Say Phone Numbers in English Without Confusion

Why numbers cause confusion

Numbers are short, but one small mistake can change the whole message. If you say a phone number too fast or without a clear rhythm, the listener may write a different number. Arabic speakers often have three problems: mixing up similar-sounding numbers, saying a long number as one block, and adding -s to words like hundred and thousand.

In this article you will practise three things: similar numbers, phone numbers in groups, and prices with decimals. The level is A2, so the language stays simple.

Thirteen or thirty?

The numbers 14 to 19 end in -teen. The tens, like 40 and 50, end in -ty. The difference is word stress:

• thirteen: the stress is at the end, and the ending is long: thir-TEEN.
• thirty: the stress is at the start, and the ending is short and light: THIR-ty.

Practice sentences:

• I am fifteen years old.
• The bus comes at nine fifteen.
• There are forty students in the class.

If the listener may be confused, repeat the number digit by digit: fourteen, one-four.

Big numbers: hundred and thousand

In English we read a number from left to right, and a comma separates the thousands: 1,000 is one thousand. The key rule: after a specific number, do not add -s to hundred or thousand.

• 200 = two hundred (not two hundreds)
• 3,000 = three thousand (not three thousands)
• 120 = one hundred and twenty (British). Many American speakers drop and: one hundred twenty.
• 1,500 = one thousand, five hundred
• 2,350 = two thousand, three hundred and fifty

We use -s only in general, unclear amounts: hundreds of people. Here there is no specific number.

Full examples:

• The school has three hundred students.
• About two thousand people came to the event.
• Hundreds of people were waiting outside.

Phone numbers: groups and pauses

Do not read a phone number as one big number. Say each digit separately, divide the number into short groups, and pause briefly between groups. Here is a test number:

555 0147 is said: five five five (pause) zero one four seven.

For intonation, your voice goes up a little at the end of each group that is not the last, which tells the listener more is coming. It goes down at the end of the last group, which shows the number is finished.

Zero or oh?

The digit 0 is usually said zero. In everyday phone talk, many people say oh, like the letter O. Both are fine. British speakers also use nought in other situations, but for phone numbers oh is the most common.

• My number is oh seven, two one… (fine)
• My number is zero seven, two one… (fine and clear)

Repeated digits

In British English, many people say double for a repeated digit: 77 is double seven. In American English it is more usual to say the digits separately: seven seven. If you are not sure, say both digits separately. Everyone understands that.

Asking for clarification

• Could you repeat that, please?
• Is that five or nine?
• Let me read it back: five five five, zero one four seven. Is that right?

Prices and decimals

The decimal mark in English is a dot, and we say point. Then we read each digit after it separately:

• 3.5 = three point five
• 2.75 = two point seven five
• 0.5 = zero point five (or nought point five in British English)

In everyday speech about money, we often say the two parts: 12.50 is twelve fifty, and 4.99 is four ninety-nine. In formal speech we name the currency: twelve dollars and fifty cents. Remember that the comma between thousands is different from the decimal dot: 1,200 is one thousand two hundred, but 1.2 is one point two.

Common mistakes and corrections

Be careful: in Arabic we sometimes say the ones before the tens. In English the tens come first: twenty-one, not one and twenty.

Checklist before you say a number

1. Can I hear the difference between -teen and -ty from the stress?
2. Did I divide the number into short groups?
3. Did I pause briefly between groups?
4. Did I say 0 as zero or oh consistently?
5. Did I use hundred and thousand without -s after a number?
6. Did I say point for a decimal?
7. Did I read the number back to check it?

Practice with answers

Task:

1. Write in words: 14 and 40.
2. Say in English: 250.
3. Correct: There are five thousands people here.
4. Say the test phone number: 555 0182.
5. Say: 3.75.
6. Correct: I have one and twenty books.

Answer key:

1. fourteen, forty.
2. two hundred and fifty (or two hundred fifty in American English).
3. There are five thousand people here.
4. five five five, zero one eight two (or oh one eight two).
5. three point seven five.
6. I have twenty-one books.

Repeat the task aloud with numbers from your own phone and addresses. Speaking aloud is more useful than silent memorising.