Questions relating to the use of numbers or numerals in speaking or writing English.
0
votes
1answer
90 views
Reading dollar amounts
I have a question regarding reading dollar amounts. At this store, I saw some scrunchies on sale for $5 per dozen.
Should I say,
These scrunchies is a five dollar per dozen item.
or is this ...
11
votes
4answers
5k views
What is the origin of the counting prefixes: uni-, bi-/di-, tri-, quad-, etc.?
Many English words use the prefixes uni-, bi-/di-, tri-, quad- and so on to mean one, two, three, and four. For example:
A unicycle has one wheel, a bicycle two, and a tricycle three.
I presume ...
2
votes
1answer
36 views
Hyphen in physical quantities before nouns?
In cases where a physical quantity (consisting of a number and a unit) is used like an adjective to describe a property of an object, should it be written with or without a hyphen between the number ...
-2
votes
1answer
50 views
Numeric abbreviations in business quotes [closed]
When writing a quote for an order for products, would you write
25K or 25M to refer to 25,000 parts or pounds or units?
1
vote
1answer
97 views
How to write out numbers in compliance with British usage?
This question regards the numbers from 1 to 999. We can ignore commas, hyphens, and spaces. What I'm interested in is when and where to use the word "and".
There are a few interesting cases:
1) 20 ...
1
vote
3answers
570 views
When do the “-uple”s end? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How to form single, double, triple… and uni-, bi-, tri-… words?
There's single, double, triple, quadruple... — what's next? Is there an end to the ...
90
votes
12answers
3k views
Why do English writers avoid explicit numerals?
The junction has a stop sign on each of the four entrances.
The junction has a stop sign on each of the 4 entrances.
The first is preferred, for some reason, by many English texts. Why? I ...
0
votes
2answers
82 views
Is there a term to denote writing numbers in words rather than as digits?
Often when writing we would like numbers to be written out fully e.g. thirty rather than in digits e.g. 30. Is there a name for this kind of representation?
16
votes
10answers
2k views
How do you correctly say large numbers
I saw a post on The daily What which links to a video where a person counts from 1 to 100,000.
Is he saying a large portion of the numbers wrong?
Back in high school my algebra teacher was extremely ...
0
votes
1answer
113 views
English word for the comma between three digits
The common number formatting convention uses a decimal point between the integer part and the fraction, and a comma between every three digits of the number:
1000000 -> 1,000,000
12345 + 1/5 ...
13
votes
3answers
181 views
Is there a word like cardinal or ordinal but for the “single, double, triple” series?
The words one, two, three, and so on are the cardinal numbers.
Similarly, first, second, third, and so on are the
ordinal numbers.
Is there a similar term for the words single, double, triple, ...
3
votes
2answers
87 views
Including units of a measure in a range
When specifying a range of values that have a unit of measure associated with them, what is the best practice for where to include the unit of measure?
1lb - 20lb
Or
1 - 20lb
And how ...
0
votes
0answers
19 views
What is the meaning of the word “Extension” in an USA Phone Number [duplicate]
I found a nice listing in the answer to "Standard format for phone numbers" however it never uses the term Extension verbatim.
The question "What do you call the main telephone number?" does describe ...
2
votes
1answer
111 views
Is there a word for numbers and letters, but not punctuation, etc?
Is there a word that would refer to a number or a letter, but not any other character (like a comma or an exclamation mark)?
8
votes
2answers
178 views
Is “-th” still a productive suffix in English?
The main question here is whether using -(e)th to create ordinals out of cardinals1 is still considered a productive suffix in English. Is it?
If so, then does it matter whether we are in a formal ...
34
votes
3answers
4k views
Why do eleven and twelve get unique words and not end in “-teen”?
In short, why is it not oneteen and twoteen, and we start at thirteen in English?
In another thread, I supposed that despite that fact that people have ten fingers, amounts of items leading up to and ...
2
votes
2answers
213 views
How can I say in one word “number written in words”?
If there should be numbers written in words, like "one hundred and ten" instead of "110", how can I say it in one word?
1
vote
3answers
56 views
Reading discount rates
How I should read discount rates like the following:
a $3.50 discount
I'm not sure if I should say
"a three-fifty dollar discount,"
"a three dollar and fifty cent discount,"
or ...
1
vote
0answers
55 views
(n+1)st or (n+1)th? [duplicate]
When referring to object number n+1, is it the (n+1)st or (n+1)th object?
Of course, object number 1 would be referred to as the 1st, but since I would say n plus one, adding an -st would make this ...
-1
votes
2answers
73 views
Reading dollar amounts after “priced at” [duplicate]
I'd like to know the correct way to read dollar amounts after the expression "priced at."
If I want to read the sentence
"This app is priced at $3.99."
would it typically be read as
...
4
votes
2answers
136 views
1st hour, 2nd hour, 3rd hour… But how to say “zero”-th hour?
E.g. in School we have 5-7 or 8 hours every day (Math, History, Biology, Chemistry, English etc.).
The first hour starts at 8:00 A.M.
But every Thursday we have an hour that stars at 7:10 A.M.
In ...
3
votes
1answer
75 views
Should thin spaces be used between numerals and units
After starting to use the siunitx package for typesetting units (and the numerals before the units) in LaTeX, I noticed that it typesets a single space between a numeral and a unit (a space that is ...
2
votes
2answers
134 views
Should I capitalize “Billion” in a bulleted list?
I have list of values in a report used to highlight demographic information. For dollar values, should I capitalize the word "Billion", or leave it lower case?
Here's a sample:
Appraised Value: ...
1
vote
0answers
68 views
What is the question for which the answer is “This is my third coffee today”? [duplicate]
Duplicate of:
How should I phrase a question that must be answered with an ordinal number (e.g., the third prime)?
Framing a question to which the answer is an ordinal number
How manyth son ...
8
votes
4answers
1k views
How can I form a word like “quadruple” for any number I want?
I'm not sure what these are called, but how can I form a word like "quadruple" for any number I want? Like 5× as much is quintuple, what is 31× as much or 147× as much? I want to know how they are ...
7
votes
8answers
2k views
Is “Four times more” grammatically correct? And, if so, what precisely does it mean?
I have 10 beans. Jim has four times more.
Is this a valid sentence? And, if so, does it mean Jim has 40 or 50 beans?
0
votes
3answers
104 views
many hours is? or are?
Time, distance, weight are treated as singular, like "3 hours is too long."
Then, in this instance, "How many hours of sleep is/are needed to keep fit?" Is "is" correct?
2
votes
2answers
107 views
The battery, etc., is (are?) included.
When “etc.” is used with a singular subject, such as in the following sentence, should the verb be singular or plural?
The battery, etc., is included.
0
votes
1answer
317 views
Difference between “zeros” and “zeroes” [duplicate]
Are there any differences between “zeros” and “zeroes”? Is any of them more correct, more often used, more modern? Are there differences e.g. between British English and American English in the usage ...
6
votes
4answers
534 views
Which syllable is stressed in the word “nineteen”?
The dictionaries list both possibilities to stress nineteen (or any other -teen, for that matter): ,nine-teen and nine-'teen.
Are the two pronunciations completely interchangeable, a matter of ...
5
votes
1answer
63 views
When Things Used To be “Worth 'X' Millions”
I was reading Raymond Chandler's Farewell, My Lovely, and a character described a rich man as
"Worth 20 millions".
At least in AmE, we don't use "millions" in the plural anymore in this ...
6
votes
3answers
295 views
“Three quarters” vs. “three fourths”
To express a fraction of 3 out of 4, how and when would you use three quarters, and when would you use three fourths?
To me, three quarters is what I would have used all the time — but I'm not a ...
15
votes
6answers
2k views
“Firstly” or “first”?
Which is more correct?
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. First, thy eyes gaze deep into my soul. Second,...
or
There are four reasons why all should hail the Hypno-Toad. Firstly, ...
11
votes
5answers
922 views
Is there a word for numbers between 10 and 99?
I'd like to find such a word instead of saying "greater than 10 but less than 100".
1
vote
2answers
205 views
Is there a special word for amounts between 11 and 20?
Translation is often tricky. I'm stuck with the Polish word kilkanaście, which literally means few-teen. It is used to describe an amount more than ten, but less than 20 (or including 20, it's hard to ...
5
votes
7answers
2k views
Does “nineteen-hundreds” refer to 1900–1909 or 1900–1999?
The words "nineteen-hundreds" to me mean strictly 1900–1909. I've noticed several times that people, invariably North American, use these words to mean "the twentieth century", or 1900–1999, or ...
11
votes
5answers
3k views
What does the term “86'd” relate to?
What does it mean when someone or something is referred to as being "86'd"?
-2
votes
1answer
59 views
“More” vs. “more than” [closed]
What is the difference between the following statements?
John uses 15 000 matchsticks to make model boat A. He uses 2300 more to make model boat B.
John uses 15 000 matchsticks ...
6
votes
2answers
2k views
Why is “one” pronounced as “wan”, not “oh-ne”?
Why is one pronounced as "wan", not "oh-ne"? Why are the spelling and pronunciation of one so strange?
In French, one is written as un, and pronounced as "oe" (with nasal sound). The sound is similar ...
3
votes
5answers
151 views
What is the term for groups of numerals within a large number?
I am writing software in which I would like to be able to return the groups of numerals within a large number. For example, given a number 123,456,789, my software would return 123 then 456 then 789.
...
23
votes
2answers
2k views
What is the plural form of “zero”?
I tried looking on Google, but there are some fairly contradictory results.
I thought I'd ask you guys so we could get an authoritative answer on the subject!
4
votes
2answers
284 views
Spelling of small numbers? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Why do English writers avoid explicit numerals?
In German, numbers below (and including) twelve are spelt out (eins, zwei, ...) while the numbers above twelve are ...
21
votes
7answers
6k views
Plurals of acronyms, letters, numbers — use an apostrophe or not?
When I was in high school back in the 1970s, I was taught that to make a plural of an acronym, a letter, or a number, one should add an apostrophe and "s". Like I would have written this sentence, ...
2
votes
1answer
245 views
Why do we use Roman numerals for some page numbers but Arabic ones for others?
Why is it that certain pages in English-language books are numbered using Roman numerals, but other pages are numbered using (so-called) Arabic ones?
Has it always been this way? Or was the split ...
-1
votes
1answer
96 views
How paragraph numbers are read
I'd be glad if someone could tell me how numbers like "2.3.4.5.6" are read (pronounced)? "Two dot three dot four..." or "two three four" or maybe "two point three point four"?
3
votes
3answers
3k views
How to write numbers in words
How do we translate 1210 into words:
1) one thousand, two hundred, and ten
2) one thousand, two hundred and ten
or without the commas
3) one thousand two hundred and ten
4) one thousand two ...
10
votes
2answers
351 views
Indefinite article in the “An [adjective] [number] [plural noun]” construction
I wasn't sure how best to phrase the title of this question.
I'm interested in constructions of the following form:
An estimated 50 people died in the bombing.
'An estimated' could be ...
3
votes
3answers
389 views
how to pronounce “twenty” correctly?
Well, I usually say "twenny" instead of "twenty" (not "twendy" even). I recently noticed that I never heard the same from any native english speakers during any talks I ever had with them.
Recently I ...
0
votes
0answers
43 views
How to group digits in serial numbers [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Transcribing long repeating phone numbers
I find native speakers frequently group digits when reading out serial numbers, postcodes, phone numbers, PIN "numbers", or ...
20
votes
5answers
1k views
What method of counting puts Twelfth Night on January 6th?
I know English has (or at least had) some strange usages of eve and night, but I still can’t figure out how December 25th and 12 can be combined to come up with January 6th.
(This stems from my ...
