Let's Talk Numbers##

"Was that 30 or 13 million?"

When talking prices, giving instructions, or providing addresses and emails, especially when speaking over the phone, it's important to make sure that you are speaking clearly and pronouncing numbers distinctly, so that your listener does not misunderstand critical information.

Sometimes non-native English speakers lack awareness for subtle sound and intonation differences in number words. For example, "teen" numbers are stressed on the second syllable-thir TEEN, four TEEN, unless you are counting down, and then it will sound like "THIR teen, FOUR teen, FIF teen..." So in connected speech, you would say "We need 13 (THIR teen) orders." Not to be confused with "30 (THIR dee) orders." "The address is 17 (seven TEEN) Madison Avenue," as compared to "The address is 70 (SEVen dee) Madison Avenue."

With numbers ending...