How To Pronounce Dates And Numbers In English

Dates
In English, we can say dates either with the day before the month, or the month before the day:
“The first of January” / “January the first“.

Remember to use ordinal numbers for dates in English.
(The first, the second, the third, the fourth, the fifth, the twenty-second, the thirty-first etc.)

Years
For years up until 2000, separate the four numbers into two pairs of two:
1965 = “nineteen sixty-five“
1871 = “eighteen seventy-one“
1999 = “nineteen ninety-nine“

For the decade 2001 – 2010, you say “two thousand and —-” when speaking British English:
2001 = “two thousand and one“
2009 = “two thousand and nine“

From 2010 to 2020 you have a choice.
For example, 2012 can be either “two thousand and twelve” or “twenty twelve“.

But from 2020 onwards, separate the four numbers into two pairs of two:
2023 = “twenty twenty-three“

Large numbers
Divide the number into units of hundreds and thousands:
400,000 = “four hundred thousand” (no s plural)

If the number includes a smaller number, use “and” in British English:
450,000 = “four hundred and fifty thousand“
400,360 = “four hundred thousand and three hundred and sixty“

Fractions, ratios and percentages
½ = “one half“
1/3 = “one third“
¼ = “one quarter“
1/5 = “one fifth“
1/ 6 = “one sixth“
3/5 = “three fifths“

1.5% = “one point five percent“
0.3% = “nought / zero point three percent“

2:1 = “two to one“

Saying 0
Depending on the context, we can pronounce zero in different ways:
2-0 (football) = “Two nil“
30 – 0 (tennis) = “Thirty love“
604 7721 (phone number) = “six oh four…”
0.4 (a number) = “nought point four” or “zero point four“
0C (temperature) = “zero degrees“

Talking about calculations in English
+ (plus)
= (equals / makes)
2 + 1 = 3 (“two plus one equals / makes three“)
– (minus / take away)
5 – 3 = 2 (“five minus three equals two” / “five take away three equals two“)
x (multiplied by / times)
2 x 3 = 6 (“two multiplied by three equals six” / “two times three equals six“)
/ (divided by)
6 / 3 = 2 (“six divided by three equals two“)

Next page: Make sure you can pronounce the letters of the alphabet in English!

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