L12: 13 or 30? Numbers, dates, prices and phone numbers

Numbers look easy. We use them every day. But in IELTS Listening, numbers cause more lost marks than almost anything else in Part 1. Is it 15 or 50? Is "double three" 33 or 3? Is "half past" 30 minutes or 3:30? Let's clear all of this up.

Why this matters

A wrong number is a wrong answer. And Part 1 is full of numbers: phone numbers, prices, dates, times and house numbers. If you lose two number questions in every test, you're throwing away easy marks.

Why it's harder for us

Many of us still count in Bangla inside our heads. When an English number comes fast, we translate it, and that takes time. By the time we've worked out the number, the speaker has moved on. The fix is to practise English numbers until you don't need to translate.

Trap 1: -teen or -ty?

Listen to where the stress falls.

Speakers sometimes help you: "That's fifteen, one-five." Listen for that.

Trap 2: phone numbers

• "Double five" means 55.
• "Triple seven" means 777.
• "Oh" often means zero. "Oh-one-seven" is 017.
• Phone numbers are often said in groups. Write them the same way, in groups, to keep track.

Trap 3: prices

• "Twelve fifty" means £12.50.
• "A hundred and five" means 105, not 150.
• "Two pounds ninety-nine" means £2.99.

Trap 4: times

That last one surprises many students. "Ten to three" means ten minutes before three o'clock. So it's 2:50, not 3:10.

Trap 5: dates and years

• "The third of May" or "May the third" both mean 3 May.
• "Nineteen ninety-eight" is 1998.
• "Two thousand and six" is 2006.
• "Twenty twenty-four" is 2024.

How to practise numbers

1. Number dictation. Find a YouTube video that reads random numbers, or ask a friend. Write what you hear.
2. Say prices out loud. When you see a price anywhere, say it in English in your head.
3. Read your phone contacts in English. Say each number in groups, using "double" where you can.

Try it yourself

Write these as numbers.

1. "Oh-one-seven, double one, four-five-six"
2. "Quarter to eight"
3. "Eighteen pounds seventy-five"
4. "The twenty-first of February, two thousand and nine"

Honest note

Some speakers say numbers very fast, and you won't catch every one. That's normal. With two weeks of daily number practice, most students stop losing marks here.

Your task today

Spend 10 minutes on number dictation. Do it every day this week.