Appendix 5 Numerical Expressions

US

GB and other European countries

1000000000 = 10⁹

a/one billion

[/wn bljn]

a/one thousand million(s)

[/wn 'aznd 'mljn(z)]

1000 000 000 000 = 10¹²

a/one trillion

[/wn trljn]

a/one billion

[/wn bljn]

1000 000 000 000 000 = 10¹⁵

a/one quadrillion

[/wn kwdrljn]

a/one thousand billion(s)

[/wn 'aznd 'bljn(z)]

1 000 000 000 000 000 000 = 10¹⁸

a/one quintillion

[/wn kwn'tljn]

a/one trillion

[/wn trljn]

VULGAR FRACTIONS

DECIMAL FRACTIONS

1/8

an/one eighth



0.125 (nought) point one two five



1/4

a/one quarter



0.25 (nought) point two five



1/3

a/one third



0.33 (nought) point three three



1/2

a/one half



0.5 (nought) point five



3/4

three quarters



0.75 (nought) point seven five



Notes:

1. In the spoken forms of vulgar factions, the versions and a half/ quarter/third are preferred to and one half/quarter/third whether the measurement is approximate or precise. With more obviously precise factions like 1/8, 1/16, and one eighth/sixteenth is normal. Complex fractions like 3/462, 20/83 are spoken as three over four-six-two; twenty over eighty-three, especially in mathematical expressions, e.g. twenty-two over seven for 22/7.

2. When speaking ordinary numbers we can use zero, nought or oh [] for the number 0; zero is the most common US usage and the most technical or precise form, oh is the least technical or precise. In using decimals, to say nought point five for 0.5 is a more precise usage than point five.

3. In most continental European countries a comma is used in place of the GB/US decimal point. Thus 6.014 is written 6,014 in France. A space is used to separate off the thousands in numbers larger than 9999, e.g. 10 000 or 875 380. GB/US usage can also have a comma in this place, e.g. 7,500,000. This comma is replaced by a full point in continental European countries, e.g. 7.500.000. Thus 23,500.75 (GB/US) will be written 23.500,75 in France and Russia.