Numerals are one of the first topics that are studied in a foreign language. The reasons are clear: you can apply this knowledge right away. Children begin to count toys and other items, and adults exchange phone numbers, plan their time and pay for purchases. Important are dates, all kinds of measurements, mathematical operations. Of course, numerals in English are an important part of everyday speech.
What can be the numbers?
Getting to this topic, it is worth, first of all, remember the quantitative numbers. In English, as in Russian, they indicate a certain number of subjects and answer the question "How much?" (How many?). Among them are simple and compound numbers. The first include numbers from 1 to 20 and dozens. Compound numbers are 25, 67, 172, etc.
In addition to quantitative, there are also ordinal numbers that allow you to answer the question "Which account, which?" For example: He is not a winner, but he is the second (second). Applying them in speech, you should use a certain article or another word indicating affiliation (John's second wife / My first teacher).
For the formation of ordinal numbers, the corresponding quantitative number is taken and the suffix –th is added, although there are several exceptions. So, the following ordinal numbers in English must be remembered: the first (1st), the second (2nd), the third (3rd). Minor spelling changes are characteristic of the fifth (5th), the ninth (9th), the twelfth (12th).
When working with dozens (20, 30, 40) and turning them into ordinal numbers, you should replace the final vowel –y with the letter combination –ie-, to which the suffix –th (the thirtieth, the eightieth) will be added.
First ten
Numbers from 1 to 9 are basic for memorization, with their help hundreds, thousands, as well as compound numerals in English are formed. They all have a simple basis, but their pronunciation and spelling sometimes causes some difficulties for students.
The numbers 0 and 10 belong to the same group. The number "ten" as a measure of measurement was known many centuries ago, when people only had fingers for counting. Until now, teaching children to count, most parents resort to using the finger method.
The number 0 can be pronounced in several ways. The first, standard is zero. It is used to indicate temperature, counting in most sports games, for counting down. There are other ways to designate this number. For example, in situations where it is important to name each digit individually, the word oh ['ɔu] is used. In British English, the word nil [nil] is also used in sports.
11-19 and tens
Almost all numerals in the second ten have the characteristic suffix –teen. The exceptions are 11 and 12 (eleven, twelve). Etymologists believe that these names appeared back in those days when people could count only with the help of their fingers and began to use the expressions “one remained” and “two left”, preserved in the language to this day.
The numerals 13-19 contain the base taken from the corresponding numbers of the first ten, and the suffix –teen (for example, fourteen - 14). In three forms there are small changes in spelling: 13 - thirteen, 15 - fifteen, 18 - eighteen. With a simple listing, emphasis should be placed on the first syllable, but if the noun is nearby, the second syllable becomes stressed. This important rule should be observed in order not to confuse numerals ending in –teen and –ty in speech.
Dozens always end with the –ty suffix (twenty, eighty). These are simple numerals in English. The table presented above gives an idea of ​​the change in the stem and suffixes, about exceptions and irregular forms of words.
Compound numbers
As in any language, tens and ones, hundreds and thousands, are used in compound numbers. Numbers 21 to 99 should be written with a hyphen (fifty-four, sixty-nine).
After 100, dozens are joined using the and union. If there are no dozens, but there are units, a similar rule applies. Hundreds themselves are designated by the word hundred, thousands - by thousand, million - by million, billion - by billiard. With the exact indication of the number (two hundred, five million), the word is in the singular. If an indefinite quantity is implied, the ending –s is added to the numeral (for example, thousands of dollars - thousands of dollars).
These numerals in English will help to remember and train the exercises on addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. The following words correspond to arithmetic symbols: plus (+), minus (-), times or multiplied by (x), divided by (/), equals (=).
47x16-52 = 700 (Forty-seven times sixteen minus fifty-two equals seven hundred)
Date pronunciation features
Studying numerals in English, you can not ignore the writing of dates. All years until 1999, inclusive, with pronunciation should be divided into tens, for example, 1988 will sound like nineteen eighty-eight. The dates of the new millennium can be called differently. The year 2000 is two thousand or twenty hundred. The years following it, respectively, two thousand and one or twenty oh-one (2001). Since 2010, dozens have been used again (twenty ten, twenty seventeen), although two thousand and ten can be said.
To write the date, both quantitative and ordinal numbers are used. At the same time, in the speech the British use only ordinal, necessarily with a definite article.
Today is the twentieth of July, twenty sixteen. (Today is July 20, 2016 goal)
If you need to clarify on what day the event happened (will happen), you need to put before the date the preposition ON (My birthday is on 2 nd April). The preposition IN is set before the year (He was born in 2009).
Knowing the numbers will also come in handy to navigate in time. It's 17.10 (pronounced seventeen ten).
The use of numerals in everyday situations requires excellent knowledge of this topic. It is worthwhile to devote some time to training in order to easily pay for purchases, communicate and exchange information in English.