The English minute: numbers and letters!

Have you noticed that even though we can communicate easily in English,

we're lost when it comes to spelling a word or saying a phone number?

We learn numbers and the alphabet very early on in our English school education, but in our professional courses we don't use them much any more.

But in real life, we use them all the time! Every time we call Darty, SFR or EDF, we're obliged to give our name, e-mail and address.

Here are a few tips to help you!

Repeat after me: A, E, I, G, J, R, Y

"A": pronounced as in face, cake, taste, bake... I bake a cake.

"E": it's the same sound as in the words eat, easy, feet, seat... He eats a piece of meat.

"I": be careful, you have to pronounce it as in eye, ice, time, high... I fly high.

"J": easy, just think of Beyonce's husband, Jay-Z.

"G" is pronounced like The BeeGees, the band that sang Stayin' Aliiiiiive .

"R": open your mouth and pronounce like the word are.

"Y": pronounced as in the song YMCA. Why ask why ?

Are you still hesitating when you say your e-mail in English? You just need to know these little details to avoid making any more mistakes:

Dash from 6 (-): dash

Dash from 8 (_): underscore

Dot (.): dot(only for e-mail addresses and websites-otherwise it's "period")

For sites with a two-letter ending (.FR, .UK, .NZ....) each letter is pronounced separately "dot ef are" "dot you kay" "dot en zee" ...

For sites with a three-letter ending (.com, .gov, .net), this is pronounced as "dot com, dot gov, dot net".

1,234,567,890.123

Can you say this number in English? Even in your mother tongue, it can be tricky! Don't panic, here are a few tips:

In English, commas replace spaces and periods replace commas.

If you replace the commas with words, it becomes easier:

1 (billion) 234 (million) 567 (thousand) 890

If you know how to pronounce the numbers 1, 890, 567 and 234 separately, you can say that number!

For all numbers except money, we pronounce the (.) "dot" and then pronounce the numbers one-by-one, so "one two three" for example.

1 (billion) 234 (million) 567 (thousand) 890 (point) one two three

Want to give it a try? We'll give you the solution below!

Want more tips on how to improve your everyday English? Our trainers will be delighted to give you more personalized advice to help you progress!

Don't hesitate to contact us for a lesson!

This number is therefore pronounced :

One billion, two hundred thirty-four million, five hundred sixty-seven thousand, eight hundred ninety, point one two three.