HUNDREDS, THOUSANDS, AND MILLIONS
TELEPHONING 1
GETTING THROUGH
FOCUS 1. Read and discuss the lead-in and speech patterns
The following text is from a telephone directory. Read and label the drawing below.
| Before you start |
| Be sure of the number you wish to call; check it in your personal list of numbers or in the directory. |
| For calls where you need to dial a code before the number you want, check the code in your dialling instructions. It helps to write down the complete code and number before you start to dial. |
| To dial a call |
| Lift the handset and listen for the dial tone before you make a call. When you dial, using either a dial or a press-button telephone, don’t pause too long between digits. When using a dial make sure that you rotate it firmly round to the stop and let it return by itself. When pressing buttons make sure that each button is depressed in turn to its full extent and be careful to press only one button at a time. Press the buttons at a steady rate. |
| Answering calls |
| Answer your telephone promptly, giving your name, the name of your firm or your number. Keep a message pad handy. |
| When you finish |
| Replace the handset promptly and firmly on its rest. This stops the charging if you made the call, and if you fail to do this you line may be temporarily disconnected. |
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SAYING NUMBERS
OH, ZERO, LOVE, NOUGHT, NIL.
The above are all ways of saying 0 in English.
| We say oh | · after a decimal point · in telephone numbers · in bus numbers · in hotel room numbers · in years |
| We say nought | · before the decimal point |
| We say zero | · for the number · for temperature |
| We say nil | · in football scores |
| We say love | · in tennis |
DECIMAL POINT
In English, we use a point (.) and not a comma (,) for decimals. We use commas in figures only when writing thousands.
10,001 is ten thousand and one.
10.001 is ten point oh oh one.
In English all the numbers after a decimal point are read separately:
| 10.66 | ten point six six | NOT ten point sixty six |
You will also hear people say:
| 0.05 | zero point oh five | OR oh point oh five |
But if the number after the decimal point is a unit of money, it is read like a normal number:
$14.60 fourteen dollars sixty
If you do business over the phone, say nought point five three seven (0.537) and NOT nought point five hundred thirty seven. If the listener missed the word point, you might lose a lot of money.
Say the digits separately after the point.
PER CENT
The stress is on the cent of per cent five percent
HUNDREDS, THOUSANDS, AND MILLIONS
| In British English you hear | a hundred and twenty three. |
| In American English you usually hear | a hundred twenty three. |
| The number 1,999 is said | one thousand nine hundred and ninety nine. |
| The year 1999 is said | nineteen ninety nine. |
| The year 2000 is said | the year two thousand. |
| The year 2001 is said | two thousand and one. |
| The year 2015 is said | two thousand and fifteen OR twenty fifteen. |
| It is likely that different people will refer to the early years of the 21st century in different ways. Remember that the year 1066 is always referred to as ten sixty six - not one thousand and sixty six. |
| 1,000,000 | is a million OR ten to the power six (106). |
| 1,000,000,000 | is a billion OR ten to the power nine (109). |
This is now common usage. In British English a billion used to be ten to the power twelve (1012), but now everyone has accepted the current American usage.
FRACTIONS
Fractions are mostly like ordinal numbers (fifth, sixth etc.)
| a third | a fifth | a sixth |
Notice, however, the following:
| a half | a quarter | three quarters |
| three and a half | two and three quarters |
FOREIGN CCURRENCY
Notice these ways of speaking about exchange rates:
How many roubles are there to the dollar?
How many roubles per dollar did you get?
The current rate is 30 roubles to the dollar.
7. TELEPHONE NUMBERS
Way of saying British telephone numbers
All the numbers are said separately, so 147 5474 is one-four-seven, five four seven four.
0 is said oh, so 207 161 784 is two-oh-seven, one-six-one, seven-eight-four.
When the same number occurs twice, it can be either said twice or called double, so 77 can be seven-seven or double seven.
There is a pause after the third digit if the number is more than six digits long. Many people also place a space here in writing.
For non-local calls, the “area code” is often given instead of the name of the town etc. There is always a pause after the area code. In writing the area code is often in brackets.
(0181) 449 2187
oh-one-eight-one, four-four-nine, two-one-eight-seven