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 #2 (permalink) Sun Jan 18, 2009 15:59 pm How to speak the early years of a century? |
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Hello Iwanna
These would be typical:
1709 - Seventeen oh nine *
1610 - Sixteen ten
1812 - eighteen twelve
1517 - fifteen seventeen
* When the next to last digit is a zero, say "oh" for the zero and then the final number. |
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 Esl_Expert
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| #3 (permalink) Sun Jan 18, 2009 16:28 pm How to speak the early years of a century? |
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| Thanks to Esl_Expert. That does not seem to be so complicated. But I ever heard from some audio material that 1912 was pronounced as "nineteen hundred and twelve", and as we know, differently for the 21 century, 2008 as "two thousand (and) eight", not "twenty oh eight", therefore, I feel puzzled. Then what will happen to such years as 2010, 2018, 2023, ect? |
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Iwanna
I'm here quite often ;-)
Joined: 15 Sep 2007
Posts: 112
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| #4 (permalink) Mon Jan 19, 2009 1:08 am How to speak the early years of a century? |
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Hello Iwanna,
| Quote: |
| But I ever heard from some audio material that 1912 was pronounced as "nineteen hundred and twelve" |
That is one possible way to say 1912, however that would generally sound much too overly long and formal for most spoken English. You will hear people say "nineteen twelve" even in TV documentaries, for example. So saying it without the word "hundred" is quite standard. And I'd also say that "nineteen twelve" would be by far the most commonly used spoken form.
| Quote: |
| and as we know, differently for the 21 century, 2008 as "two thousand (and) eight", not "twenty oh eight", therefore, I feel puzzled. |
We had a very long time to establish the typical ways of saying years that begin with a "1". We've had only a relatively short time to establish "typical patterns" for saying the years in the twenty-first century. However, I think the years between 2000 and 2009 are a special situation because saying something such as "twenty nine" for 2009 would sound exactly the same as "twenty-nine" (29). That would have been much too confusing. And for whatever reason, native speakers seem to have rejected the use of "twenty oh nine".
The most commonly used spoken forms that I've heard are these:
2000 - two thousand (and also Y2K)
2001 - two thousand one
2002 - two thousand two
(etc.)
2009 - two thousand nine
However, if you want to buy a used car, for example, the car dealers here will advertise a car manufactured in 2003 as being from '03 (spoken this way: "oh three").
Since we have not yet gotten further than 2009, I can only look into my crystal ball (or make an educated guess) about what will become the most commonly used spoken forms from 2010 onward. Here is my prediction:
Right now, when people speak about years in the near future, the tendency is to continue to use the word "thousand":
2010 - two thousand ten
2012 - two thousand twelve
Starting next year, though, I think people will begin to go back to the same sort of system that was used in the past. In other words, my prediction is that as of 2010, people will slowly start using this pattern (again):
2013 - twenty thirteen
2019 - twenty nineteen
2024 - twenty twenty-four
2030 - twenty thirty
People will probably continue to use the word "thousand" quite often. ("two thousand ten", "two thousand twelve"). In fact, those forms are currently the most commonly used ones -- especially for years in the teens. But I think eventually the pattern used before the year 2000 (e.g. "twenty twelve") will become a very commonly used one again. |
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Esl_Expert
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| #5 (permalink) Mon Jan 19, 2009 5:47 am How to speak the early years of a century? |
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| Dear Esl_Expert, I am so grateful for your elaborate explanation, that's very helpful. Thank you! |
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Iwanna
I'm here quite often ;-)
Joined: 15 Sep 2007
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