 Talking about numbers and prices in English. This free English lesson is sponsored by the following English learning sites. People often find it strange how Americans express large numbers and prices. This video will teach you how to recognize the different ways we say numbers in English. You probably didn't learn this from your textbook. Small numbers are easy. You simply say the number you learned in school. 9. 14. 85. But what happens when numbers get several digits long? 4,572, or 7,128. Is there a way to break up large numbers into easier to say segments? Well, actually there is. We often divide up large numbers into phrases. The easiest place to break them is at the decimal point. 17,61. 256,89. 342,97. Note, in some European and Latin American countries, commas and decimal points are reversed. We will use the North American method here. Sometimes we say point for the decimal. Sometimes we skip it. For example, 17,61. 256,89. 342,97. 342,97. People generally understand when you skip a decimal point because you pause and start a new number after it. Decimal points are used in prices. There's a long way and a short way to say a number for a price. Long way. $5.67. Short way. 5,67. We do not say $5.67. The same type of phrasing works with time. For example, 4,35 is said 4,35. 11,29 is 11,29. Notice how we skip certain words between phrases. For example, 749. That's the long way. 749. Shorter. 749. Even shorter. Here's where it can become complicated. Sometimes we break up numbers even without decimals. 9,587. 9,587. We can divide the number into phrases of two digits each. For example, we can say 9587 with a short pause between phrases. This can be a little confusing with prices. For example, $62.45 can be said $62.45. $572.89 can be said $572.89. What about numbers like this? What's the difference between 34.79 and 34.79? The short form can be spoken in the same way. 34.79. How do you know the actual price? In most cases, you can tell by the item for sale. How much is that motorcycle? It's 34.79. How much is that toy? It's 34.79. If you're not sure, you can just ask. Did you mean $34.79? With phone numbers, we can use similar phrasing. For example, 841-768-2639. Notice that all digits are spoken separately with short pauses at the hyphens. Some people like to break up their phone numbers even more. That makes them somewhat easier to remember. What's your number? It's 768-2639. Years are almost always spoken in phrases of two digits. For example, Caroline Sweet was born in 1969. 1969, not the long way, 1,969. Be careful with really big numbers. We do not say hundreds, millions, thousands, etc., when expressing specific numbers. Two million, not two millions. 357, not 357. You can say thousands, hundreds, etc., when estimating numbers. That would cost hundreds of dollars. There were tens of thousands of people in the arena. Ready to try it out? Exercise one, practice saying these numbers in English. We'll start with the easiest ones. Time, years. Some people might say the 2,000 years the long way. 2017, exercise two. Say the following phone numbers. For zero, we often say O. Your area code, first three digits, is often the same as others. You can sometimes skip it or say area code 259. Exercise three. Say the following numbers and prices in English. First, the short way, then the long way. For example, 125, 125. Note, for this one, some people say 125. Say these numbers, both long and short. You can pause the video if you need more time. This one can be said, 807, the short way. This one can be said, 1109. Say the following prices, both the long way and the short way. These are tricky, the short way. 573, 91, 2654, 95. Special types of prices. Because of taxes, we seldom see total prices at the checkout counter in whole dollar amounts. In such rare cases, we can use the word even to indicate that nothing comes after the decimal point. Clerk, that comes to $23 even. Customer, 23 even? That's amazing. Practice prices with a partner. As a role play between a customer and clerk. That will be $27.65. $27.65? Yes, cash or credit. Credit, thanks. Feel free to pause the video and practice these conversations. For more information about numbers and prices, click on the link in the description below. Thanks for watching. Learn more English at eslgold.com.