Unit 4 - 2013
Unit 4 - 2013
Unit 4 - 2013
Ordinal numbers tell the order of things in a set - first, second, third, etc. Ordinal numbers do
not show quantity. They only show rank or position. Here are some examples using ordinal
numbers:
3rd fastest
6th in line
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Inglês – Unit 4: Using Numbers
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Inglês – Unit 4: Using Numbers
Form
Just add th to the cardinal number:
four - fourth
eleven - eleventh
Exceptions:
one - first
two - second
three - third
five - fifth
eight - eighth
nine - ninth
twelve - twelfth
In compound ordinal numbers, note that only the last figure is written as an ordinal number:
421st = four hundred and twenty-first
5,111th = five thousand, one hundred and eleventh
Figures
When expressed as figures, the last two letters of the written word are added to the ordinal number:
first = 1st
second = 2nd
third = 3rd
fourth = 4th
twenty-sixth = 26th
hundred and first = 101st
Titles
In names for kings and queens, ordinal numbers are written in Roman numbers. In spoken English,
the definite article is used before the ordinal number:
Charles II - Charles the Second
Edward VI - Edward the Sixth
Henry VIII - Henry the Eighth
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Inglês – Unit 4: Using Numbers
1/16 one-sixteenth
1/10 or 0.1 one-tenth or zero point one
1/8 one-eighth
2/10 or 0.2 two-tenths
1/4 one-quarter or (mainly American English) one-fourth
3/10 or 0.3 three-tenths
1/3 one-third
3/8 three-eighths
4/10 or 0.4 four-tenths
1/2 One half
6/10 or 0.6 six-tenths
5/8 five-eighths
2/3 two-thirds
7/10 or 0.7 seven-tenths
3/4 three-quarters or three-fourths
8/10 or 0.8 eight-tenths
7/8 seven-eighths
9/10 or 0.9 nine-tenths
15/16 fifteen-sixteenths
5. Numerical Prefixes
A prefix is a syllable at the beginning of a word. A numerical prefix lets you know how many
there are of a particular thing. Here are some common numerical prefixes.
Prefix Prefix meaning Sample words
uni- 1 unicorn: mythical creature with one horn
mono- 1 monorail: train that runs on one track
bi- 2 bicycle: two-wheeled vehicle
tri- 3 triceratops: three-horned dinosaur
quadr- 4 quadruped: four-footed animal
quint- 5 quintuplets: five babies born at a single birth
penta- 5 pentagon: figure with five sides
hex- 6 hexapod: having six legs, an insect, for example
sex- 6 sextet: group of six musicians
hept- 7 heptathlon: athletic contest with seven events
sept- 7 septuplets: seven babies at a single birth
octo- 8 octopus: sea creature with eight arms
novem- 9 novena: prayers said over nine days
deka- or deca- 10 decade: a period of 10 years
cent- hundred century: a period of 100 years
hecto- hundred hectogram: 100 grams
milli- thousand millennium: a period of 1,000 years
kilo- thousand kilogram: 1,000 grams
mega- million megaton: one million tons
giga- billion gigawatt: one billion watts
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Inglês – Unit 4: Using Numbers
7. Rounding Numbers
A rounded number has about the same value as the number you start with, but it is less exact.
For example, 341 rounded to the nearest hundred is 300. That is because 341 is closer in
value to 300 than to 400. When rounding off to the nearest dollar, $1.89 becomes $2.00, because
$1.89 is closer to $2.00 than to $1.00
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Inglês – Unit 4: Using Numbers
Here’s a tip: to avoid getting confused in rounding long decimals, look only at the number in
the place you are rounding to and the number that follows it. For example, to round
5.3824791401 to the nearest hundredth, just look at the number in the hundredths place – 8 - and
the number that follows it - 2. Then you can easily round it to 5.38.
8. Negative numbers
The name of a negative number is the name of the corresponding positive number preceded by
“minus” or (American English) “negative”. Thus -5.2 is “minus five point two” or “negative five
point two”. For temperatures, Americans colloquially say "below" - short for “below zero” - so a
temperature of -5° is “five below”.
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Inglês – Unit 4: Using Numbers
9. Arithmetic Operations
The basic arithmetic operations are addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, although
this subject also includes more advanced operations, such as manipulations of percentages, square
roots, exponential, and logarithmic functions.
Addition (+)
Addition is the basic operation of arithmetic. In its simplest form, addition combines two numbers,
the addends or terms, into a single number, the sum of the numbers.
Written Form: 3 + 4 = 7: Three plus four is seven.
65 + 89 = 154: Sixty-five plus eighty-nine are one hundred and fifty-four.
Subtraction (−)
Subtraction is the opposite of addition. Subtraction finds the difference between two numbers, the
minuend minus the subtrahend. If the minuend is larger than the subtrahend, the difference is positive;
if the minuend is smaller than the subtrahend, the difference is negative; if they are equal, the
difference is zero.
Written Form: 11 - 6 = 5: Eleven minus six equals five.
1000 -5 = 999: One thousand minus five equal nine hundred and ninety-nine.
Multiplication (×, ·, or *)
Multiplication is the second basic operation of arithmetic. Multiplication also combines two
numbers into a single number, the product. The two original numbers are called the multiplier and the
multiplicand, sometimes both simply called factors.
Written Form: 12 x 4 = 48: Twelve times four equals forty-eight.
22 * 5 = 110: Twenty-two multiplied by five is one hundred and ten.
Division (÷ or /)
Division is essentially the opposite of multiplication. Division finds the quotient of two numbers, the
dividend divided by the divisor. Any dividend divided by zero is undefined. For positive numbers, if
the dividend is larger than the divisor, the quotient is greater than one, otherwise it is less than one
(a similar rule applies for negative numbers). The quotient multiplied by the divisor always yields the
dividend. As it is helpful to look at subtraction as addition, it is helpful to look at division as
multiplication of the dividend times the reciprocal of the divisor, that is a ÷ b = a × 1⁄b. When written
as a product, it obeys all the properties of multiplication.
Written Form: 34 ÷ 2 = 17: thirty-four divided by two are seventeen.
8/8 = 1: Eight divided by eight is one.
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Inglês – Unit 4: Using Numbers
Dates
In British English, dates are written in the order day, month and year.
For example.
15 August 1990
28 March 2000
Sometimes, the last two letters of the number word (st, nd, rd or th) are added to the date.
15th August 1990
28th March 2000
A comma is normally inserted between the month and the year when the date comes inside a
sentence.
I was born on 26th May, 1979.
In American English, it is common to write the month first and to put a comma before the year.
Americans write August 15, 1990.
The date may be written entirely in figures. Different formats are possible.
30.3.2005
19/2/2002
30-2-1999
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Inglês – Unit 4: Using Numbers
To tell someone what the time is, we can say "The time is..." or, more usually, "It's...". Here is a
typical dialogue:
Question: What's the time, please?
Answer: It's three o'clock.
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Inglês – Unit 4: Using Numbers
The chart below shows you two different ways to tell someone what the time is.
Timetable
When reading the timetable we use the 0-24 hour-format and we read from left to right.
For example:
The train leaves at 17:00 = The train leaves at seventeen hundred.
The flight is at 8:10 = The flight is at eight ten.
Our English lesson is at 15:45 = Our English lesson is at fifteen forty-five.
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