about teenagers - and voila!

To use it in any area of ​​linguistic communication, you only need to remember 2 points: there are two types or classes of numerals in English speech - ordinal and cardinal.

Ordinal, based on the name, indicates what the subject is in order. For example, first in line or forty-ninth on the list.

Quantitative, therefore, answers the question “how much?” and indicate the total quantity. For example: one house, three horses, a thousand things to do.

Numbers in English, as in Russian, have the same root. All except the first three. But if in our grammar there are several suffixes for forming an ordinal number from a cardinal number, but in English there is only one - th.

The table below shows how easy it is to form an ordinal number from a cardinal number. The only thing you shouldn’t forget about is the definite article “ the”, which must be placed before ordinal numbers.

Writing numbers in digits

The English-speaking population uses the same number system as we do - Arabic, so there should not be any difficulties with writing cardinal numbers. It is worth paying attention to the use of ordinal numbers, where the following abbreviations are used:

the first-1st
the second-2nd
the third-3rd
the fourth-4th
the eleventh-11th
the twenty first-21st

As you can see, the general principle of abbreviation is to drop the article and add the last two letters of the ordinal number written in words to the number. Despite the fact that in writing the article is dropped, when reading a number in English it is still necessary to add an article.

1st prize -the first prize

Numbers in addresses

The numbers in English as part of the address, in general, are no different from the writing of our addresses. Cardiac numbers are used to indicate the number of a house, building, apartment or office. If the name of a street or business contains an ordinal number, then the abbreviation from the previous section should be used:

1st Avenue - 1st Avenue

To save space on the envelope, numbers are written digitally rather than in capital letters. But it is worth noting that the building number in the English version is indicated before the street name, and not after, as in our case. You can read more about writing an address in English.

Numbers in years and months

A common mistake when writing the day of the month in English is to use a cardinal number instead of an ordinal number. That is, not 21 -e(what?) March, and 21 (How many?) March. Rely on your native language when translating dates:
22 -e April(which order is the cardinal number) - 22nd April.

Twenty second of April - the twenty second of April

Please note: when writing abbreviated date, article omitted the and preposition of, indicating the genitive case. When reading abbreviated dates must be added article And pretext. Otherwise, it will turn out not “April 22nd”, but “April twenty-second”. Alternatively, the date can be written like this:

April 22, 2017 - the twenty second of April twenty seventeen

When reading the year, it is customary to divide a four-digit number in English into two pairs. In the case of the beginning of the two thousandths, from 2001 to 2009, they use the Russian analogue - two thousand and one, two thousand and nine. But not everything is analogous to Russian speech in the language of Shakespeare. The word “year” is not added at the end of the phrase:

March 8, 2029 - the eighth of March twenty twenty nine.

If it is necessary to indicate the period BC or, conversely, after the birth of Christ, the following abbreviations are used: B.C. - before Christ - before the birth of Christ (BC); A.D. - Anno Domini (lat.) - from the birth of Christ (AD).

Numbers in hours and minutes

The British use the European time system, consisting of 24 hours, but Americans prefer two by twelve - before noon and after noon. Before noon, that is, starting With 00:00 And until 12:00, denoted by letters a.m. (ANTE MERIDIEM - from Latin until noon). Beginning from lunch And until midnight numbers are used p.m. (POST MERIDIEM - from Latin after noon).

Most often, to make life easier for ourselves and for us, the English-speaking population first names the hours, then the minutes, using cardinal numerals:

It's 5:15 - it's five fifteen.

But true gentlemen, like the Russian intelligentsia, can use the following phrases in their speech:

It's quarter to ten. - A quarter to ten.
It's half past nine. - Half past nine.
It's ten past eleven. - Ten past eleven.

To easily navigate such phrases, you need to remember just three words:

quarter- quarter
past- after
to- before

We have already studied the remaining numbers in English above.

Thus, any similar expression can be constructed. A quarter of an hour is 15 minutes. Hence, a quarter to two(that is, 15 minutes left until two) will sound in English it's quarter to two. If now quarter past six(that is, 15 minutes have passed after six in the evening), then in English we will say it's quarter past six.

Often confusion is caused by the indication of half an hour. In Russian we use half of the next hour - half past nine - 8:30. The British rely on facts - what has already happened: 8:30 - thirty minutes after eight - It's half past eight.

ID numbers

Identification numbers include any numbering of objects, phenomena and even people. It would seem that numbering implies the use of ordinal numbers, but in reality this does not always happen.

When talking about people, it is customary to use ordinal numbers with articles:

Peter I - Peter the First

When talking about events, we use cardinal numbers:

The Second World War - World War Two

In other cases, cardinal numbers are most often used:

Channel Nine - Channel Nine, platform 9 3/4 - Platform Nine and Three Quarters.

A similar principle should be used when identifying buildings and structures, car numbers, and so on. It is allowed to add the word “ number» when numbering objects: car No. 13 - carriage number thirteen/carriage thirteen.

Numbers in fractions and percentages

We use numbers in English in fractions and percentages in the same way as in Russian:

1/2 - one second part. This phrase uses a cardinal number (one), an ordinal number (second).

1/2 - one second part - one second

One part is often called another numeral. 1/2 is half, 1/3 is a third, 1/3 is a quarter, etc. In English, for this, the number “one” is replaced by the article “a”:

1/2 - half - a half
1/3 - third - a third
1/4 - quarter - a forth

If there are parts two, then it will sound in Russian already in plural number, which means we also use the plural in a foreign language:

2/9 - two ninths - two ninths

Percentages are expressed using decimal fractions, and here the British implement what Russian mathematics teachers everywhere prohibit - they simply name the numbers before and after the point! Moreover, the word itself “ dot" sounds like " point».

1.11 - one point one one
12.842 - one two point eight four two
999.209 - nine nine nine point two night nine/ nine nine nine point two o nine

Zero in mathematics most often sounds like “ thought", but in everyday life it is acceptable to use " zero" And " o" If there is a zero before the point, it can be omitted:

0.4 - thought point four/point four
0.02 - nought point nought two / point nought two / point o two
0.34 -thought point three four/point three four

Chapter and page numbering

In books, numbers in English are used according to the principle of identifying objects - the cardinal number is placed after the name of the object:

Chapter I (Chapter One) - Chapter I (Chapter One)

Page 487 (page four hundred eighty seven) - page 487 (page four hundred and eighty seven)

Spelling large numbers

Large numbers in English are written similarly to our numerals:

two thousand four hundred seventy two - two thousand four hundred and seventy two
Three million fifteen thousand two hundred two - three million fifteen thousand two hundred and two

If the number can be reduced to half, then the word “ half»:

Seven and a half billion people live on earth. - There are seven and a half billion people on earth.

Important: indicating the exact quantity, ending with " s" For plural not added to the words hundred, thousand,million, billion billion etc. Plural is used only when it is necessary to emphasize the mass character without indicating the exact number in English:

There were hundreds of people there. - There were hundreds of people there.

Remember: between hundreds and tens in large numbers it is customary to add the conjunction “ and».

Numbers in business documents

English numbers in documents are used according to general rules, but require mandatory duplication in written and numerical equivalent:

17,200 (seventeen thousand two hundred) inconsistencies were identified. - There were 17,200 (seventeen thousand and two hundred) discrepancies found.

Numbers in statistics

Similar to official papers, numbers in English are used in statistics. It is allowed not to use duplication here, but it is required maintaining uniformity: either all data is indicated in numbers, or everything is written in words.

Numbers at the beginning of sentences

It is not customary to use English numbers at the beginning of a sentence; they should be replaced with capital numerals:

10 little black kids went to dinner. - Ten piccaninnies went out to dine.

Combined numbers

Combined numbers include the use of both alphabetic and digital equivalents of numerals. According to writing ethics, it is preferable to use only one of the options throughout the text. But in cases where the abundance of numbers may interfere with the perception of information, the use of words and numbers is allowed:

In West Virginia, 15 two-story buildings burned to the ground last night. - Last night fifteen 2-storied buildings burnt down to ashes in West Virginia.

Conclusion

Despite the vastness of the topic “Numbers in English,” remembering the basic rules is not difficult. The key to success in using a language is constant practice. Take your old school math notebooks and try to translate the examples and problems into English. Read newspapers and periodicals with statistical data. And best of all, go to the “Series” section and watch Sillicon Valley, where you are guaranteed to encounter large sums and abundant statistical data, which will help you remember numbers in English forever! Well, or sign up for our individual lessons via Skype!

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