Download p ra c tic a l s k ills

reference:
figures
Whole Numbers
0
nought
zero
‘oh’
nil
love
st
1
2
3
5
9
one
two
three
five
nine
1
nd
2
rd
3
th
5
th
9
first
second
third
fifth
ninth
10
12
14
15
40
42
90
ten
twelve
four’teen
fifteen
‘forty
forty-two
ninety
10
th
12
th
14
th
15
th
40
nd
42
th
90
100
103
143
a/one hundred
100
one hundred and three
one hundred and forty-three
1,000
1,008
1,068
1,768
a/one thousand
1,000 a/one thousandth
one thousand and eight
one thousand and sixty-eight
one thousand, seven hundred and sixty-eight
10,000
10,009
10,059
10,259
16,259
ten thousand
10,000
ten thousandth
ten thousand and nine
ten thousand and fifty-nine
ten thousand, two hundred and fifty-nine
sixteen thousand, two hundred and fifty-nine
100,000
100,002
100,012
100,712
103,712
183,712
a/one hundred thousand 100,000
a/one hundred thousandth
one hundred thousand and two
one hundred thousand and twelve
one hundred thousand, seven hundred and twelve
one hundred and three thousand, seven hundred and twelve
one hundred and eighty-three thousand, seven hundred and twelve
1,000,000
1,000,009
1,000,049
1,000,249
1,006,249
1,056,249
1,156,249
a/one million
1,000,000
a/one millionth
one million and nine
one million and forty-nine
one million, two hundred and forty-nine
one million, six thousand, two hundred and forty-nine
one million, fifty-six thousand, two hundred and forty-nine
one million, a hundred and fifty-six thousand, two hundred and forty-nine
th
tenth
twelfth
fourteenth
fifteenth
fortieth
forty-second
ninetieth
th
a/one hundredth
th
th
th
practical skills
[in mathematics before a decimal point (Br.Eng.)]
[in mathematics, decimals & general use (Am.Eng.)]
[in official numbers, e.g. phone numbers, codes, hotel room
numbers, bus numbers, years, etc and before and after a
decimal point (Br.Eng.)]
[in a number of sports, especially soccer]
[in tennis]
th
1,000,000,000 a/one billion
1,000,000,000,000
a/one trillion
Business English 1
1
reference:
figures
practical skills
Fractions and Decimal Numbers
1
4
a/one quarter (or one-fourth)
0.25 (nought / oh) point two five
5
16
five-sixteenths
0.3125 (nought / oh) point three one two five
1
3
a/one third
0.333 (nought / oh) point three recurring
3
8
three-eighths
0.375 (nought / oh) point three seven five
1
2
a/one half
0.5 (nought / oh) point five
2
3
two-thirds
0.666 (nought / oh) point six recurring
3
4
three-quarters (or three-fourths) 0.75 (nought / oh) point seven five
1
1
2
one and a half
1.5 one point five
2
1
4
two and a quarter
2.25 two point two five
3
2
3
three and two-thirds
0.666 three point six recurring
4
3
4
four and three-quarters
4.75 four point seven five
3"
8
three-eighths of an inch
0.375 (nought / oh) point three seven five of an
3
5"
16
inch
three and five-sixteenths inches
3.3125 three point three one two five inches
64,800.05 sixty-four thousand, eight hundred
point nought / five
!
2
After a decimal point, numbers (digits) are usually read
separately (esp. if there are more than two decimal places)
e.g.
0.135 nought point one three five
6.22
six point two two
3.14159
three point one four one five nine
0.007
nought / oh point oh oh seven
Business English 1
reference:
!
figures
Different cultures can have different conventions when it
comes to writing figures, which can at times lead to
misunderstanding as shown below (together with one
possible compromise)
Anglo-Saxon
The Third Way
1
7
86,742
86 742
I
7
86.742
86,742
I
7
86.742
86 742
Numbers Used as Adjectives…
are always singular:
a forty-five minute lesson
a twenty-minute walk
a ninety-five dollar price cut
a one and a half litre bottle
a twelve-week term
a ten thousand pound car
a six-month waiting list
a twenty-degree fall in
temperature
Measures
written
said as
4‘ or 4 ft.
8“ or 8 in.
33 mm.
14 cm.
12 m.
3m14
9 km.
40k
3.7m
£2.50
200C
-200C
!
four feet
eight inches
thirty-three millimetres
fourteen centimetres
twelve metres
three metres seventeen
nine kilometres
forty K (= forty thousand) [mainly used in connection with
salaries, e.g. she’s getting 40k]
three point seven million (or three point seven miles)
two pounds fifty
it's twenty degrees Celsius
it's minus twenty degrees Celsius (or it's twenty degrees
below freezing)
practical skills
Continental
If the number after a decimal point represents a specific unit
(money) it is read like a normal number
e.g.
£1.50
one pound fifty
€3.20
three euro twenty cents
Business English 1
3
reference:
figures
Scale
practical skills
written
4
said as
on maps:
1:25 000
1:50,000
1:63,360
one to twenty-five thousand (or 2 inches to 1mile)
(the map is) one to fifty thousand (or 2 cm to 1 km)
one to sixty-three thousand three hundred and sixty
(or 1 inch to 1 mile)
on plans:
1:60
(the plan is drawn to a scale of) one to sixty
Dates
written as
said as
Monday, 10(th) July, 1999 [Br. Eng]
or
10.7.99
Monday, the tenth of July, 1999
Monday, July 10(th), 1999 [Am. Eng]
or
7.10.99
Monday, July (the) tenth, 1999
!
Note the use of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, but 4th , 5th…
Years
written as
said as
1700
1805
seventeen hundred
eighteen oh five
or
1066
1410
1984
2020
ten sixty-six
fourteen ten
nineteen eighty-four
twenty twenty
2000
2004
(the year) two thousand
two thousand and four
eighteen hundred and five
Business English 1
reference:
figures
Clock Times
The standard British 12-hour clock system
written as
said as
five past six (in the morning / a.m.)
ten past seven (in the morning / a.m.)
a quarter past nine (in the morning)
twenty-five past eleven (in the morning)
or
six oh five
or
seven ten
or
nine fifteen
or eleven twenty-five
12 (a.m.)
twelve (o’clock) (in the morning) or
midday
2.35 (p.m.)
4.30 (p.m.)
5.45 (p.m.)
11.50 (p.m.)
twenty-five to three (in the afternoon / p.m.) or two thirty-five
half past four (in the afternoon / p.m.)
or
four thirty
a quarter to six (in the evening)
or
five forty-five
ten to twelve (at night) or ten to midnight or eleven fifty
or
noon
The 24-hour clock
03.00
11.36
12.00
13.45
18.00
21.07
24.00
!
(oh) three hundred (hours)
eleven thirty-six
twelve hundred (hours) / noon
thirteen forty-five
eighteen (hundred) hours
twenty-one (oh) seven
twenty-four (hundred) hours /midnight
•
‘a.m.’ or ‘p.m.’ are never used together with ‘o’clock’
so
it’s five o’clock (in the morning )
or
it’s five a.m.
•
not
it’s five o’clock a.m.
practical skills
6.05 (a.m.)
7.10 (a.m.)
9.15 (a.m.)
11.25 (a.m.)
In Britain the 24 hour clock is still not in general everyday
use
Business English 1
5
reference:
figures
Mathematical Symbols
practical skills
symbol
5+3
7-2
8x4
20 ÷ 5
9 x 9 = 81
1+1≠3
96 %
5<8
8>5
3:9
2:6::3:9
√3
x
x
x
2
3
4
(57 - 18)
[ ]
{ }
said as
five plus three or five and three
seven minus two or seven take away two
eight times four
twenty divided by five
nine times nine equals eighty-one
one plus one does not equal / is not equal to three
ninety-six per cent
five is less than eight
eight is greater than five
three to nine
two is to six as three is to nine
the square root of three
x squared
x cubed
x to the power of four
open brackets, fifty-seven minus eighteen, close brackets
square brackets
curly brackets
Telephone Numbers
number
said as
0803 154 329
(Br.Eng.) oh eight oh three one
(Am.Eng.) zero eight zero three
five four three two nine
one five four three two
nine
071 224 777
(Br.Eng.) oh seven one double two four triple seven
(Am.Eng.) zero seven one two two four seven seven
seven
!
In British telephone English, triple is used in cases where you
have three digits the same together EXCEPT for three 9s. This
is because this combination is still the emergency services
number in the UK (despite the worst efforts of the damnable
EU!)
So…
[Bad joke:
999
=
nine
nine
nine
Q. ‘What happens if you ring 666?’
A. ‘The firemen arrive standing on their heads!’
(OK, so it was very popular when I was 5 years old…)]
6
Business English 1