How to say 2010

With the new year and the new decade, English speakers are discussing how to pronounce 2010. Here’s an article about it. You can read it and decide...... it’s up to you!

BBC stars discuss how to pronounce 2010

The BBC has tackled the topic of how to pronounce 2010 with David Tennant suggesting 'twenty-ten' is preferred.

While some say ‘twenty-ten’, others are referring to ‘two thousand and ten’ and even ‘two-o-one-o’.

The subject was raised in a programme on Radio 2 on Boxing Day – which was hosted the Doctor Who actors David Tennant and Catherine Tate Tennant, 38, referred to the year as ‘twenty ten’, when telling a listener to have a “wonderful new year”.

Tate said: “Oh twenty-ten – get you! Who’s been reading the compliance rules!’?”

Tennant told their guest, Bernard Cribbins: “We’re supposed to say twenty-ten.”

But Cribbins said he believed most elderly people would prefer to say two thousand and ten.

Miss Tate added: “You’re not allowed to say two thousand and ten…The people in there are exploding!”

The BBC has a unit which decides on uniform pronunciation. However, the BBC said there had been no ruling on 2010.

A spokesman said: “Prior to the show, it was decided “twenty ten” was the easiest way to pronounce the year. It was not breaking any rules to say it in an alternative way.”
28 Dec 2009

Worried about how to say numbers in English? Have a look below if you want to do some numbers practice.

How to say numbers

Cardinal numbers

379 = three hundred and seventy nine
2,860 = two thousand eight hundred and sixty
5,084 = five thousand and eighty-four
470,000 = four hundred and seventy thousand
2,550,000 = two million, five hundred and fifty thousand
3,000,000,000 = three billion
Note: There is no plural’s’ after hundred, thousand, million and billion when they part of a number. On their own, they can be plural, e.g. thousands of people; millions of insects.

Ordinal numbers and dates

One of the problems with dates is that we write them and say them in a different way
We write 4 January (or 4th January), but say the fourth of January or January the fourth
We write 21 May (or 21st May), but say the twenty-first of May or May the twenty- first
1997 = nineteen ninety seven
1905 = nineteen hundred and five or nineteen oh five

Fractions and decimals

1 ¼ = one and a quarter
1 ½ = one and a half
1 ¾ = one and three quarters
1 1/3 = one and a third
1.25 = one point two five
1.5 = one point five
1.75 = one point seven five
1.33 = one point three

Arithmetic

There are four basic processes for working out (= calculating) a problem:
+ = addition e.g. 6 + 4 = 10 (six plus/and four equals/is ten)
- = subtraction e.g. 6 - 4 = 2 (six minus four equals/is two)
x = multiplication e.g. 6 x 4 = 24 (six times / multiplied by four equals/is twenty¬ four
: = division e.g. 4 + 2 = 2 (four divided by two equals/is two)

Percentages

26% = twenty-six per cent.
More than 50% is the majority; less than 50% is the minority.

Saying '0'

This can be spoken in different ways in different contexts.
telephone number: 603 724 = six oh three, seven two four (Am Eng = six zero three)
mathematics: 0.7 = nought point seven, 6.02 = six point oh two
temperature: -10 degrees = ten degrees below zero / minus ten degrees
football: 2-0 = two nil tennis: 40-0 = forty love

Talking numbers

Here are several useful words and expressions connected with numbers:
The streets have got odd numbers (e.g. 3, 5, 7) on the left and even numbers (e.g. 4, 6, 8) on the right.
I got 16 out of 20 in our last test. 16/20