数字を英語で聞いたり、伝えることに苦手意識はありませんか？ネイティブとの会話で指定された時間が聞き取れないし、とっさに、桁数が多い数字を表す表現が出てこない。お店で幾らか聞き取れず、いつもお札を出して財布はお釣りでパンパン（筆者がそうでした）。

1.59ドルと、少数1.59。数字は一緒ですが、読み上げ方が異なります。20時50分の自然な読み上げ方法は？小数1.33333333…..英語で何て言おう？

少しのコツをマスターすれば、英語での数字表現に対する苦手意識はなくなるはず。

そこで今回は、それでは早速３分で英語ブログを流し読み。本日は、色々な数字の読み上げ方をカナダ英語でご紹介。

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A number is a number, right?

Well, not exactly. While two numbers may look the same, they might be expressed very differently depending on how you use them.

Let’s discuss the different ways to say numbers in Canadian English.

How to say numbers in Canadian English

Large numbers

Large numbers (those that have more than three digits) use commas, not periods. Those commas break the number into smaller parts, and that’s how you’ll say them. 

Take the number 139,200.

The correct way to say it is: “one hundred and thirty-nine thousand, two hundred.”

We said everything to the left of the comma (including the word “thousand”), then said everything to the right of the comma (including “hundred”).

But what if we add a “3” to the beginning of the number (3,139,200)?

Same idea: Start with the first digit to the left of the comma, and move right: “three million, one hundred and thirty-nine thousand, two hundred.”

Notice that we didn’t make anything plural. For example, don’t say “three millions.”

*One note about “one hundred” at the beginning of a number: You can say “a hundred” if you prefer. It’s more casual.

Prices

Let’s look at the price $1.59.

You could say: “one dollar and fifty-nine cents.”

If you want to shorten it, say: “a dollar fifty-nine.” (Make sure you say “a dollar” and not “one dollar” here to sound natural.)

We understand the meaning because we know that everything after “a dollar” will mean cents.

In Canadian English, only do this with ONE dollar. Don’t say “eleven dollars fifty-nine.”

To make it even shorter, try: “one fifty-nine.”

Be careful: “One fifty-nine” also means “one hundred and fifty-nine” (159). It’s usually okay, though: If you’re buying a drink and the teller says it costs “one fifty-nine,” it’s obvious your drink doesn’t cost more than 100 dollars.

Time

In Canadian English, we don’t usually speak in 24-hour (military) time, especially in casual conversation. Instead, use “a.m.” for morning hours (00:00 to 11:59), and p.m. for afternoon and evening (12:00 to 23:59).

When you use a.m. and p.m., you shouldn’t also say the time of day because it’s repetitive—choose one or the other. For example, say “I did my workout at 7 a.m.” or “I did my workout at 7 in the morning.” Don’t say “I did my workout at 7 a.m. in the morning.”

We often refer to time in 15-minute intervals, and there are terms for that.

For example, 15 minutes past the hour is “(a) quarter after” or “(a) quarter past,” so 8:15 is “quarter after eight.” 

If it’s 30 minutes past the hour, that’s “half past,” so 6:30 would be “half past six.”

Finally, 45 minutes past the hour (or 15 minutes until the next hour) is “(a) quarter to,” meaning that 3:45 is “a quarter to four.”

Decimals

Even though these numbers look the same as prices, we say them differently.

Let’s look at the number 5.98.

You’d pronounce this “five point nine eight.” We call the period (or decimal point) “point” and the digits after it are all pronounced separately.

If you have a number that begins with zero like 0.51, you can say “zero point five one” or just “point five one.”

And what about decimals with a digit that repeats (for example, 2.444444444444444 . . .)? You can just say “2.4 repeating.”

Fractions

What do you do if you want to express a decimal as a fraction? If you have “2.5,” for example, you could say “two point five,” but it’s often more natural to say “two and a half.” For example, say: “I ate two and a half cookies.” Make sure that you include “a”: It’s “two and a half”; not “two and half.” 

In the example above, we said the noun “cookies” at the end—this is the most common way. It’s unnatural to say: “I ate two cookies and a half.”

You’d pronounce this “five point nine eight.” We call the period (or decimal point) “point” and the digits after it are all pronounced separately.

The same rule applies to time measurements (minutes, hours, days, months, years): The time typically goes at the end. So, for instance: 3 ¼ (3.25) hours is usually said like this: I’ve been studying for three and a quarter hours.

There’s an exception, though: If you’re talking about the number one, you can say it in two different ways:

1. “The test was one and a quarter hours” or
2. “The test was an hour and a quarter.”

Notice that, in option 1 when “hours” is at the end, it’s plural. That’s because adding the extra ¼ technically makes it more than one. In option 2, we used “an hour,” not “one hour”—you could use either one, but “an” is more natural.

Years

To talk about a year, you’ll usually split the number in two. The year 1981, for example, is split 19/81, and you’d say “nineteen eighty-one.”

In the example above, we said the noun “cookies” at the end—this is the most common way. It’s unnatural to say: “I ate two cookies and a half.”

If the year ends in a double zero, say “hundred” at the end. For example, 1700 is pronounced “seventeen hundred.”

For a year that contains a zero but not a double zero, say the zero as “oh.” So, the year 1803 would be “eighteen oh-three.” On the same note, 1903 would be “nineteen oh-three.”

However, things are a little different for the years 2000 to 2009. For starters, 2000 is simply “the year two thousand.” Any year after that (up to 2009) is “two-thousand and ____” (e.g., “two thousand and three”) or even “two-thousand _____” (“two thousand three”). We don’t say “twenty oh-three.”
For 2010 and above, the regular rules apply. For example, 2013 is “twenty thirteen.” But it’s also okay to say “two thousand and thirteen” or “two thousand thirteen.”

The numbers game

Don’t worry about making small mistakes—chances are that you’ll still be understood. But to keep improving, use the tips above and you’ll be a pro at the numbers game!

引用：How to Say Numbers in Canadian English / Andrea Byaruhanga

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いかがでしたか？

間違ったからと言って、全く通じないなんてことはありません。とは言え、英語話者にとって自然な読み上げ方を知っていれば、情報をより正しく理解し、伝えられるので、会話のテンポも早くなりますね。

同じ英語を第一言語とする国でも、数字の読み上げ方や書き方（通貨の単位はもちろん、年月日の順番なども）は国によって少し異なったりするので、調べてみても楽しいかも？

Gabby Academyでは数字の伝え方のように、少しややこしい表現でも会話内で自然と口から出てくるようなトレーニングを、脳科学的アプローチに基づいて英語ネイティブコーチ伴走のもと行います。

言語脳科学に基づく実践英語力開発メソッドを搭載したセルフ・トレーニングと、有資格の英語ネイティブコーチとの2回のオンラインセッションが体験できる30日間の無料トライアルを、まずはお試しください。