How_to_talk_about_facts_and_figures_in_English

abc ACADEMIC SERVICES The Language Centre Handling facts and figures in English 01020304050607080901st Qtr2nd Qtr3rd Qtr4th QtrEastWestNorth Crispin Geoghegan Hélène Lewis Handling facts & figures in English © The Language Centre - Bournemouth University 2 I SAYING FIGURES 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 "0h", nought, zero one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fifteen sixteen seventeen eighteen 19 nineteen 20 21 22,... 30 twenty twenty-one twenty--two thirty 31 32 40 50 60 70 71 72 80 81 90 91 92 100 101 102 200 999 1000 1 000 000 5 000 000 1000 000 000 thirty-one thirty-two forty fifty sixty seventy seventy-one seventy-two eighty eighty-one ninety ninety-one ninety-two one hundred one hundred and one one hundred and two two hundred nine hundred and ninety-nine one thousand one million five million a thousand million (UK), , a billion (US - now often UK also) 1.2 Decimal numbers The French sign for a decimal is the comma, pronounced 'virgule'. The dot sign was used in French to separate groups of thousands, (e.g. '1.000.000'), but is now falling into disuse. 10,5 10,58 ten point five ten point five eight seven Handling facts & figures in English © The Language Centre - Bournemouth University 3 1.3 Ordinal numbers 1er 2e 3e 17e etc 20e, 30e etc 21e, 31e etc 22e, 32e etc 100e 101e 1 000e 1 000 000e first second third etc seventeenth etc twentieth, thirtieth etc twenty-first, thirty-first etc twenty-second, thirty-second ethundredth hundred and first thousandth millionth 1.4 Fractions and percentages 1/2 1/3 2/3 1/4 3/4 160/400 1/5 1/10 1/100 1/1000 etc 5% 5,4% a half a third two thirds a quarter three quarters one hundred and sixty over four hundred a fifth a tenth a hundredth a thousandth etc five percent five point four percent 1.5 Weights, measures and currencies 1 cm one centimetre 1,5 l one litre and a half 1,25 m one meter twenty-five 1,3 km one point three kilometres 1,2 kg one point two kilos 1,5 T one and a half tons £ 500 five hundred pounds £ 6,80 six pounds ninety £ 14,25 (on a cheque) fourteen pounds and twenty-five pence II INTRODUCING FACTS AND FIGURES 2.1 Quoting a figure To quote a figure to be ... production is 10 000 tons a year To indicate a price to be ... the price is 5 600 euros to cost the investment has cost 3 million pounds the complete system costs 50 000 dollars Handling facts & figures in English © The Language Centre - Bournemouth University 4 To indicate a level to stand at ... production has reached 150 units per hour to reach ... the rate of inflation has reached 21.5% 2.2 Placing events in time mid-July the end of August the nineties the first/second half of July towards the 27th of October around the 22nd of July in the course of ... at the start of... just before ... during... in the middle of... at the end of... after the end of .. some time next week a quarter the first/second quarter the half year the tax year, the fiscal year the calendar year the company's year the accounting period the accounting year the financial year the trading year 2.3 Approximation When you have to use complex data orally in a foreign language, it is important to make life as easy for yourself as possible. Nobody likes to have to say complicated figures, so if you are commenting on information already available, for instance on an OHP or in a handout, approximations are very useful: not only do they save you the trouble of having to say these complicated figures out loud, but they also add more impact to what you are saying to your audience and constitute a kind of commentary. Below are some useful phrases. around… almost… around… nearly… about… just under… well over … between X and Y in the range of X to Y to increase (by ...) an increase of to go up to ... Handling facts & figures in English © The Language Centre - Bournemouth University 5 to go down (by ...) a decrease of ... a reduction of … a fall of … to go down (by ...) to go down to ... to grow from ... to... to go down from ... to... Useful phrases their share of the market is approaching 10% the results suggest a rise of between 3 & 5 % a rise in the order of 10 000 euros the profit is close to 1 billion euros the percentage of lost parcels is nearly zero according to my estimates our company's share of the market should reach about 25% next year thousands of copies of the annual financial report have been printed the invoicing department receives an average of 80 invoices per day the company's head office is approximately 10 km from the motorway 2.4 Comparison compared to ... compared to ... considerably more/less than almost as ... as ... equal to ... equivalent to ... higher by ... than ... lower by... than ... a considerable increase/decrease a significant gain/loss Useful phrases total sales for this quarter are almost equal to those of the preceding quarter the total is slighly higher than theone for June the gap between the two rates is widening it remains slightly lower/higher than... The turnover of all the leading distributors falls between 20 and 60 billion 2.5 Change to go from ... to ... to go up to go up by ... to increase by...