Special Number Expressions
Zero
The number 0 has different names depending on the context:
- zero → the number itself, temperatures, science
It was ten degrees below zero. - nil → sports results
The match ended five to nil. - nought → calculations (mainly British English)
Six minus six is nought. - oh → telephone numbers and codes, when reading digits separately
My phone number is six-one-six-two-three-oh. - love → tennis scores only
Fifteen–love.
Fractions
Fractions are usually made with a cardinal number + fraction word. Fraction words are usually the same as ordinal numbers (one third, three fifths) but some of them are special: a half and a quarter. For example:
- 1/3 → one third
- 5/6 → five sixths
- 7/3 → seven thirds
- 1/2 → one half (also: a half)
- 1/4 → a quarter
- 3/4 → three quarters
When the top number is more than one, the fraction word is usually plural:
- 2/2 → two halves
- 3/4 → three quarters
Whole numbers and fractions are joined with and:
- 6 3/4 → six and three quarters
- 11 1/6 → eleven and a sixth
Decimals
Numbers with a dot are called decimal numbers. The dot is called the decimal point.
- We read the digits after the decimal point separately:
4.32 → four point three two - Decimals can also be expressed as fractions:
4.29 → four and twenty-nine hundredths
Decades and ages
Cardinal numbers can be used as plural nouns when talking about decades and approximate ages.
- This music was popular in the eighties.
- He is in his seventies.
- Kate is in her twenties.
Quick reference
- zero → general number, temperatures, science
nil → sports
oh → phone numbers and codes - fractions → number + fraction word
one third, three quarters, one half - decimals → read digits after the point separately
4.32 → four point three two - decades and ages → plural numbers
the eighties, in his seventies
