f in.
ancidl cngiish 12 tatking Jigures
T. OH, ERO, LO\IE, NOUGHT, NIL!
c The above are all ways of saying 0 in Ergli§h'
Ve say oh after a decimal point 5-03 five point oh three
in telephone numbers 67 01 38 six seven oh one rhree eight
inbus numbers No- ?01 get the seven oh one
in hotel room numbers Room 206 I'm in room two oh six-
in years 1905 nineteen oh five
We say nought before rhe decirnal point 0.07 noqghr Point oh two
We say zero for the number 0 the number zero
for temPerature -5"C five degrees below zero
Y/e say nil in football scores A Spain won five nil.
We say love. in terrnis 15-0 The score is fifteen love-
Now say the following:
1. The exact figure is 0-002.
?- Can you get back ro me ot0L744 Z+907L? I'11be here all morning.
3. Can you put dlat on my bill? I'm in room 804'
4- Do we have ro hold dre conference in Rey§avik? Itt 30 degrees below 0!
5. Vhatt üe score? 24 toJuventus.
d,
7. TT#,DECIMAL POINT 'We
In English, we use a point (.) arrd nor a coulrna (,) for decimals. tse comma§ in figures ooly when
writing rhousands. IVhen accounts are prepared on comPuter' comru§
10,001 is ten thousand and one-
are not used. The number apPears as 82103-
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
0325 aought point three rwo five
0-001 nought point oh oh one or'10-3, ten to the power minus three
You will also hear people saY:
0-05 zero point oh five or oh point oh five
But if t[e number after r]ee decimal point is a unit of morrey, it is read like a normal number:
LL2.50' twelve pounds fiftY € 7..95 two Euros ninsty fivg
NB. This is very inporenu Vhen you do business on the phone, say nought point three sevtin five
(0-325) a1d not nought point three hundred and sevenry five. If rlre listener missed rhe word point,
you might lose a lot of money. Say the digits separately after the point-
Now say rhe following:
1- It's somewhere between 3-488 and 3-491'
2. Look, itk less than 0-0001! it's hardly worth worrying about'
3. I changed all those yen into sterlin5 and I only got 113'60!
4- That's about 14-50 in Swiss francs'
5. Did you say 0-725 or 0-729?
6. The dollar is at 1-95-
7. No, I meant 15.005 not 15,005-
lildF2r:i<
f inancial english I.2 talking figures
3. PER CENT
The stress is on the cent of per cent ten perCENT
Notice the following when talking about interest rates:
0.5% a half of one Per cent
0.25% a quarter of a percentage point
For example:
The Bank of England raised interest rates this m6ming by a quarter of a percentage Point-
Now say the following:
1. Vhat's 30% o{7@!
Z. They have put t}re rate up by another 0-5%-
3. A-75Yo wonk make a lot of difference-
4. Ht I'{DREDS, THOUSANDS, AND MILIrONS
In Briti,sh English you hear a hundred and twenty three.
In American Eoglish you r:sually hear a huodred twenty tLree.
The number 1,9!! is said one thousaad nine hundred and ninety nine-
The year 1999 is said Eineteen nine§ nipe'
The year 2000 is said the year two thousand.
The year 2001 is said two thousaod and oae'
The year 2015 is said two thousaad aad fiftee-n or tweoty {ifteen-
Note: It is likely rhat diffaent people will refer to the early years of the 21st century in different ways-
i
Remember that the year 1066 is always referred to as ten sixty six - not one thousand and sixty six.
1,06,00S is a rnillion or ten to the power six. (Itr)
1,000,000,000 is a billiou or ten to the power nine. (10)
This is nou/ coulmon usage. British English used to be ürat a billion wes ten to rhe power t'nelve (10t'),
but now everyone has accepted the current American usage-
Now say the following.
1- Why do you say 1?5 in Britain? In the States we usually say 1?5- :
?.. It's got 1001 differerrt uses. i
3. Profits will have doubled by th" year 2000-
4- Thank§- You're one in 1,000,000!
5. No, r}at's 2,000,000,m0 not 2,000,000!
5. SQUARES, CUBES, AI{D ROOTS
lü is ten squared.
ICP is ten cubed-
V6 is the square root of 6-
t0
!inanciai engJi; h l-Z raiking jigttres
5. TELEPHONE AI.TD EAX NUL,fBERS
We r:sually give telephorre and fax nuo.bers as individual digits:
0L773 736344 oh oae two stren three, seven türee six, three four four
344 can also be said three douhle four
as
44 76 7? double four, two six, double seven
777 can be saiä as seveo doubte seven, or s€ven seven seven
?, FRACTIONS
Fractiors are mosdy like ordinal numbers (fifth, sixtlr, rwenty third etc):
a third a fifth a sixth
Notice, however, rhe followiag:
a half a quarter 6ree quarters
tLree and a haff two rnd three quarters
Now read the follouring news item:
ln an opinion poll published today, over 3/+ of the electorate say they intend to vote in next
montht referendum- t! of voters say they will definitely vote Yes, while * will vote No. But that
leaves over zls of the voters who haven't made up their minds. Both sides remain hopeful. A
spokesmarr for the Yes'campaign said, 'At the momerrt, z/: of rhe electorate won't vote No." A
spokesuroman for rhe other side replied, 'That's tue, but s/a won't vote Yes!"
,il. ":
8. CALCIJLATING
Remember to pronounce the s in e4uak x lzl.It is singular; the part on the left equals the parc on the
righu
L0 + | = 14 ten plus four is fourteen
ten and four equals fourteen
10 - 4=6 ten minus for:r is six
ten take away forr equals six
10 { = 49
x tsr times four is (or equals) forry
tenmultiplied by four is forry
L0 + ! = 2t1, ten divided by four is trro and a half
+ = add - = nrbtract (or deiluct) x : mukiply + = divide
Other ways of saying divide are: L
.i
Per k/$ francs Per dollar ,,
6% p.a- six per ceot Per arlnlrrn
over (x-y)lz x minus y, over z which is not the
, salne as x, tninrrs y over zz x - vlz
9. FOREIGN CURRENCY
Nodce tlese ways of speaking about exchange rates: Arsrf! f .a06(}l.4{fm
.anda *-rs756r37«
Hug Xms.."-_.--1-Tijü*733;n
How many yen arc there to the dollar? ,+a -_-
-_------.---J4-9G85l}1
How marry yen per dollar did you get?
The current rate is about 1.6 Euros to üe pound.
How would you say drese dollar ratesl
11
f inancial engtish Ir2 talking f igures
10. NUMBERS AS ADIECTIVES
When a rrrmb.r is used before a noun - like an adjective - it is alooays singular. We say;
a ftfiry-minute lesson not a fifty'minutes lesson
Here are more examPles;
a sixteen-week semester a thirty-five potnd book
a fifteen-minute walk a six-week waiting list
a twenty-pound reduction a two and ahalf litre botde
a six billion dollar loan a two litre engine
Say dre following in a similar waY:
1. They lerrt us 9250'000- They gave us a - .
Z. Our house is 200 years old- \[/e boug[t a ' ' ' '
3. \Me lost $50,000. We made a-. . . .
4- The salmon weighed 15 pounds! I caught a ' ' ' '
11. REVIE\V
How many of the following can you say aloud in under 1 minute? t .
1. 234,567
2. 1,734,567,890
3. 1.234
4. 0.@234%
5- 3.14159 !.
6. $19.50
7. L7.s5
8. t9,999
9. 1,999 years
10. In 1999 :'
11. I think the phone number ßOLZ27:164C{J/J.' ' '
+g'
12. Have you got a pen? Their fax number is: @ 33 567 3?' i
13. Please pay it into my account - numberG4'744'44O ',
14. He was bom in 1905 and died in 1987'
M1234ffi7, and it lorils as if it's doing 225
1-5. Its a white Lamborghini Diabolo, registration number
kilometres an hour!
16. 30 x75=750
17. 30 + 75 = L.20
18. x'* t' =,
12
