NUMBERS

PUNCTUATION  WITH  NUMBERS.

• We use  commas(,) to divide large numbers into  groups of three figures(=numbers), by separating off the thousands and millions .

Ex.   6,435            ( six thousand four hundred and thirty-five) .

        7, 456, 189   (  seven million four hundred and fifty-six thousand one

                                 hundred and  eighty-nine) .

In American English and is omitted

•  We don’t  use commas(,).

              a)   in dates.  Ex.  the   year 1999

b)       in decimals . ex.  3.5  ( three point five  or  three and a half)

We  use (.) (= point)

a) With decimals   ex. 0.4  ( nought point four) , 0.375( nought point  three seven  five.( Notice that with decimals we say the numbers  one by one) Don’t say  nought three hundred and seventy five

b) With money  ₤ 3.75 ( three pounds seventy five)

We use   and

In  Britsh English we always put and  between  hundred/thousand / million  and  numbers below a hundred..

In American English and is omitted 

310     three hundred and ten   

5,642  five thousand  six hundred and forty-two.

2,025  two thousand and   twenty-five.

We also use  and with fractions and decimals . 1 ¼  one  and  a quarter.

   More information

Use of  nought, zero,nil

The figure  0 is usually called nought  in British English and zero  in American English. Oh (like the letter O) is  said with numbers one figure at a time.Ex.My account number is  four one three oh six.

• We use nought  in decimals . 0.3 (nought point three)
• We use zero with temperature (both in American and British English)

The temperature today in the South is  zero degrees.

            Temperatures in the North will drop to –10 ( ten degrees below zero/  minus ten

           degrees.

• In sports results British people say  nil ( Americans zero    or  nothing)

Ex.  And the score  at half-time is : Spain three ,Argentina nil.

• In tennis  love  used.  Ex. Forty-love. 

  The use of   -S

There is no plural  “s” after hundred, thousand, million, billion when they are part of a number.2,860 (two thousand eight hundred and sixty). On their own, they can be plural. E.g.  thousands of people; millions  of insects.

Warning !

The word billion has a different meaning in English and in Spanish. In English it means one thousand million, which is millardo in Spanish.

In Spanish un billón means un millón de millones.

If you want some practice with numbers, watch this video:

Go to the following link to watch a video from the BBC news with subtitles and a very articulate speaker
Climate change: Report warns of growing impact on US life - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46325168