521
The most typical form is to say, for example, that a room is twelve feet by fifteen
feet, or that a garden is thirty metres by forty-eight metres.
A room twelve feet by twelve feet can be called twelve feet square; the total area
is 144 square feet.
SPOKEN CALCULATIONS
522
SPEAKING
Some of the most frequent ways of speaking calculations aloud are:
2
2 4
Two and two is/are four. (informal)
Two plus two equals/is four. (formal)
9 4 5
Four from nine is/leaves five. (informal)
Nine take away four is/leaves five. (informal)
Nine minus four equals/is five. (formal)
5 4 20
Five fours are twenty. (informal)
Five times four is twenty. (informal)
Five multiplied by four equals/is twenty. (formal)
15 3 5
Three(s) into fifteen goes five (times). (informal)
Fifteen divided by three equals/is five. (formal)
ROMAN NUMERALS
523
Roman numerals are used for the following main purposes: names of centuries,
kings and queens, page numbers in introductions and prefaces to books, and the
numbers of sections or sub-sections to documents, especially legal documents.
1
I
i
10
X
x
40
XL xl
2
II
ii
11
XI
xi
45
XLV xlv
3
III
iii
12
XII xii
50
L
l
4
IV
iv
13
XIII xiii
60
LX lx
5
V
v
14
XIV xiv
90
XC xc
6
VI
vi
19
XIX xix
100
C
c
7
VII vii
20
XX xx
500
D
8
VIII viii
21
XXI xxi
1000
M
9
IX
ix
30
XXX xxx
1998
MCMXCVIII
Û
539 Glossary for any unfamiliar terms
Appendix: Numbers | 865
The church dates to the time of Henry II.
It was best known as a XVI century map of the world.
Please see pages vii and xii.
Spoken forms of 0
524
0 is usually said as nought in decimal numbers where it occurs before the decimal point:
0.455 litres
(nought point four five five litres)
American English prefers zero, and this is becoming more common in British English too:
0.885 centimetres
(zero point eight eight five centimetres)
0 is typically said as oh where it occurs after a decimal point and in a wide range of numbers
such as telephone numbers, addresses, years:
7.05 seconds
(seven point oh five)
She lives at 205 Hills Avenue.
(two oh five)
His phone number is 470503.
(four seven oh five oh three)
She was born in 1908.
(nineteen oh eight)
Car registration number Y205 CNA
(two oh/zero five)
In giving the scores of sports games, other words are used:
●
football:
Valencia lost 1–0.
(one nil)
●
tennis:
Klisters leads Williams 40–0 in the first game of the second set.
(forty love)
●
American team sports:
[American football]
The Seattle Sea Hawks beat the Cincinnati Reds 7–0.
(seven nothing or seven to nothing or seven zip – ‘zip’ is informal American English)
[baseball]
Miami Hurricances 7, Northern Colorado Bears 0
In measurements of temperature, zero is more common but nought is possible:
Zero degrees Celsius is thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit.
866 | Appendix: Numbers
Cambridge Grammar of English
Singular forms with plural meanings
525
After an expression of number, dozen, hundred, thousand, million and billion have no final
-s, and of is not used:
five hundred pounds
hundreds of pounds
several thousand times
It cost thousands.
a few million years
millions of years
Singular forms are used as modifiers before nouns in plural measuring expressions:
a five-pound note
a three-mile walk
six two-hour lessons
a three-month-old baby
a four-foot-deep hole
a six-foot-tall man
In an informal style, foot is often used instead of feet, especially with reference to people’s
height:
My father’s just over six foot two.
Û
539 Glossary for any unfamiliar terms
Appendix: Numbers | 867
868 |
Appendix: Referring to the time
TELLING THE TIME
526
There are two common ways of saying what the time is:
6.05
five past six or six (oh) five
6.10
ten past six or six ten
6.15
(a) quarter past six or six fifteen
6.20
twenty past six or six twenty
6.25
twenty-five past six or six twenty-five
6.30
half past six or six thirty
6.35
twenty-five to seven or six thirty-five
6.40
twenty to seven or six forty
6.45
(a) quarter to seven or six forty-five
6.50
ten to seven or six fifty
6.55
five to seven or six fifty-five
7.00
seven o’clock
Most speakers prefer to say minutes past/to for times between the five minute
divisions (seven minutes past six, four minutes to seven).
In informal speech, past is often dropped from half past:
Okay, see you at half four.
(4.30
not 3.30)
If the hour is understood, then just half past or quarter to are used in informal
speech:
Hurry up. We’ve got to be there at quarter to.
The expression o’clock is only used at the hour:
The first meeting is at seven (o’clock).
Wake me at ten past six.
(Wake me at ten past six o’clock.)
O’clock is often omitted in informal contexts when referring to the hour:
The concert starts at seven.
In American English, and increasingly in internet communication, colons are
used to mark clock time (3:40, 10:05, 13:25).
The twenty-four-hour clock
526a
The twenty-four-hour clock is used mainly in transport timetables and official
announcements. In everyday conversation, people usually use the twelve-hour
clock:
[reading a rail timetable]
The last train leaves at 22.20.
(twenty-two twenty)
Check-in time is a quarter past six in the morning.
(preferred form in informal contexts)
[public announcement at a railway station]
The train about to leave from platform 13 is the fourteen forty-five departure for
Manchester.
When using the twenty-four-hour clock, times on the hour are normally
pronounced as follows:
The flight will depart at seventeen hundred hours.
(17.00)
In public announcements, the following pronunciations of numbers are common:
The oh nine hundred service is delayed and will now depart at oh nine fifteen.
(09.00 and 09.15)
Times can be indicated by using in the morning/afternoon/evening. In a more
formal style, am (Latin ante meridiem = ‘before midday’) and pm (post meridiem
= ‘after midday’) are used:
07.00 = seven o’clock in the morning or seven am
19.00 = seven o’clock in the evening or seven pm
Note that punctuation is normally omitted in am and pm.
12.00 can mean at midnight or at midday. This is commonly distinguished by
reference to 12.00 noon and 12.00 midnight (spoken as twelve noon and twelve
midnight).
Û
539 Glossary for any unfamiliar terms
Appendix: Referring to the time | 869
870 |
Appendix: Units of measurement
NON-METRIC MEASURES
527
Metric measurement units are increasingly used in the United Kingdom, but
non-metric measures are also still widely used, especially by older people who still
use the older system of imperial units such as pounds, feet and gallons. Below are
some of the common terms along with their approximate values in the metric
system. Some of the units have the same names but mean different quantities in
the UK and the USA. The international system of metric measurements is not
commonly used in the USA.
Approximate values of non-metric units
527a
Units of length and distance and their abbreviations
1 inch (in) = 2.5 centimetres (cm)
1 foot (ft) = 30 cm
1 yard (yd) = 90 cm
5 miles (m) = 8 kilometres (km)
Inches and feet are sometimes indicated in writing with ’ for feet and ” for inches:
The living room is 9’8” by 15’6”.
(nine feet eight inches by fifteen feet six inches)
Units of area
11 square feet = 1 square metre (or 1 sq metre, or 1m
2
)
5 acres = 2 hectares
1 square mile = 2.6 square km
1 square inch = 6.4516 cm
2
Units of weight
1 ounce (oz) = 28 g
1 pound (lb) = 450 g
14 pounds = (Br) 1 stone = 6.4 kg
1 ton = (Br) 1 tonne = (Am) 0.9 tonnes
Units of volume and capacity
1 cubic centimetre (cc) = 0.0610 cubic inch (cu in)
There are 8 pints in a gallon:
British
American
1 pint (pt)
0.6 litres
0.5 litres
1 gallon (gall)
4.5 litres
3.8 litres
Units of temperature
Except in the USA, temperatures are now more commonly given in degrees
Celsius (°C, sometimes called centigrade) than degrees Fahrenheit (°F):
°F
°C
ice
32
0
warm room
70
20
hot day
85
30
body temperature 98
37
boiling water
212
100
Usage
527b
Personal weight and height
British English speakers usually measure their personal weight in stones and
pounds. American English speakers just use pounds. Stone is not commonly used
in the plural. The word pounds is typically omitted in informal contexts:
I weigh eight stone six.
(I weigh eight stones six.)
He’s overweight. He needs to lose a couple of stone.
Personal height is measured in feet and inches, with the word inches usually
omitted in informal contexts. Foot is normally preferred to feet (
Û
525
):
I’m five foot eleven.
Height
The height of buildings and other structures, tall plants and trees, altitude and
elevation above sea level are typically measured in feet (but increasingly in metres
for elevation above sea level):
We will soon be climbing to an altitude of 39,000 feet.
That tree was only about four feet tall when we planted it.
Distance
Distance can also be measured in feet, but longer distances along the ground are
measured in yards and miles:
I was standing about six feet away from the Prime Minister.
The car park’s straight on, about 500 yards on the right.
From here to the airport is about 35 miles.
Û
539 Glossary for any unfamiliar terms
Appendix: Units of measurement | 871
872 |
Appendix: Nationalities, countries and regions
INTRODUCTION
528
Referring to a nation or region and its affairs normally requires four words:
●
The name of the country or region:
Sweden, Japan, France, Venezuela, Asia
●
The adjective:
Swedish, Japanese, French, Venezuelan, Asian
●
The singular noun used for a person from the country or region:
a Swede, a Japanese, a Frenchman/woman, a Venezuelan, an Asian
●
The plural expression the … used for the population as a whole:
the Swedes, the Japanese, the French, the Venezuelans, the Asians
The name of a national language is commonly the same as the national adjective.
In this case the words are nouns and may be modified by adjectives. The definite
article the is not used, nor is the word language:
Do you speak Hungarian?
(Do you speak the Hungarian?)
(Do you speak Hungarian language?)
Thai is not easy to learn.
She speaks fluent English.
The singular noun is normally the same as the adjective (e.g. Japanese, Moroccan),
and the plural expression is the same as the adjective + -s (e.g. the Moroccans).
All words of this kind (including adjectives) begin with capital letters:
He has a degree in American literature.
(He has a degree in american literature.)
Examples of countries and regions, and associated adjectives and nouns
528a
country/region
adjective
person
population
America/USA
American
an American
the Americans
Belgium
Belgian
a Belgian
the Belgians
Brazil
Brazilian
a Brazilian
the Brazilians
China
Chinese
a Chinese
the Chinese
The Congo
Congolese
a Congolese
the Congolese
Europe
European
a European
the Europeans
Greece
Greek
a Greek
the Greeks
Hungary
Hungarian
a Hungarian
the Hungarians
Iraq
Iraqi
an Iraqi
the Iraqis
Israel
Israeli
an Israeli
the Israelis
Italy
Italian
an Italian
the Italians
Kenya
Kenyan
a Kenyan
the Kenyans
Mexico
Mexican
a Mexican
the Mexicans
Malaysia
Malaysian
a Malaysian
the Malayisans
Norway
Norwegian
a Norwegian
the Norwegians
Portugal
Portuguese
a Portuguese
the Portuguese
Russia
Russian
a Russian
the Russians
Slovakia
Slovakian
a Slovak
the Slovaks
Thailand
Thai
a Thai
the Thais
Some main exceptions
528b
country/region
adjective
person
population
Britain
British
a British man/
the British
woman/person
(more formally: a Briton)
Denmark
Danish
a Dane
the Danes
England
English
an Englishman
the English
woman/person
Finland
Finnish
a Finn
the Finns
France
French
a Frenchman/
the French
woman/person
Holland/
Dutch
a Dutchwoman/
the Dutch
The Netherlands
man/person
Ireland
Irish
an Irishman/
the Irish
woman/person
New Zealand
New Zealand
a New Zealander
the New Zealanders
Poland
Polish
a Pole
the Poles
Scotland
Scottish
a Scot
the Scots
Spain
Spanish
a Spaniard
the Spanish
Sweden
Swedish
a Swede
the Swedes
Turkey
Turkish
a Turk
the Turks
Wales
Welsh
a Welshman/
the Welsh
woman/person
Û
539 Glossary for any unfamiliar terms
Appendix: Nationalities, countries and regions | 873
Further information
1 English referring to population is not the same as British; it is not used for
Scottish or Welsh or Northern Irish people.
2 The word Briton is unusual except in newspaper headlines (
T WELVE BRITONS
INJURED IN COACH COLLI SION
). The noun Brit (the Brits) is sometimes used
informally. Most British people call themselves Scottish, Welsh or English.
3 (Great) Britain refers to the landmass of England, Scotland and Wales. The
United Kingdom (or the UK) refers to England, Scotland, Wales and the six
counties of Northern Ireland. Some people from Northern Ireland refer to
themselves as British in the context of the United Kingdom of Britain and
Northern Ireland. However, everyone from Northern Ireland has the right to
Irish nationality and can hold an Irish passport. Irish also refers to citizens of
the Irish Republic.
4 The Scots themselves prefer the adjective Scots and it also occurs in the
compounds Scotsman/Scotswoman. The adjective Scotch is normally only used
to refer to food and drink from Scotland (Scotch broth, Scotch egg).
5 Although America and American are the normal English words for the United
States, its citizens and affairs, people from other parts of the north and south
American continent may object to this use. It is sometimes avoided for these
reasons. It is more usual to say: She’s a US citizen; I’ve got some US dollars to
change.
6 In Arabic countries, the language spoken is referred to as Arabic. In spoken
expressions and some names of places the word Arabian is used (e.g. The
Arabian Gulf; Saudi Arabian; Arabian Nights).
7 The mostly monosyllabic non-compound words listed above under person
(Dane, Spaniard) are normally avoided when referring to a woman (a Danish
woman, a Spanish woman are preferred).
874 | Appendix: Nationalities, countries and regions
Cambridge Grammar of English
| 875
Appendix: Irregular verbs
INTRODUCTION
529
With some irregular verbs, there is a choice of past form and -ed participle.
Table of irregular verbs
529a
base form
past form
-ed participle
arise
awake
bear
beat
become
begin
bend
bet
bind
bite
bleed
blow
break
breed
bring
build
burst
burn
buy
cast
catch
choose
cling
come
arose
awoke
bore
beat
became
began
bent
bet
bound
bit
bled
blew
broke
bred
brought
built
burst
burnt/burned
bought
cast
caught
chose
clung
came
arisen
awoken
borne
beaten
become
begun
bent
bet
bound
bitten
bled
blown
broken
bred
brought
built
burst
burnt/burned
bought
cast
caught
chosen
clung
come
base form
past form
-ed participle
876 | Appendix: Irregular verbs
Cambridge Grammar of English
cost
creep
cut
deal
dig
draw
dream
drink
drive
eat
fall
feed
feel
fight
find
flee
fling
fly
forbear
forbid
forget
forgive
forsake
forswear
freeze
get
give
go
grind
grow
hear
hide
hit
cost
crept
cut
dealt
dug
drew
dreamt/dreamed
drank
drove
ate
fell
fed
felt
fought
found
fled
flung
flew
forbore
forbade
forgot
forgave
forsook
forswore
froze
got
gave
went
ground
grew
heard
hid
hit
cost
crept
cut
dealt
dug
drawn
dreamt/dreamed
drunk
driven
eaten
fallen
fed
felt
fought
found
fled
flung
flown
forborne
forbidden
forgotten
forgiven
forsaken
forsworn
frozen
got
given
gone
ground
grown
heard
hidden
hit
base form
past form
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