English Conversation – NUMBERS

English Conversation – NUMBERS

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Study the pronunciation of numbers in real English Conversation.  How to pronounce 13 vs. 30, and much more.

See these videos on NUMBERS pronunciation:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrqHrGoMJdTRjq6ncFNjR4zHFRHncdErO

See these Real Life English videos:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL060BF75DE0656DF0

YouTube blocked? Click here to see the video.

Video Text:

In this American English pronunciation video, you’re going to play a card game with me and my family and we’ll study real English conversation as it happens among real Americans. The focus of this video is numbers.

Two ones. Two twos.  Two rooks.

We’re playing with a double deck of cards here. That means we’ve combined two full decks so there’s going to be two of every kind of card. So my mom says: two ones, two twos, two rooks.

So rather than saying: two one cards, two two cards, she’s just shortening it into: two ones, two twos, making the number a noun. So she’s making it plural because there’s two of everything. Two ones. Adding a really light Z sound at the end. Two ones. Two twos.

Two ones. Two twos.  Two rooks.
But there are no sixes and sevens and half of the eights.

Sixes and sevens and half of the eights. So here, again, we’re using the number as a noun. And we’re making it plural. Sevens and eights.

For ‘sevens’, we add a light Z  sound. For ‘eights’ we add an S sound. And for ‘sixes’, we add a whole syllable. Es—  es— sixes. The rules for how to pronounce a plural noun were laid out in a video that I made earlier.

Click here to see that video or you can also find the link in the description  below. But there are no sixes and sevens and half of the eights.

210.
How many points does…
– 360.
– Ok. Yeah. Oh.

So here, we’ve just heard the numbers 210 and 360. Notice that the words ‘hundred and’ were dropped. You can say two hundred and ten or three hundred and sixty but it’s probably more common in spoken English to drop that and just say 210, 360.

210.
How many– How many points does…
– 360.
– Ok. Yeah. Oh.
-215
-20

Two fifteen. Twenty. So 15, how does that sound different from 250? Two fifteen. Two fifty. Two fifteen.

There are two clues. First stress is on ‘teen’. In the words that end in a zero, stress is on the first  syllable. Fifteen. Fifty. Clue number two, the T in ‘teen’ is a true T because it starts a stressed syllable. The T in ‘fifty’ might be a true T or it might be flapped: fifty, fifty.

Two fifteen.
– 215
– 20

Twenty. My dad bids even higher. He didn’t say 220 but it’s implied. Twenty, What  happens to the T there? It’s dropped. Americans often drop the T in this word.

Twenty. Twenty. This  is because the T follows an N.

Pass.
Pass.

As we go around bidding here, if you want to bid  higher, then you do so. If you don’t want a bid higher and you  want to drop out, then you say: pass— pass—

Pass.
Twenty five.
Twenty five.

Twenty. Again, David drops the T here: Twenty five.

Twenty five.
Thirty.

Thirty. Thirty. Stress is on the first syllable and it’s a flap T so we know it’s not ‘thirteen’. Thirty. Thirty. The T is flapped here because it comes after an R before a vowel. Thirty. Try that: Thirty. Thirty.

Pass.
Pass.

Oh, my mom and I both have bad hands. We both pass, we do not continue to bid.

Pass.
Pass.
That’s too cheap.

Dad says: That’s too cheap. He’s trying to make us think he doesn’t have a good hand but that he’s going to bid anyway. He reduces the word ‘that’s’ by  dropping the TH. At’s— at’s— At’s too cheap. This is a reduction you will hear Americans do sometimes. Listen again.

That’s too cheap. That’s too cheap. That’s too cheap.

Notice the word ‘too’ is stressed and it sounds just like the number 2. These are homophones. They sound exactly the same. Even though they’re spelled differently. That’s too cheap.

That’s too cheap. Forty.

Forty. He raises the bid. Different from 14 where stress is on the second syllable with a true T. Forty. Forty. Flap T because the T comes between an R and a vowel. Forty.

Pass.
Five.

Yeah, I should have passed before.

I should have passed before. Should have is often reduced to ‘shoulda’ in natural American English conversation.

I should have passed before. Shoulda— shoulda— try that. A quick flap of the tongue for the D: shoulda—

I should have passed before. Because I think….

Because I… Okay my dad is doing a weird reduction here. First he’s reducing ‘because’ to ‘cuz’ which is a very normal reduction. But then he’s also dropping the TH in ‘think’ which is a little bit less common though I have noticed my dad definitely does this. Because I think— because I think— It makes it a little less clear but to a non-native listener, it’s still perfectly understood.

Because I think— because I think— because I think— because I think—

– Enough table talk.
– I think…

‘Table Talk’. This idiom means the casual conversation that would happen at a meal but my family uses it to mean talking about a card game when you’re playing a card game which you shouldn’t do. When you’re playing  a game. You should keep all strategy and thoughts on the game to yourself. So we say ‘no table talk’ or ‘enough table talk’. Everyone in my family is guilty of lots of table talk.

– Enough table talk.
– I think…
Fifty.
Fifty.

Now, again we have something that’s not a true T: fifty, but more of a flap T: fifty. Dadadada— Now, this is an exception. It’s not following the rules but still this is how most Americans will pronounce this word. Fifty. Different from ‘fifteen’ where stress is on the second syllable and we have a true T.

Fifty.
And there’s 360?
Yeah!
Three sixty.

Again, a flap T. Sixty. d– d– And again this is an exception. It’s not following the rules for the pronunciation of T. Sixty, three sixty.

And there’s three sixty?
Yeah!
Cheap!
Pass.
I’m gonna pass.

I’m gonna pass. My dad pronounced his ‘gonna’ very quickly. I’m gonna pass. I’m gonna pass. Gonna— gonna— gonna— I’m gonna pass. I’m gonna pass. I’m gonna pass. I’m gonna pass.

Let’s go back and listen to all the numbers again. I’ll play this section twice. Practice out loud the second time.

Two ones. Two twos. Two rooks.
But there are no sixes and sevens and half of the eights.
Two ten!
Two ten!
-Two fifteen.
-Twenty.
Twenty five.
Thirty.
Forty.
Fifty.
And there’s 360?
Yeah!
Five.

Two ones. Two twos. Two rooks.
But there are no sixes and sevens and half of the eights.
Two ten!
Two ten!
-Two fifteen.
-Twenty.
Twenty five.
Thirty.
Forty.
Fifty.
And there’s 360?
Yeah!
Five.

I had a lot of fun playing cards with my family and I hope you had fun learning the pronunciation of numbers as we studied Real English conversation.

Video: