A. Cardinal numbers

379= three hundred and seventy-nine
2,860 = two thousand, eight hundred and sixty
5,084 = five thousand and eighty-four
470,000 = four hundred and seventy thousand
2,000,000 = two million
3,000,000,000 = three billion

Language help

There is no plural ‘s’ after hundred, thousand, million and billion when they are part of a number.
When we are talking generally, they are plural, e.g. thousands of people, millions of insects.

B. Dates

With dates, we write them and say them in a different way. We can write 4 June or June 4^th, but say the fourth of June or June the fourth.
We can write 21 May or May 21^st, but say the twenty-first of May or May the twenty-first.
1997 = nineteen ninety-seven; 2016 = two thousand and sixteen or twenty sixteen

Common mistakes

The seventh of April (NOT The ~~seven~~ April); the fourth question (NOT the ~~four~~ question)

C. Fractions and decimals

1¼ = one and a quarter
1.25 = one point two five
1½ = one and a half
1.5 = one point five
1¾ = one and three quarters
1.75 = one point seven five

D. Percentages

26% is spoken as twenty-six per cent. More than 50% of something is the majority of it, less than 50% of something is the minority:
The vast majority of the students (e.g. 95%) agreed with the new plan, only a small minority (e.g. 5%) were unhappy.

E. Calculations

There are four basic processes. Notice how they are said when we are working out [trying to calculate] the answer.

+ = addition e.g. 6 + 4 = 10 (six plus/and four equals/is ten)
– = subtraction e.g. 6 – 4 = 2 (six minus four is two)
x = multiplication e.g. 6 x 4 = 24 (six multiplied by / times four is twenty-four)
÷ = division e.g. 8 ÷ 2 = 4 (eight divided by two is four)

Some people are not very good at adding up numbers [putting numbers together to reach a total], and often get stuck [have a problem] if they have to work out something quite difficult. The easiest way is to use a calculator [a small electronic machine for working out numbers].

F. Saying ‘0’

‘0’ can be spoken in different ways in different situations:
telephone number: 603449 = six oh three, double four nine OR six zero three, double four nine
mathematics: 0.7 = nought point seven; 6.02 = six point oh two OR six point nought two
temperature: –10 degrees = ten degrees below zero OR minus ten degrees