Pronunciation of numbers

[Rachel Adams]

Hello.

Do you pronounce these numbers in the same way when you are talking about the cost of something and when you are talking about an amount of things?

1. 400 000 four hundred thousand books. Or $400,000 four hundred thousand dollars.
2. 20,000 twenty thousand new books or $20 000 twenty thousand dollars.
3. $15,00 fifteen hundred dollars or fifteen hundred books.
4. $35,00 thirty-five hundred dollars or thirty-five hundred people.
5. $50,000 fifty thousand dollars or fifty thousand copies.
6. $750,000 seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars or seven hundred and fifty thousand applications.

 

[Rover_KE]

Yes.

(Don't leave a space after the comma separators. Add comma separators where necessary.)

American English speakers typically omit 'and' in #6 (if you had helpfully numbered them).

 

[GoesStation]

Numbers three and four can also be pronounced one and three thousand five hundred respectively. Your pronunciations are much more common.

 

[Rachel Adams]

Yes.

(Don't leave a space after the comma separators. Add comma separators where necessary.)

American English speakers typically omit 'and' in #6 (if you had helpfully numbered them).

Thank you. I edited my examples.

 

[emsr2d2]

For info, in #4, BrE speakers wouldn't use "thirty-five hundred". We'd say "three thousand five hundred" for both books and currency. In colloquial English, you'd hear "three and a half grand" for £3,500.

 

[Rachel Adams]

For info, in #4, BrE speakers wouldn't use "thirty-five hundred". We'd say "three thousand five hundred" for both books and currency.
In colloquial English, you'd hear "three and a half grand" for £3,500.

And one thousand (and) five hundred in #3 as well. Right? ''And'' is optional there too, as I see.

 

[Rover_KE]

No. #3 is only 'fifteen hundred dollars' or 'one thousand five hundred dollars' (no 'and').

3, 4, 5 and 6 need comma separators and no spaces.

 

[emsr2d2]

And one thousand (and) five hundred in #3 as well. Right? ''And'' is optional there too, as I see.

No, we'd use "fifteen hundred" or "one thousand five hundred" there. For numbers between 1,001 and 20,000, we use both constructions. Note that in the following examples, I'm talking only about currency or numbers that don't refer to years.

1,200 = twelve hundred or one thousand two hundred
1,850 = eighteen hundred and fifty or one thousand eight hundred and fifty
1,976 = nineteen hundred and seventy-six (although now I've written that out, I realise I probably wouldn't use it!) or one thousand nine hundred and seventy-six.

The comma placement is important but it differs between countries. For example:

UK: £1,205.43 (one thousand two hundred and five pounds, and forty-three pence)
Spain: €1.205,43 (one thousand two hundred and five euros, and forty-three centimos)

As you can see, where the UK uses a comma, Spain uses a full stop and where the UK uses a full stop, Spain uses a comma. Not understanding that led to a confusing hour on my online Spanish banking website because I couldn't understand why it wouldn't let me transfer €223.05 to someone. I finally realised that I had to write it as €223,05

 

[Rachel Adams]

No. #3 is only 'fifteen hundred dollars' or 'one thousand five hundred dollars' (no 'and').

3, 4, 5 and 6 need comma separators and no spaces.

''And'' connects hundred and thousand as in #6. I connected ''thousand'' with ''hundred''. That's why what I typed was wrong. Right?
I edited my post again as you suggested. I corrected #1 too.

 

[Rover_KE]

#1 lacks a comma and has an incorrect space.

#3 and #4 have the comma in the wrong place.

 

[emsr2d2]

Despite being said as "thirty-five hundred", it's not written as "35,00". It's still "3,500".

 

[Rachel Adams]

#1 lacks a comma and has an incorrect space.

#3 and #4 have the comma in the wrong place.

I think I can no longer edit my post.
1. 400000 four hundred thousand books. Or $400,000 four hundred thousand dollars. #1 lacks a comma and has an incorrect space.
2. 20 000 twenty thousand new books or $20, 000 twenty thousand dollars.
3. $15,00 fifteen hundred dollars or fifteen hundred books. $1,500 1500 books.
4. $35,00 thirty-five hundred dollars or thirty-five hundred people. $3,500 3500 books.
5. $50,000 fifty thousand dollars or fifty thousand copies. $50, 000 50000 Books
6. $750,000 seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars or seven hundred and fifty thousand applications. 75000 books.

 

[emsr2d2]

I think I can no longer edit my post.

1. 400,000 four hundred thousand books.
$400,000 four hundred thousand dollars.

2. 20,000 twenty thousand new books.
$20,000 twenty thousand dollars.

3. $1,500 fifteen hundred dollars or fifteen hundred books.
1,500 books.

4. $3,500 thirty-five hundred dollars or thirty-five hundred people.
$3,500 [STRIKE]3500[/STRIKE] books.

5. $50,000 fifty thousand dollars.[STRIKE] or fifty thousand copies. $50, 000[/STRIKE]
50,000 books

6. $750,000 seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. [STRIKE]or seven hundred and fifty thousand applications.[/STRIKE]
75,000 books.

See above. I think what's confusing you is the "thirty-five hundred" system of saying it. For now, forget that exists. It's not helping you. Use the "X thousand" system and simply put the comma before the word "thousand".

One (comma) thousand = 1,000
Fifteen (comma) thousand = 15,000
Two hundred and seventy (comma) thousand = 270,000

 

[Rachel Adams]

See above. I think what's confusing you is the "thirty-five hundred" system of saying it. For now, forget that exists. It's not helping you. Use the "X thousand" system and simply put the comma before the word "thousand".

One (comma) thousand = 1,000
Fifteen (comma) thousand = 15,000
Two hundred and seventy (comma) thousand = 270,000

These examples are from English File. I hope I wrote them correctly. Could you please check them?

1. $250,000 two hundred and fifty thousand.

2. 4,00 metres. Four thousand seven hundred. Forty-seven hundred.

3. 1,525 metres. One thousand five hundred and twenty-five.

 

[GoesStation]

1. $250,000 two hundred and fifty thousand.

2. 4,700 metres. Four thousand seven hundred. Forty-seven hundred.

3. 1,525 metres. One thousand five hundred and twenty-five.

All correct (after my addition). You can also say fifteen hundred twenty-five or fifteen hundred and twenty-five.

American schoolchildren used to use this mnemonic to remember a key date in history: Columbus sailed the ocean blue/In fourteen hundred and ninety-two.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

For info, in #4, BrE speakers wouldn't use "thirty-five hundred". We'd say "three thousand five hundred" for both books and currency. In colloquial English, you'd hear "three and a half grand" for £3,500.

We call a thousand a grand, too. It's informal.

 

[Rachel Adams]

1,976 = nineteen hundred and seventy-six (although now I've written that out, I realise I probably wouldn't use it!) or one thousand nine hundred and seventy-six.

You said you wouldn't use ''nineteen hundred and seventy-six''. Is it because this use is less common or maybe less formal?

 

[Rover_KE]

It's a formal way of saying the year 1976 (informally 'nineteen seventy-six').

 

[GoesStation]

It's a formal way of saying the year 1976 (informally 'nineteen seventy-six').

But note that years are not written with commas, except perhaps in science fiction stories set hundreds of centuries in the future.

 

[Rachel Adams]

For info, in #4, BrE speakers wouldn't use "thirty-five hundred". We'd say "three thousand five hundred" for both books and currency. In colloquial English, you'd hear "three and a half grand" for £3,500.

One thing isn't still clear to me. Why BrE speakers wouldn't say thirty-five hundred:shock: