Alphabet, Numbers, Dates & Prices

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PART 01

Discover

Meet today's English in a real situation — no rules yet. Read it once and try to guess the pattern in the words in bold. Underlined words open a short definition.

“Good evening! Do you have a reservation?” the receptionist asked.

“Yes, under the name Ferreira,” I said.

“Could you spell that, please?”

“Sure — F-E-R-R-E-I-R-A.”

“Perfect. And what’s your arrival date?”

“Today’s the 21st of June, and I’m leaving on the 25th.”

“Great, that’s four nights. The total is one hundred and eighty dollars — that’s forty-five dollars a night. Can I get your phone number, please?”

“Yes, it’s five five two, three one zero, nine eight four six.”

“Perfect, thank you. Room 214, on the second floor. Enjoy your stay!”

format_quoteEXAMPLE

Notice how the whole conversation runs on the basics: spelling a name letter by letter, saying a date two different ways, and reading a price and a phone number out loud.

spellcheck

PART 02

Learn

Now the rules behind what you just saw — explained simply, with examples. Underlined words open a short definition — hover on desktop, tap on a phone.

This lesson is about the language you need before a conversation really starts: spelling your name, saying a phone number, reading a date, and understanding a price.

These things look small, but they are useful every day. You use them in forms, shops, hotels, messages, appointments and introductions.

The one idea to hold on to

English letters and numbers are not only for school. They help you give clear information.

Letters help you spell names and email addresses.
Cardinal numbers say how many: one, twenty, one hundred.
Ordinal numbers say position or dates: first, second, twenty-first.
Dates and prices put numbers into real life.

infoNOTE

At A1 level, your goal is not speed. Your goal is to be clear: say the information slowly, and check it when you need to.

The alphabet and spelling

English has 26 letters. Some letters sound similar, so spelling is a normal part of everyday English.

Letter	Useful example
A	A as in Anna
E	E as in email
I	I as in India
O	O as in Oscar
U	U as in unit

When someone asks for spelling, you can answer letter by letter.

How do you spell your name?
M-A-R-I-A.
Can you spell your surname, please?
G-A-R-C-I-A.

format_quoteEXAMPLE

“My name is Leo. That’s L-E-O.” — short, clear and natural.

For email addresses, use these words:

@ → at
. → dot
- → dash
_ → underscore

format_quoteEXAMPLE

ana.smith@gmail.com → “ana dot smith at gmail dot com”

Cardinal numbers: 1-1000

Cardinal numbers answer the question How many?

Number	Word
1	one
2	two
3	three
4	four
5	five
10	ten
11	eleven
12	twelve
13	thirteen
20	twenty
30	thirty
40	forty
50	fifty
100	one hundred
1000	one thousand

From 21 to 99, we join the tens and the small number:

21 → twenty-one
35 → thirty-five
48 → forty-eight
76 → seventy-six
99 → ninety-nine

For hundreds, keep it simple:

100 → one hundred
205 → two hundred and five
318 → three hundred and eighteen
999 → nine hundred and ninety-nine

lightbulbTIP

In everyday speech, people often say oh for zero in phone numbers: 502 can be “five oh two”. For prices and maths, say zero.

Ordinal numbers: 1st-100th

Ordinal numbers answer the question Which one? We use them for dates, floors, places and order.

Number	Word
1st	first
2nd	second
3rd	third
4th	fourth
5th	fifth
10th	tenth
20th	twentieth
21st	twenty-first
32nd	thirty-second
43rd	forty-third
100th	one hundredth

Most ordinal numbers end in -th: fourth, sixth, seventh, tenth. But first, second and third are different.

warningWARNING

Do not say ~~the one of May~~ for a date. Say the first of May or May first.

Dates

There are two common ways to say dates in English.

Written date	British English	American English
1 May	the first of May	May first
12 June	the twelfth of June	June twelfth
23 August	the twenty-third of August	August twenty-third

Both forms are useful. For A1, choose one form and practise it clearly.

My birthday is on July tenth.
The meeting is on the third of March.
Today is September twenty-first.

priority_highIMPORTANT

Use on before a date: on Monday, on July tenth, on the first of May.

Prices

Prices use cardinal numbers. Say the big unit first, then the small unit.

Price	Say it like this
$5	five dollars
$5.50	five dollars fifty
EUR 12	twelve euros
GBP 3.99	three pounds ninety-nine
$0.75	seventy-five cents

In shops, you can use short, polite sentences:

How much is this?
It’s ten dollars.
That’s twenty-five euros, please.
Can I pay by card?

format_quoteEXAMPLE

“The notebook is $2.50.” → “The notebook is two dollars fifty.”

Put it together

Now use letters and numbers in real sentences.

My name is Sofia. That’s S-O-F-I-A.
My phone number is five five two, three one zero, nine eight four six.
My birthday is on April second.
The ticket is fifteen dollars.
Room 203 is on the second floor.

priority_highIMPORTANT

If you remember only one thing: spell slowly, say numbers in small groups, and use ordinal numbers for dates.

boltQUICK REVIEW

Email symbols: @ = at · . = dot · - = dash · _ = underscore
13 vs 30: thir-TEEN (stress at the end) vs THIR-ty (stress at the start)
Dates: written 10 May → said May tenth / the tenth of May — always with on
Prices: $5.50 → five (dollars) fifty

quiz

PART 03

Practice

Try it yourself. You'll see right away whether you got it right, plus a short explanation of why.

0 / 4 correct

1. "Could you spell that, please?" is a natural way to ask about...

2. How do you usually say the written date "21 June"?

3. $45.00 is said as...

4. In a phone number, "502" is often said as...

draw

PART 04

Use It

Now make the language yours in a real task. Use the prompt below — the editor keeps a simple word count, and nothing is saved or graded.

PROMPT

Write your name, your email address, today's date, your birthday, and three prices you see in a shop or online. Spell one word letter by letter.

0 words