Ordinal Numbers

To form an ordinal number (ordinal numbers put things in order), add the ending -th to the cardinal number.


seven–>seventh
thirteen–>thirteenth


When a cardinal number ends in -y, the -y changes to -ie before adding -th.


twenty–>twentieth
sixty–>sixtieth


Note the following exceptions: first, second, third (sometimes abbreviated as 1st, 2nd, 3rd) and fifth, ninth, twelfth.


twenty-first
forty-third
sixty-fifth


All others are abbreviated as follows: 4th, 5th, 20th, etc.

Numbers (1-100)

Counting to 100 follows a pattern in English once the basic units are learned:


1 one             11 eleven
2 two             12 twelve
3 three           13 thirteen
4 four            14 fourteen
5 five             15 fifteen
6 six              16 sixteen
7 seven          17 seventeen
8 eight           18 eighteen
9 nine            19 nineteen
10 ten            20 twenty


21 twenty-one          57 fifty-seven
22 twenty-two          60 sixty
30 thirty                   68 sixty-eight
33 thirty-three          70 seventy
34 thirty-four           79 seventy-nine
40 forty                   80 eighty
45 forty-five            90 ninety
46 forty-six             99 ninety-nine
50 fifty                   100 one hundred


Note that to count from 20—99, all you have to do is add a hyphen (-) and the second number: 33 = thirty + (-) + three.

Numbers (101–1,000,000)

Here's the system for counting from 100—999:
–number + hundred + number
(650= six hundred fifty)


1000—99,999:
–number + thousand + number + hundred + number
(7,888 = seven thousand eight hundred eighty-eight)


100,000—999,999:
–number + hundred + thousand + number + hundred + number
(565,332 = five hundred sixty-five thousand three hundred thirty-two)


NOTE: Follow the same system for numbers exceeding one million.


1,000,000 = one million
1,000,000,000 = one billion

Telling Time

In the U.S., time is usually told on the 12, rather than 24-hour clock. Distinctions between morning, afternoon, and evening are made by adding a.m. or p.m. 2 p.m. is therefore two o'clock in the afternoon; 6 a.m. is six o'clock in the morning.

HERE ARE SOME USEFUL EXPRESSIONS RELATED TO TIME:


–What time is it? - It's 11 p.m.
–Do you have the time? - Yes, it's 12 noon.
–What time should I arrive? - Around 3 p.m.
–How much time will it take? -No more than 20 minutes.


When referring to 12:00 at night, you can say midnight. When referring to 12:00 during the day, you can say noon.


Here are some examples of how to express time in English, using quarter-hour and half-hour expressions:


–If it's 10:15 you could say either
It's quarter past (after) ten.
OR: It's ten fifteen.

–If it's 5:30, you could say either
It's half past five.
OR: It's five thirty.


–If it's 8:45, you could say either
It's quarter till nine.
OR: It's eight forty-five.


For all other times, simply list the hour first, then the number of minutes:


It's 3:25 = It's three twenty-five.

It's 10:35 = It's ten thirty-five
OR: It's twenty-five till eleven.