Numbers, Time, and Prices in English
How to say and understand times, prices, and numbers — the everyday details you need for travel and shopping.
Numbers appear in almost every practical conversation: what time, how much, which platform. Here is the core you need.
Telling the time
The simplest method works everywhere: say the hour, then the minutes.
- 7:15 — seven fifteen
- 9:30 — nine thirty
- 10:45 — ten forty-five
You will also hear the traditional forms:
- 7:15 — quarter past seven
- 9:30 — half past nine
- 10:45 — quarter to eleven
Use past for the first half of the hour and to for the second half.
Three more you need: o'clock only for exact hours (three o'clock, never "three fifteen o'clock"), and midday / noon (12:00) and midnight (00:00).
Timetables and official announcements use the 24-hour clock, read as four digits: the 18:40 to Leeds — eighteen forty.
am and pm
- am = morning (00:00–11:59)
- pm = afternoon and evening (12:00–23:59)
The shop opens at 9 am and closes at 6 pm.
Asking about time
- What time is it?
- What time does it open?
- How long does it take? — About twenty minutes.
Big numbers
Hundred, thousand and million never take a plural -s after a number.
- ✅ two hundred · ✅ five thousand (not "two hundreds")
- The -s only appears in vague quantities: hundreds of people.
British English inserts and before the last part: a hundred and five · two thousand and twenty.
Years are usually read in pairs: 1985 = nineteen eighty-five, 2026 = twenty twenty-six. But 2005 = two thousand and five.
Phone numbers are read digit by digit. Zero is oh, and a repeated digit is often double: 020 7946 0055 → oh two oh, seven nine four six, double oh double five.
Dates and ordinals
Dates use ordinal numbers — first, second, third, fourth, fifth… twelfth, twentieth, thirty-first.
- Written: 5 May or May 5
- Said: the fifth of May (British) or May the fifth (also common)
Careful with all-figure dates: 5/6/2026 is 5 June in Britain and 6 May in the US. Write the month as a word when it matters.
Prices
Say the currency after the number, or use the symbol before it.
- £5 — five pounds
- $12.50 — twelve dollars fifty
- €3.99 — three euros ninety-nine
Asking:
- How much is it? — for one thing.
- How much are they? — for several things.
- How much does it cost?
Paying
- Can I pay by card? · I'll pay in cash.
- Here's your change. (the money you get back)
- Could I have a receipt, please?
- Do you take contactless?
Numbers that sound alike
These four pairs cause the most confusion. The stress is the clue:
| thirteen (13) | thirty (30) |
| fourteen (14) | forty (40) |
| fifteen (15) | fifty (50) |
| eighteen (18) | eighty (80) |
Teen numbers end with a clear -teen sound. If you're unsure, ask: One-three or three-zero?
Always confirm a number you half-heard. Sorry, was that fifteen or fifty? costs two seconds. Guessing costs you the wrong platform, the wrong price, or the wrong train.
At the ticket office
A: Two tickets to Bath, please. What time's the next one?
B: Fourteen thirty — that's half past two. Platform 5.
A: How much is that?
B: Thirty-eight pounds fifty. Sorry — thirty-eight fifty, for both.
A: Can I pay by card?
The 24-hour time, its spoken version, a price and a payment question — the whole transaction in five lines.
Try it yourself
The quiz below covers times, prices, and the numbers most often misheard.