Fifteen point zero three (decimals)

Question

I have several numbers with decimals and I need to read them.

Here are some examples:

0.76 - zero point seven six

1.50 - one point five zero

20.15 - twenty point one five

15.03 - fifteen point zero three

15.55 - fifteen point five five (or fifteen point double five)

Are they correct?. Can you add anything?

I have read that "nought" is used for British English and "zero" for American English. What about "oh"?. Which of them is "oh" for?

Thank you.

Good question =] - DJ_Huero, Jan 24, 2012

Answer 1

I always say 'oh' when giving phone numbers, because I find it hard to say zero in English. It is always understood . . My husband, who is English, always says 'zero'. Nought is hardly ever used in conversation, or when giving a phone number, but may be use when reading out figures.

It is very suitable, in your examples. Nought point five six.. My phone numbe is however oh five six or zero five six.

I hope that helps .

This looks good to me - nothing to add :) - ian-hill, Jan 24, 2012

Thank you Ian, how are you? What's your phone number?? ( don't worry!) - annierats, Jan 24, 2012

Answer 2

0.76 - zero point seven six

Can also be simply "Point seven six"

1.50 - one point five zero

Can also be "One point five"

In Canada, it´s "decimal" instead of "point." This might be the case in other countries as well - I don´t know.

Technically speaking, "oh" is only a letter and not a number, although as Annie says many natives use it as a number. It is better to use it only as a letter to avoid confusion with confirmation numbers, codes, etc that have both letters and numbers in them.

Hmmm, it is true, of course. - nila45, Jan 24, 2012

You're right Julian, we say point too, in England, point 5.. Good point, well made! - annierats, Jan 25, 2012

Answer 3

Anyways, speaking from a U.S. English point of view, the way you are saying it sounds odd to me. I would say 15.55 as "fifteen point fifty-five" as well as 1.50 as "one point fifty". You could probably get away with saying them the way you are saying them, however, it would stand out.

Mathematically it isn't point fifty five or point fifty as they are whole numbers, all the digits after the point are only parts of a whole number and are expressed separately. So point five five or point five zero is mathematically correct.

Just edited to add that my maths geek partner points out that if you are working to more than 2 decimal places then using your method it would be 0.500, point five hundred and 0.55, point five hundred and fifty, or even 0.500 000 000, point five million if you add a few more zeros

You should mention you're speaking from an English point of view. I looked out of curiousity & it says you hail from England. We learn and speak very differently. No? =] - DJ_Huero, Jan 24, 2012

Yes my comment about the phpne number sis form an English point of view but maths is maths is maths. With or without the 's' :) - MaryMcc, Jan 24, 2012

Maybe these 3 years out of school have not done me good. - DJ_Huero, Jan 24, 2012

Answer 4

I always use O for phone numbers, but for other numbers I would use zero, or nought.

Answer 5

Hola Nila, hace mucho tiempo, ¿no?

Anyways, speaking from a U.S. English point of view, the way you are saying it sounds odd to me. I would say 15.55 as "fifteen point fifty-five" as well as 1.50 as "one point fifty". You could probably get away with saying them the way you are saying them, however, it would stand out.

Hope this is helpful.