348 Cardinal numbers (adjectives and pronouns)
1 one 11 eleven 21 twenty-one 31 thirty-one etc.
2 two 12 twelve 22 twenty-two 40 forty
3 three 13 thirteen 23 twenty-three 50 /j/ty
4 /our 14 fourteen 24 twenty-four 60 sixty
5 /it* 15 /i/leen 25 twenty-five 70 seventy
6 six 16 sixteen 26 twenty-six 80 eigfcty
7 seven 17 seventeen 27 twenty-seven 90 ninety
8 e#W 18 eighteen 28 twenty-eight 100 a hundred
9 nine 19 nineteen 29 twenty-nine 1,000 a thousand
10 ten 20 twenty 30 thirty 1,000.000 a million
400 /our hundred
140 a/one hundred and forty
1,006 a/one thousand and six
5,000 five thousand
260,127 /wo hundred and sixty thousand, one hundred and twenty-seven
I one
11 e/even
21 twenty-one
2 two
12 toe/ve
22 twenty-two
3 fnree
13 fifteen
23 twenty-three
4 /o«r
14 fourteen
24 twenty-four
5 five
15 fifteen
25 twenty-five
6 six
16 sixteen
26 twenty-six
7 seven
17 seventeen
27 twenty-seven
8 e#W
18 eighteen
28 twenty-eight
9 nine
19 nineteen
29 twenty-nine
10 /en
20 /wenty
30 rtirty
1
349 Points to notice about cardinal numbers
•
A When writing in words, or reading, a number composed of three or more figures we place and before the word denoting tens or units:
713 sewn hundred and thirteen
5,102 five thousand, one hundred and two but
6,100 six thousand, one hundred (no tens or units) and is used similarly with hundreds of thousands:
320,410 three hundred and twenty thousand, four hundred and ten and hundreds of millions:
303,000,000 three hundred and three million
B a is more usual than one before hundred, thousand, million etc,, when these numbers stand alone or begin an expression:
100 a hundred 1,000 a thousand
100,000 a hundred thousand
We can also say a hundred and one, a hundred and two etc. up to a hundred and ninety-nine and a thousand and one etc. up to a thousand and ninety-nine. Otherwise we use one, not a (see above). So:
1,040 a/one thousand and forty but
fa ,x *V i
-*”* * –
36 Numerals, dates etc.
C The words hundred, thousand, million and dozen, when used of a definite number, are never made plural:
six hundred men ten thousand pounds two dozen eggs If however, these words are used loosely, merely to convey the idea of z large number, they must be made plural:’
hundreds of people thousands of birds dozens of times Note also that in this case the preposition of is placed after hundreds,
thousands etc.
of is not used with definite numbers except before the/them/
these/those or possessives:
six of the blue ones ten of these . four of Tom’s brothers
D Numbers composed of four or more figures are divided into groups of three as shown above. Decimals are indicated by ’•’, which is read
’point’: y
10-92 ten point nine two 1
A zero after a decimal point is usually read ’nought’: I
8-04 eight point nought four I
But V tiul and ’zero’ would also be possible. I
351 Points to notice about ordinal numbers
36 Numerals, dates etc
A B
Notice the irregular spelling of fifth, eighth, ninth and twelfth.
When ordinal numbers are expressed in figures the last two letters of the written word must be added (except in dates):
first – 1st twenty-first = 21st
second * 2nd forty-second = 42nd
third – 3rd sixty-third = 63rd
fourth – 4th eightieth – 80th
In compound ordinal numbers the rule about and is the same as for compound cardinal numbers: 101st = the hundred and first. The article the normally precedes ordinal numbers.
the sixtieth day the fortieth visitor Titles of kings etc. are written in Roman figures:
Charles V James III Elizabeth II But in spoken English we use the ordinal numbers preceded by the:
Charles the Fifth James the Third Elizabeth the Second
352 Dates
350 Ordinal numbers (adjectives and pronouns)
first
eleventh
twenty-first
thirty-first etc.
/”•”
strand
twelfth
twenty-second
fortieth
third
thirteenth
twenty-third
fiftieth
fourth fifth
tirfk
fourteenth
fifteenth
sixteenth
twenty-fourth
twenty-fifth
twenty-sixth
sixtieth
seventieth
eightieth
seventh eighth
•in**
seventeenth
eighteenth
nineteenth
twenty-seventh
twenty-eighth
twenty-ninth
ninetieth
hundredth
thousandth
tenth
twentieth
thirtieth
millionth
The days of the week The months of the year
Sunday (Sun.)
January (Ian.)
lull
Monday (Man.) Tuesday (Tuts.) Wednesday (Wed.)
February (Feb.) March (Mar.) April (Apr.)
August (Aug.) September (Sept.) October (Oct.)
Thursday (Thurs.)
May
November (Nov.)
rrtaay (tn.) Saturday (Sat.)
June
December (Dee.)
’ • l
fl
ww» – – -~
When writing in words or reading fractions other than H (a half) and K (a quarter), we use a combination of cardinal and ordinal numbers:
fc atone fifth Ho a/one tenth (a is more usual than one)
% three fi/th$ %o seven tenths A whole number * a fraction can be followed directly by a plural noun:
2% miles – tov «uf a quarter miles h (half) can be followed directly by a noun but other fractions require
of before a noun:
• half a ttttmd but • quarter of a second
SM ateo 2 E.)
half * of can also be used, but the of is optional: Half (oft my earnings go in tax.
B
Days and months are always written with capital letters.
Dates are expressed by ordinal numbers, so when speaking we say: March the tenth, July the fourteenth etc. or the tenth of March etc.
They can, however, be written in a variety of ways; e.g. March the’
tenth could be written:
March 10 10 March 10th of March
March 10th 10th March March the 10th The year
When reading or speaking we use the term hundred but not thousand. The year 1987 would be read as nineteen hundred and eighty-seven or nineteen eighty-seven. Years before the Christian era are followed by the letters BC (* Before Christ) and years datiiig from the Christian era are occasionally preceded by the letters AD (= Anno Domini, in the year of the Lord). The former are read in either way: 15OO BC would be read as one thousand fist hundred BC or fifteen hundred BC.
308
353
A
Weights, length and liquid measure
Weights
The English weights table is as follows:
1 pound flb.)
1 stont (st.)
1 hundredweight (cwt.)
1 ton
0-454 kilogram (kg)
1 kilogram
1 metric tonne
16 ounces (oz.) = 1 pound flb.)
14 pounds = 1 stont (st.)
8 stone – I hundredweight (cwt.)
20 hundredweight – 1 ton
1 pound = 0-454 kilogram (kg)
2-2 pounds «= 1 kilogram
2,204-6 Ibs ” 1 metric tonne
Plurals
ounce, pound and ton can take s in the plural when they are used as
nouns, stone and hundredweight do not take s: e.g. we say six
pound of sugar or sue pounds of sugar, but ten hundredweight of coal has
no alternative.
When used in compound adjectives these terms never take s:
a ten-ton lorry kilo or kilogram usually take s in the plural when used as nouns:
two ktli><; nf nf>(>lf<i or two ktlngrams of apples
l.rnglll
The English table of length is as follows:
12 inches (in.) = 1 foot (ft.)
= 1 yard (yd.)
= 1 mile (m.)
= 2-54 centimetres (cm)
= 0-914 metre (m)
= 1-609 kilometres (km)
D
3 feet = 7 yard (yd.)
1.760 yards = 1 mile (m.)
1 inch = 2-54 centimetres (cm)
1 yard = 0-914 metre (m)
1 mile = 1-609 kilometres (km)
Plurals
When there is more than one inch/mile/centimetre we normally use the
plural form of these words:
one inch, ten inches one mile, four miles
one centimetre, five centimetres
When there is more than one foot we can use either foot or feet, feet is the more usual when measuring heights. We can say:
six foot tall or six feet tall two foot long or two feet long When used in compound adjectives the above forms never take the plural form: a two-mile walk, a six-inch ruler.
Liquid measure
2 pints (pt.) = 7 Tfuart (qt.) 1 pint ’ = 0-568 litre (I)
4 quarts = 1 gallon (gal.) 1 gallon = 4-55 litres
Traditionally British measurements have been made in ounces, inches, j pints etc. but there is now a gradual move towards the metric system. I