Numbers

How to study this deck

Learn numbers in three blocks: 1 to 12, which are unique; 13 to 19, which end in -teen; and the tens (20, 30, 40...), which end in -ty. The trap is that they sound almost alike, so practice listening and writing, not just reading.

The trickiest words

• thirteen / thirty: they sound almost the same: in -teen the stress falls at the end ("thirTEEN") and in -ty at the start ("THIRty").
• forty: it is spelled without u, although four has it: four, fourteen, but forty.
• fifteen: it is not "fiveteen": the root changes from five to fif-, just like in fifty.

Examples in context

• I have one brother.

• There are four seasons in a year.

• We start work at eight.

• The bus leaves at eleven.

• She has fifteen minutes left.

• You can drive at eighteen in many countries.

• He works forty hours a week.

• My grandfather is seventy years old.

Mini dialogue

• A: How old are you?
• B: I am thirty. And you?
• A: Fifteen. My brother is nineteen.
• B: Nice. My number is five, five, five, one, two, one, two.