How do you pronounce 2011? Two thousand (and) eleven or twenty eleven?

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wace

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This thread may have already been posted so I apologise in advance for repeating the same question.

How do you pronounce 2011? Two thousand (and) eleven or twenty eleven?

I suppose this is just a matter of preference. Those who find the former a bit of a mouthful will opt for the latter. Others will probably stick to the former as twenty eleven may sound a little weird to them.
My guess is that people will end up pronouncing twenty eleven in the short run for the sake of convenience.
Thanks for any comment or help you can give me.
 

apex2000

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Two thosand and eleven is probably what we will hear mostly in the UK, but I expect twenty eleven in the US.
 

magimagicE

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Two naughty legs. :)

Or, whatever trips off the tongue the easiest, which, I would say is "twenty eleven".
 

Allen165

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Two naughty legs. :)

Or, whatever trips off the tongue the easiest, which, I would say is "twenty eleven".

Isn't the "and" in "two thousand and eleven" wrong?
 

bhaisahab

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Abstract Idea

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opa6x57

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No. What makes you think it's wrong?


I'm not the OP - but, I too thought it was wrong. I was taught that when saying numbers, the ony time for an "and" was at the location of the decimal point.

Four dollars and 21 cents.
But, four thousand twenty-one dollars - Not four thousand and twenty-one dollars.

However, I researched this a bit - and found several references where this has (apparently) changed since my elementary-school days.

=========================
Not a teacher. 53-year-old American.
 

Raymott

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Isn't the "and" in "two thousand and eleven" wrong?
Americans don't say 'and' in their numbers. Others do.
I'll leave it to you to decide if that means it's wrong!

AusE has pretty much settled on "Twenty-eleven."
 

DavidA

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I am not a teacher.

In the UK, people generally use the word "and" in the years, such as "two thousand and eight", rather than "two thousand eight", like is pretty much standard in the United States.

The BBC has a part of the corporation that decides upon uniform pronunciation of words. Last year, it said that prior to one programme being aired on radio, "twenty-ten" was thought to be an easier way of pronouncing the year, but that it had no fixed rules that broadcasters had to follow.

It is very much a matter of preference. I personally say "twenty eleven", to follow the example set by other years. For example, in 1999, people pronounced the year as "nineteen ninety-nine", not "one thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine". This is true also of historical dates - the year 1066, during which the Battle of Hastings took place, and that has always been pronounced as "ten sixty-six".
 

Rover_KE

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I'd like to ask those who prefer to say 'two thousand (and) eleven' how they would say 2111.

And don't tell me you're not going to live that long, just read that last sentence out aloud to somebody right now.

Rover
 

wace

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I knew my question would spark off a battle of wits among native speakers!!!;-)
 

Allen165

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No. What makes you think it's wrong?

I read that it's wrong in a grammar book and on a grammar blog a while back, but it might be an American thing.
 

cardboard

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TWO-ZERO-ONE-ONE?:-D
 
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