Cardinal
Numbers
If a number
is in the range 21 to 99, and the second digit is not zero, one typically
writes the number as two words separated by a hyphen. 21:twenty-one
Specialized
numbers
A few
numbers have special names (in addition to their regular names):
0: has
several other names, depending on context:
o zero: formal
scientific usage
o naught /
nought: mostly
British usage
o aught: Mostly
archaic but still occasionally used when a digit in mid-number is 0 (as in
"thirty-aught-six", the .30-06
Springfield rifle cartridge and by
association guns that fire it)
o oh: used when
spelling numbers (like telephone, bank account, bus line)
o nil: in general
sport scores, British usage ("The score is two-nil.")
o nothing: in general
sport scores, American usage ("The score is two to nothing.")
o null: used
technically to refer to an object or idea related to nothingness. The 0th aleph number (
) is pronounced
"aleph-null".
- zilch,
nada (from Spanish),
zip: used informally when stressing nothingness; this is true especially
in combination with one another ("You know nothing—zero, zip,
nada, zilch!")
- nix: also
used as a verb
- cypher
/ cipher: archaic, from French chiffre, in turn
from Arabic sifr, meaning zero
- 1–0
British English: one nil; American English: one-nothing,
one-zip, or one-zero
- 0–0
British English: nil-nil, or nil all; American
English: zero-zero or nothing-nothing, (occasionally scoreless
or no score)
- 2–2
two-two or two all; American English also twos,
two to two, even at two, or two up.)
Naming
conventions of Tennis scores (and
related sports) are different than other sports.
Multiplicative numerals A few
numbers have specialised multiplicative numerals expresses how many fold
or how many times[3]:
one time
|
once
|
two times
|
twice
|
three
times
|
thrice
|
Negative numbers
The name of
a negative number is the name of the corresponding positive number preceded by
"minus" or (American English) "negative". Thus -5.2 is
"minus five point two" or "negative five point two". For
temperatures, Americans colloquially say "below" —short for "below
zero"— so a temperature of -5 ° is "five below".
Ordinal numbers
Ordinal numbers refer to a position in a
series. Common ordinals include:
0th
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1st
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2nd
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3rd
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4th
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5th
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6th
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7th
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8th
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9th
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Ordinal
numbers such as 21st, 33rd, etc., are formed by combining a cardinal ten
with an ordinal unit.
Higher
ordinals are not often written in words, unless they are round numbers
(thousandth, millionth, billionth). They are written using digits and letters
as described below. Here are some rules that should be borne in mind.
·
The suffixes -th, -st, -nd and -rd
are occasionally written superscript above the
number itself.
·
If the tens digit of a number is 1, then write
"th" after the number. For example: 13th, 19th, 112th, 9,311th.
·
If the tens digit is not equal to 1, then use
the following table:
If the
units digit is:
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
write this
after the number
|
th
|
st
|
nd
|
rd
|
th
|
th
|
th
|
th
|
th
|
th
|
- For
example: 2nd, 7th, 20th, 23rd, 52nd, 135th, 301st.
These
ordinal abbreviations are actually hybrid contractions of a numeral and a word.
1st is "1" + "st" from "first". Similarly,
we use "nd" for "second" and "rd" for
"third". In the legal field and in some older publications,
the ordinal abbreviation for "second" and "third" is
simply, "d".
- For
example: 42d, 33d, 23d
NB: The
practice of using "d" to denote "second" and
"third" is still often followed in the numeric designations of
units in the US armed forces, for example, 533d Squadron. Any ordinal
name that doesn't end in "first", "second", or
"third", ends in "th".
Dates
|
|
Most common pronunciation method
|
Alternative methods
|
1 BC
|
|
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1
|
(The year)
One
|
|
235
|
Two
thirty-five
|
Two-three-five
Two hundred (and) thirty-five
|
911
|
Nine
eleven
|
Nine-one-one
Nine hundred (and) eleven
|
999
|
Nine
ninety-nine
|
Nine-nine-nine
Nine hundred (and) ninety-nine
Triple nine
|
1000
|
One
thousand
|
Ten
hundred
1K
Ten aught
Ten oh
|
1004
|
One
thousand (and) four
|
Ten
oh-four
|
1010
|
Ten ten
|
One
thousand (and) ten
|
1050
|
Ten fifty
|
One
thousand (and) fifty
|
1225
|
Twelve
twenty-five
|
One-two-two-five
One thousand, two hundred (and) twenty-five
Twelve-two-five
|
1900
|
Nineteen
hundred
|
One
thousand, nine hundred
Nineteen aught
|
1901
|
Nineteen oh-one
|
Nineteen
hundred (and) one
One thousand, nine hundred (and) one
Nineteen aught one
|
1919
|
Nineteen
nineteen
|
Nineteen
hundred (and) nineteen
One thousand, nine hundred (and) nineteen
|
1999
|
Nineteen
ninety-nine
|
Nineteen
hundred (and) ninety-nine
One thousand, nine hundred (and) ninety-nine
|
2000
|
Two
thousand
|
Twenty
hundred
Two triple-oh
|
2001
|
Two
thousand (and) one
|
Twenty
oh-one
Twenty hundred (and) one
Two double-oh-one
Two oh-oh-one
|
2009
|
Two
thousand (and) nine
|
Twenty
oh-nine
Twenty hundred (and) nine
Two double-oh-nine
Two oh-oh-nine
|
2010
|
Two
thousand (and) ten
Twenty ten
|
Twenty
hundred (and) ten
two-oh-one-oh
|
Fractions and decimals
In spoken
English, ordinal numbers are also used to quantify the denominator of a
fraction. Thus 'fifth' can mean the element between fourth and sixth, or the
fraction created by dividing the unit into five pieces. In this usage, the
ordinal numbers can be pluralized: one seventh, two sevenths. The sole
exception to this rule is division by two. The ordinal term 'second' can only
refer to location in a series; for fractions English speakers use the term
'half' (plural 'halves'). Here are some common fractions (partitive
numerals[4]):
1/16
|
one-sixteenth
|
1/10 or
0.1
|
one-tenth
|
1/8
|
one-eighth
|
2/10 or
0.2
|
two-tenths
|
1/4
|
one-quarter
or (mainly American English) one-fourth
|
3/10 or
0.3
|
three-tenths
|
1/3
|
one-third
|
3/8
|
three-eighths
|
4/10 or
0.4
|
four-tenths
|
1/2
|
|
6/10 or
0.6
|
six-tenths
|
5/8
|
five-eighths
|
2/3
|
two-thirds
|
7/10 or
0.7
|
seven-tenths
|
3/4
|
three-quarters
or three-fourths
|
8/10 or
0.8
|
eight-tenths
|
7/8
|
seven-eighths
|
9/10 or
0.9
|
nine-tenths
|
15/16
|
fifteen-sixteenths
|
o 0.002 is
"two thousandths" (mainly U.S.); or "point zero zero two",
"point oh oh two", "nought point zero zero two", etc.
o 3.1416 is
"three point one four one six"
o 99.3 is
"ninety-nine and three tenths" (mainly U.S.); or "ninety-nine
point three".
·
Fractions together with an integer are read as
follows:
o 1 1/2 is
"one and a half"
o 6 1/4 is
"six and a quarter"
o 7 5/8 is
"seven and five eighths"
A space is
required between the whole number and the fraction; however, if a special
fraction character is used like "½", then the space can be done without,
e.g.
o 9 1/2
o 9½
