The alphabet

The alphabet is the set of 26 letters (from A to Z) that we use to represent English in writing

It is very important to understand that the letters of the alphabet do NOT always represent
the same sounds of English.

Below, you can see how we say the letters of the alphabet. Remember, this is just for how
we say the name of each letter. When we use the letters in words, they often have
a different sound.
We say all the letters of the alphabet the same in British English and American English except
for Z. In British English we say Zed. In American English we say Zee.

How do you spell your name? https://youtu.be/MkXcNZckW28

Numbers

NUMBERS IN ENGLISH
Cardinal numbers (one, two, three, etc.) are adjectives referring to quantity, and the
ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc.) refer to distribution

Number Cardinal Ordinal In numbers

1 one First 1st

2 two second 2nd

3 three third 3rd

4 four fourth 4th

5 five fifth 5th

6 six sixth 6th

7 seven seventh 7th

8 eight eighth 8th

9 nine ninth 9th

10 ten tenth 10th

11 eleven eleventh 11th

12 twelve twelfth 12th

13 thirteen thirteenth 13th

14 fourteen fourteenth 14th

15 fifteen fifteenth 15th

16 sixteen sixteenth 16th

17 seventeen seventeenth 17th

18 eighteen eighteenth 18th

19 nineteen nineteenth 19th

20 twenty twentieth 20th

21 twenty-one twenty-first 21st

22 twenty-two twenty-second 22nd

23 twenty-three twenty-third 23rd

24 twenty-four twenty-fourth 24th

25 twenty-five twenty-fifth 25th

26 twenty-six twenty-sixth 26th

27 twenty-seven twenty-seventh 27th

28 twenty-eight twenty-eighth 28th

29 twenty-nine twenty-ninth 29th

30 thirty thirtieth 30th

31 thirty-one thirty-first 31st

40 forty fortieth 40th

50 fifty fiftieth 50th

60 sixty sixtieth 60th

70 seventy seventieth 70th

80 eighty eightieth 80th

90 ninety ninetieth 90th

100 one hundred hundredth 100th

500 five hundred five hundredth 500th

One/ a
1,000 thousandth 1000th
thousand

one thousand
five hundred, one thousand five
1,500 1500th
or fifteen hundredth
hundred

one hundred
100,000 hundred thousandth 100,000th
thousand

1,000,000 one million millionth 1,000,000

Writing and Saying Large Numbers

We don't normally write numbers with words, but it's possible

to do this--and of course this will show how we say the numbers.

In writing large numbers, American English uses a comma ( , )

to separate thousands, millions, etc. American English also uses
a hyphen ( - ) to separate "tens" words (twenty, fifty, etc.) and
"ones" words (one, three, six, etc.)
Examples:

Group 1

written said

1,011 one thousand eleven

21,011 twenty-one thousand eleven

seven hundred twenty-one

721,011 thousand eleven

Group 2

written said

one million two hundred fifty-six

1,256,721 thousand seven hundred twenty-one

thirty-one million two hundred

fifty-six thousand seven hundred
31,256,721 twenty-one

six hundred thirty-one million

two hundred fifty-six thousand
631,256,721 seven hundred twenty-one

Group 3

written said

one billion four hundred ninety-two

million six hundred thirty-eight
1,492,638,526 thousand five hundred twenty-six

forty-one billion four hundred

ninety-two million six hundred
thirty-eight thousand five hundred
41,492,638,526 twenty-six

nine hundred forty-one billion

four hundred ninety-two million
six hundred thirty-eight thousand
941,492,638,526 five hundred twenty-six

__________________________________________________

Special Notes:

In American English, the order of large numbers is

thousand, million, billion, trillion, etc. (1,000; 1,000,000;
1,000,000,000; 1,000,000,000,000; etc.)

In American English a thousand million is a billion,

but in British English, a thousand million is a milliard.
When saying large numbers, do not make thousand,
million, billion, trillion, etc. plural.

Not this:
*twenty thousands dollars; *five millions people

But this:
twenty thousand dollars; five million people

In American English, use commas to separate

thousands, millions, etc.

Not this:

*21.011
*31.256.721
*941.492.638.526

But this:

21,011
31,256,721
941,492,638,526

People often say "a" instead of "one" before

hundred, thousand, etc. and they often add
"and" before the last number:

a hundred and twenty-one

a thousand and eleven / etc.

In spoken English we ALWAYS use ordinal numbers for dates. However in

written English you may write a normal (cardinal) number without the -TH or -
ST etc. after it. Even if it is not written, the ordinal number is still said in spoken
English. In United States it is NOT common to put the -th after the number in
written English.

Order of Days and Months when saying the date

There are two ways of giving the date in English:

Month + Day: December 25 – used in United States.* OR

Day + Month: 25th December – used in the rest of the world.

* The exception is with the name of the US celebration the Fourth of July.

How to say the YEARS in English

Years are normally divided into two parts; the first two digits and the last two
digits. **
2017 is divided into 20 and 17 so you would say twenty seventeen.

 1982 = nineteen eighty-two

 1999 = nineteen ninety-nine

 2017 = twenty seventeen

 2021 = twenty twenty-one

Writing the date in English

Be careful when writing the dates using only numbers.

For example, Christmas day is written:

 12 / 25 / 17 in United States (the month is first) and

 25 / 12 / 17 in the rest of the world (the day is first).

So what day is this? 3/4/17

It depends on the country. It can be:

March fourth, twenty seventeen (in United States) OR

The third of April, twenty seventeen (in the rest of the world)

There’s a big difference, isn’t there!

To avoid confusion, when writing an email or any other written form of English,
it is best to write the month as its name (January, February, etc.) or its
abbreviation (Jan. Feb. etc.) and NOT as its number.

And remember, the months are always written in Capital letters.

In US English, a comma is put after the day if it is followed by a year.

 March 17, 2016.

 December 22, 2012.

How can you ask for the date in English?

The main ways of asking the date are:

What day is it today?

– People will probably respond with a day of the week (It’s Monday) or the
number (It’s the 19th).

What date is it?

– People may give you the number (It’s the 19th) or the day/month
(It’s 19th May or May 19th). They will not answer with a day of the week.

What is the date (today)? OR What is today’s date?

– This is another way where you will get a number as an answer.

The response to your question will most likely start with…

 The date is …

 The date today is …

  Today is…

 It is… (most common)

How to say the YEARS in English

Years are normally divided into two parts; the first two digits and the last two
digits.

1984 is divided into 19 and 84 so you would say nineteen eighty-four.

 1066 = ten sixty-six

 1652 = sixteen fifty-two

 1941 = nineteen forty-one

 2017 = twenty seventeen

How to say the years after 2000

For the year 2000 you say (the year) two thousand.

For the years 2001 to 2010, the most common way of saying the year is two
thousand and + number.

 2001 = two thousand and one

 2005 = two thousand and five

 2008 = two thousand and eight

For the first years after 2010 you may hear two different alternatives.

2012 – Some people say

 two thousand and twelve while others say

 twenty twelve.

They are both used and both correct.

Years from the first decade of each century

When a year ends in a number between 01 and 09, for example 1705, then
that last part is pronounced as the name of the letter O + number.

 1508 = fifteen O eight

 1709 = seventeen O nine

 1901 = nineteen O one

When a year ends in 00 (e.g. 1600) then the year is said as the digits before
00 and then hundred.

 1300 = thirteen hundred

 1700 = seventeen hundred

 1800 = eighteen hundred

When people refer to the entire century, an S is added to the end.

The 1500s = the fifteen hundreds (=1500-1599)

The 1800s = the eighteen hundreds (=1800-1899)

Of course you can also say the 16th century and 19th century.

https://youtu.be/LOzY41qhkpc

how to say telephone numbers

https://youtu.be/JgpQMH7j3Cw

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personal introduction: nice to meet you!

https://youtu.be/RLs9lIy5WT0