Ch 1 · Lesson 38English · Chapter 1 · Lesson 38 · Grammar primer
Thirteen or thirty? And twenty-one
Say the -teen strongly, or thirteen sounds like thirty. Then every number from 21 to 99: a ten, a hyphen and a digit.
The short version
thirTEEN or THIRty: listen to the stress
, ?
Why?Hide
The -teen numbers are strong at the end, with a long ee and a clear n. The -ty numbers are strong at the front and short at the end. In fast speech the stress can move, so when a price or a time matters, native speakers check the digits.
Thirteen or thirty? The stress
These pairs sound close, and in a noisy shop or on the phone they are easy to mix up: 13 and 30, 14 and 40, 15 and 50, up to 19 and 90. The difference is the , the strong part of the word.
| Number | Stress | Sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| 13 | thirTEEN | strong end, long ee, clear n |
| 30 | THIRty | , |
| 15 | fifTEEN | |
| 50 | FIFty |
In American English the t in -ty often sounds like a soft d (thirdy).
When you count (thirteen, fourteen, fifteen), or when a noun comes straight after (thirteen people), the stress on -teen often moves to the front. Then thirteen and thirty sound very close. Native speakers check: Sorry, one three or three oh? Do the same when a price, a time or a room number matters.
Twenty-one to ninety-nine: tens plus a digit, with a hyphen
Every number from 21 to 99 is a ten plus a digit, in that order, with a hyphen (-) between them.
| Figure | Words |
|---|---|
| 21 | - |
| 45 | - |
| 99 | - |
Write twenty-one, not twenty one. Nothing else changes: no and inside these numbers, and the digit keeps its form: She is twenty-five. (25 years old)
Going further: Zero to twelve: learn these as words and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
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One question at a time, mixed across the exercises in this lesson. Miss one and it comes back round before the end.
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Lesson 38 of 42 in this chapter