Series ID: EDKS-BASIC-ZH-0005 · Lesson No.005 · 零基础英语第五课 · Pre-A1 → A1

Numbers and Age | 数字与年龄

I am twenty years old. My phone number is 9123 4567. I need two tickets.
我二十岁。我的电话号码是 9123 4567。我需要两张票。

Numbers look small, but they carry a large part of everyday life. We use them for age, prices, quantities, phone numbers, addresses, room numbers, bus numbers, years, dates, time, scores, pages, floors, money and measurements.

数字看起来很小，却承担了大量日常信息。年龄、价格、数量、电话号码、地址、房间号、公交号码、年份、日期、时间、分数、页码、楼层、金钱和测量都离不开数字英语。

This lesson does not ask you to sing “one, two, three” from memory. The goal is control: see a number, hear it, say it, write it, place it inside a sentence and check it when accuracy matters.

这一课不是让你只会从 one 背到 one hundred。真正目标是控制：看到数字能说，听到数字能写，放进句子里能用，重要信息没听清时会确认。

Chinese Edition Hub · 中文版入口

← Lesson No.004 · Where Is It?

The lesson map | 本课路线

0–10 and the first useful quantity phrases
11–20 and the irregular English teen system
20–100 and the tens
teen versus ty listening: thirteen/thirty, fourteen/forty and more
age: How old are you? / I am ___ years old.
quantity: How many…? / one book, two books
phone numbers, codes, room numbers and route numbers
prices, simple money and decimal readings
ordinal numbers: first, second, third
years and simple number reading beyond 100
pronunciation, dictation, retrieval and real-life checking

中文学习者已经拥有数字概念。你不是重新学习“什么是十三”，而是在建立一个新的英语编码：13 ↔ thirteen ↔ /spoken form/ ↔ real meaning.

1. Zero to ten | 0 到 10

0 zero 零	1 one 一	2 two 二	3 three 三
4 four 四	5 five 五	6 six 六	7 seven 七
8 eight 八	9 nine 九	10 ten 十

Say each number alone, then give it a job. Numbers become useful when they modify real nouns.

one book — 一本书
two pens — 两支笔
three cups — 三个杯子
four chairs — 四把椅子
five people — 五个人
six apples — 六个苹果
seven days — 七天
eight tickets — 八张票
nine students — 九名学生
ten minutes — 十分钟

The first important grammar signal appears immediately: one book, but two books. English marks number on many countable nouns.

第一个重要英语机制马上出现：one book，但是 two books。英语可数名词会通过单复数形式标记数量。

2. Zero is not nothing in language | zero 在真实信息里很重要

You will hear zero in phone numbers, room codes, account references, scores, temperatures and measurements. In some spoken contexts, especially phone numbers and codes, speakers may say oh for 0.

506 → five zero six
506 → five oh six, in some code-like contexts
0–0 → zero zero

For a beginner, zero is the safest productive form. Learn to recognise oh as an alternative.

零基础阶段主动表达先用 zero 最清楚；听力上要慢慢认识有些人会把 0 读成 oh。

3. Eleven and twelve | 英语数字开始不那么规则

Mandarin has a transparent system: 十一, 十二. English has special words eleven and twelve. There is no visible “ten + one” or “ten + two” structure inside the modern word.

所以中文学习者不需要重新理解数量，只需要把已经存在的“11”概念连接到一个不规则英语标签：eleven。

4. Thirteen to nineteen | -teen 系统

13 thirteen	14 fourteen	15 fifteen	16 sixteen
17 seventeen	18 eighteen	19 nineteen

Most of these end in -teen, but spelling is not perfectly mechanical. Notice thirteen, fifteen and eighteen. Learn the visual form and the sound together.

不要只记“后面加 teen”这个模糊规则。要把具体高频形式看熟、听熟、说熟。

5. Twenty, thirty, forty… | 整十

20 twenty	30 thirty	40 forty	50 fifty
60 sixty	70 seventy	80 eighty	90 ninety	100 one hundred

Two spelling points deserve deliberate attention: forty is not “fourty”, and fifty is not “fivety”.

这类小拼写错误很容易长期固定，所以一开始直接学正确形式。

6. Twenty-one to ninety-nine | 组合数字

21 twenty-one
22 twenty-two
34 thirty-four
48 forty-eight
57 fifty-seven
63 sixty-three
75 seventy-five
86 eighty-six
99 ninety-nine

Written English normally hyphenates compound numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine when the number is written in words.

中文概念仍然很规律：二十一、三十四、九十九。你要训练的是快速从数字概念切换到英语词序。

7. Thirteen or thirty? | 13 还是 30？

This is a high-value listening problem because the error can change age, price, quantity or time.

-teen	-ty
thirteen 13	thirty 30
fourteen 14	forty 40
fifteen 15	fifty 50
sixteen 16	sixty 60
seventeen 17	seventy 70
eighteen 18	eighty 80
nineteen 19	ninety 90

In careful pronunciation, the stress often differs: thirTEEN versus THIRty. Do not depend on stress alone, because natural speech varies. Use stress, vowel quality, sentence context and active checking together.

I’m thirteen. — 我十三岁。
I’m thirty. — 我三十岁。
It’s fifteen dollars. — 十五美元。
It’s fifty dollars. — 五十美元。

When the number matters, ask: Sorry, thirteen or thirty?

8. A number is not mastered until order disappears | 随机提取比顺背更重要

If you can recite 1–100 but need five seconds to say 47 when you see it, you know the sequence better than the number. Real-life use is random: a bus is 47, a room is 82, a price is 36, an age is 19.

所以练习时不要只顺着背。让别人随机指数字，或者用卡片打乱顺序。

9. How old are you? | 你多大？

How old are you?
你多大？ / 你几岁？

Useful answers:

I am ten years old.
I’m sixteen years old.
I’m twenty-five.
I’m fifty-two.

The short form is normal in conversation once the topic is clearly age.

10. Why English needs am | 为什么“我二十岁”不能直接说 I twenty?

Mandarin can say 我二十岁 without a word equivalent to English am. English normally requires a grammatical verb in this sentence: I am twenty years old.

这不是“中文错”，而是两个语言系统不同。不要把中文结构逐字搬过去。

I twenty years old. ✗
I have twenty years. ✗ in standard English age expression
I am twenty years old. ✓

11. Ask another person’s age | 问其他人的年龄

How old is he?
How old is she?
How old is your son?
How old is your daughter?

Answers:

He is eight.
She is twelve.
My son is six years old.
My daughter is nine.

This connects directly to Lesson 001: I am, you are, he is, she is.

12. Age questions and social context | 年龄问题也有社交语境

In a language lesson, age is a useful grammar topic. In real life, asking an adult’s age can feel personal in some cultures or situations. English competence includes knowing not only how to form a question but also when a question is appropriate.

语言能力不只是“句子语法对”。还包括“这个场景要不要问”。练习时可以使用虚构年龄。

13. How many? | 多少个？

How many books do you have?
你有多少本书？

How many books?
How many people?
How many tickets?
How many chairs?
How many students?

After how many, use a plural countable noun in the normal beginner pattern.

所以说 How many books?，不是 How many book?

14. English plurality and Chinese classifiers | 英语复数与中文量词不是同一系统

Mandarin often uses a numeral + classifier + noun: 两本书, 三张票, 四把椅子. English usually does not have the same classifier system. Instead, it strongly marks singular/plural and uses determiners or measurement nouns where needed.

一本书	one book
两本书	two books
三张票	three tickets
四把椅子	four chairs

A Chinese learner may know the quantity perfectly and still omit English plural -s. That is a language-mapping error, not a number-concept error.

15. Irregular plurals | 高频不规则复数

one person	two people
one child	two children
one man	two men
one woman	two women

Learn these as pairs. They are common enough to deserve direct memory.

16. How much? | 多少钱？

How much is it?
多少钱？

It’s ten dollars.
It’s twenty-five dollars.
It’s fifty dollars.

Do not confuse the two beginner questions:

How many books? — number of countable items
How much is it? — price

17. Prices and decimals | 价格与小数

Different currencies and regions have different spoken conventions. For decimal numbers, English commonly uses point when reading the number mathematically: 3.5 = three point five.

3.5 → three point five
2.75 → two point seven five
$4.50 → four dollars fifty / four fifty, depending on context and local usage

At beginner level, accuracy matters more than mastering every local money convention. Read the number clearly and learn the local currency word when needed.

18. Phone numbers | 电话号码

Phone numbers are usually treated as a sequence of digits rather than as one giant quantity.

9123 4567 → nine one two three, four five six seven
6800 2211 → six eight zero zero, two two one one

Some speakers use double for repeated digits: 22 = double two. The safest beginner method is digit-by-digit reading; learn double for recognition.

19. What is your phone number? | 你的电话号码是多少？

What is your phone number?

My phone number is 9123 4567.

For privacy, practise with invented numbers. A language exercise should not require posting real contact information.

为了隐私，可以用虚构电话号码练习。

20. Checking digits | 数字没听清时怎么确认？

Sorry, can you say the number again?
Please say it slowly.
Did you say nine one two three?
Was that thirteen or thirty?
Is the last number six?

Active checking is not a sign of weak English. It is a communication skill. Professionals repeat phone numbers, reference numbers, prices and times because accuracy matters.

21. Room numbers, bus numbers and codes | 编号不是普通数量

A code can be read digit by digit, while a quantity is usually read as a full number. Local habits vary.

Room 305 → room three-oh-five / three zero five
Bus 21 → bus twenty-one
Gate 12 → gate twelve
Code 4072 → four zero seven two

The learner’s task is not to discover one universal rule that controls every code in the English-speaking world. Learn the local pattern and preserve clarity.

22. Addresses | 地址数字

Street numbers are often read as normal numbers or grouped forms depending on the country and size of the number. For a beginner, the safest skill is to recognise the written address and be able to spell or repeat it accurately.

12 King Street → twelve King Street
48 River Road → forty-eight River Road

Never sacrifice accuracy for speed in addresses.

23. One hundred and beyond | 100 以上

100 one hundred
101 one hundred and one / one hundred one
120 one hundred and twenty
250 two hundred and fifty
999 nine hundred and ninety-nine
1,000 one thousand
2,000 two thousand

British and American usage can differ in the use of and inside whole numbers. Understand both. You do not need to choose a side before you can communicate.

24. Years | 年份的读法

Years are often read in conventional groups rather than exactly like ordinary quantities. For example, 1999 is commonly nineteen ninety-nine. 2026 is commonly twenty twenty-six, though other readings can occur.

1999 → nineteen ninety-nine
2000 → two thousand
2010 → twenty ten / two thousand and ten
2026 → twenty twenty-six

The goal is recognition first. Years are another example of why real English cannot always be reduced to one mechanical number algorithm.

25. Ordinal numbers | 序数词

Cardinal numbers count. Ordinal numbers show order.

1 one → first	2 two → second	3 three → third
4 four → fourth	5 five → fifth	6 six → sixth
7 seven → seventh	8 eight → eighth	9 nine → ninth
10 ten → tenth

the first lesson
the second day
the third question
the fifth floor

Do not assume floors are numbered the same way in every country. Language and building conventions can both vary.

26. Numbers in simple maths | 数字进入简单数学英语

two plus three is five
ten minus four is six
two times five is ten
ten divided by two is five

This is not a mathematics lesson. It is a reminder that number language travels across domains. Once the English number representation is stable, it can support school, work and daily tasks.

27. Number listening is a discrimination task | 数字听力不是“词汇量”问题

A learner may know every number on paper and still fail in listening because speech is fast, stress changes, background noise interferes or similar forms compete.

所以“数字看得懂，听不懂”不应该被诊断成“不会数字”。真正卡点可能是声音辨别、工作记忆、语速或注意力。

28. Listening ladder | 听力阶梯

Single digits: 0–9.
Two-digit numbers with no teen/ty conflict: 21, 42, 68.
Teen numbers: 13–19.
Tens: 30, 40, 50…
Minimal contrasts: 13/30, 14/40, 15/50.
Three-digit codes: 407, 918.
Phone-number groups.
Numbers inside full sentences.
Numbers in noisy or faster audio.
Numbers that require checking and repetition.

Do not move to Level 9 if Level 5 is still unreliable. Difficulty should rise after the previous distinction is stable.

29. Speaking ladder | 口语阶梯

Read numbers aloud.
Say random numbers from flashcards.
Say quantities around the room.
Say an invented age.
Say an invented phone number.
Ask a price.
Give a price.
Ask how many objects there are.
Use ordinal numbers in a sequence.
Give a short number-rich description without notes.

30. Number dictation | 数字听写

Ask a teacher, friend or reliable text-to-speech system to read a sequence. Write only the digits first. Then write the English words.

17
70
45
54
113
305
2.5
2026

The two-stage task separates sound-to-number recognition from English spelling. That makes diagnosis clearer.

31. Micro-dialogue: age | 年龄对话

A: How old are you?
B: I’m twenty-four.
A: Twenty-four?
B: Yes.

中文：A：你多大？B：二十四。A：二十四？B：对。

The repetition is a confirmation move. It is useful when a number matters.

32. Micro-dialogue: tickets | 买票

A: How many tickets do you need?
B: Two, please.
A: Two adult tickets?
B: Yes.
A: That’s thirty dollars.
B: Thirty?
A: Yes, thirty.

中文：A：你需要几张票？B：两张。A：两张成人票？B：对。A：三十美元。B：三十？A：对，三十。

33. Micro-dialogue: phone number | 电话号码

A: What’s your phone number?
B: It’s 6800 2211.
A: Sorry, can you say that slowly?
B: Six eight zero zero, two two one one.
A: Thank you.

This dialogue teaches something more important than the number: how to repair communication.

34. Micro-dialogue: price | 价格

A: How much is this?
B: It’s fifteen dollars.
A: Fifteen or fifty?
B: Fifteen. One-five.
A: Thank you.

Spelling a number through digits — “one-five” — is a practical repair strategy when teen/ty is unclear.

35. Reading practice A | 阅读 A

My name is Lin. I am twenty-three years old. I live with three other people. I have one brother and one sister. My apartment is on the eighth floor. I take Bus 12 to work. The bus ride takes about thirty minutes. My office is in Room 305. I usually buy two bottles of water for four dollars. My work ID ends in 4072.

中文：我叫 Lin，二十三岁。我和另外三个人一起住。我的公寓在八楼。我坐 12 路公交上班，车程大约三十分钟。办公室在 305 房间。我通常花四美元买两瓶水。我的工作编号最后是 4072。

How old is Lin?
How many other people live with Lin?
Which floor does Lin live on?
Which bus does Lin take?
How long is the bus ride?
What is the room number?
How many bottles of water does Lin buy?
What is the ID ending?

36. Reading practice B | 阅读 B

Mei is thirty years old. She has two children. Her son is eight and her daughter is five. On Saturday, the family takes Bus 46 to the library. They borrow six books. After that, they buy lunch. Two meals cost twenty-eight dollars, and one child’s meal costs nine dollars. They leave the shopping centre at 3:15 p.m.

中文：Mei 三十岁，有两个孩子。儿子八岁，女儿五岁。星期六一家人坐 46 路公交去图书馆，借六本书。之后买午餐。两份餐二十八美元，一份儿童餐九美元。他们下午 3:15 离开购物中心。

How old is Mei?
How many children does she have?
How old is her son?
How old is her daughter?
Which bus do they take?
How many books do they borrow?
What number appears in the price information?
What time do they leave?

37. Writing practice: a number profile | 数字档案

Create a fictional person. Do not use real private data unless you want to.

Name: ______
Age: ______
Number of people at home: ______
Bus or train number: ______
Room number: ______
Favourite price example: ______
Invented phone ending: ______

Turn the notes into seven full English sentences.

38. Writing practice: one number, three jobs | 一个数字，三个任务

Take the number 15.

I am fifteen years old.
I need fifteen minutes.
The ticket is fifteen dollars.

Now do the same with 30, 8, 21 and 50. This prevents numbers from remaining isolated vocabulary.

39. Error clinic | 常见错误诊所

Common error	Better English	What broke?
I twenty years old. ✗	I am twenty years old. ✓	be missing
I have twenty years. ✗	I am twenty years old. ✓	wrong age pattern
two book ✗	two books ✓	plural missing
two childs ✗	two children ✓	irregular plural
How much books? ✗	How many books? ✓	quantity question
fourty ✗	forty ✓	spelling
fivety ✗	fifty ✓	spelling
13/30 confused	confirm with digits	listening discrimination

40. Mandarin transfer map | 中文母语学习者要特别看的四个地方

Age: 中文“我二十岁”没有英语 am；英语要说 I am twenty.
Classifiers: 中文数量词系统很丰富；英语更依赖单复数名词。
Regularity: 中文数字构词非常透明；英语 eleven/twelve/teen/tens 有更多不规则形式。
Sound: 英语 teen/ty 重音和元音差异会直接影响理解。

These are not signs that Mandarin is a problem. They are simply places where the two language systems encode information differently.

41. First weak link diagnosis | 第一个卡点诊断

I understand the written digit but cannot say it → spoken retrieval.
I can say it but cannot hear it → auditory discrimination.
I hear numbers but confuse teen and ty → targeted contrast.
I know the number but age grammar is wrong → age sentence frame.
I know quantities but forget plural -s → noun-number agreement.
I understand one number but lose phone-number sequences → working-memory grouping.
I hear the number but am afraid to check → repair-language practice.

Do not prescribe “memorise more numbers” until you know which link failed.

42. Retrieval lab | 不看答案提取

我二十岁。 → ______
你多大？ → ______
她三十岁。 → ______
两本书。 → ______
五个人。 → ______
你有多少张票？ → ______
多少钱？ → ______
请再说一次号码。 → ______
是十三还是三十？ → ______
第三个问题。 → ______

Suggested answers: I am twenty years old. / How old are you? / She is thirty. / two books / five people / How many tickets do you have? / How much is it? / Please say the number again. / Is that thirteen or thirty? / the third question.

43. Spaced practice | 延时复习

Do not repeat the same list twenty times in one sitting. Retrieve it after time has passed.

Today: learn and use.
Tomorrow: recall without looking.
Three days later: mix with new numbers.
One week later: use inside age, price and quantity sentences.
Two weeks later: listen to unfamiliar number sequences.

The memory test is not “Did I see this before?” It is “Can I produce it now?”

44. Ten-minute daily practice | 每天十分钟

2 min	random 0–100 cards	随机数字
2 min	teen vs ty	易混数字
2 min	age + quantity sentences	年龄和数量
2 min	phone/code dictation	电话号码/代码听写
2 min	real-life checking phrases	确认表达

45. Seven-day training cycle | 七天训练

Day 1	0–20	0–20
Day 2	20–100 random order	整十与随机组合
Day 3	teen/ty listening	听辨
Day 4	age + family ages	年龄表达
Day 5	quantity + plurals	数量与复数
Day 6	phone, price, room, bus	真实编号
Day 7	mixed one-minute number challenge	综合挑战

46. Self-test: 25 questions | 25 题自测

Write 11 in English.
Write 12 in English.
Write 13 in English.
Write 30 in English.
Write 40 in English.
Write 50 in English.
Write 68 in English.
Translate: 我二十五岁。
Ask: 你多大？
Translate: 她三十岁。
Correct: I twenty years old.
Correct: two book.
Correct: three childs.
Ask: 你有多少本书？
Ask: 多少钱？
Read 9123 digit by digit.
Read 4072 digit by digit.
What can zero sound like in some codes?
What is the ordinal form of one?
What is the ordinal form of two?
What is the ordinal form of three?
Read 2026 as a year in a common way.
What sentence checks 13 vs 30?
Why is “two books” different from Chinese “两本书” structurally?
Give one invented age, one price and one phone-number group.

Answer key | 答案

1 eleven; 2 twelve; 3 thirteen; 4 thirty; 5 forty; 6 fifty; 7 sixty-eight; 8 I am twenty-five years old; 9 How old are you?; 10 She is thirty; 11 I am twenty years old; 12 two books; 13 three children; 14 How many books do you have?; 15 How much is it?; 16 nine one two three; 17 four zero seven two; 18 oh; 19 first; 20 second; 21 third; 22 twenty twenty-six; 23 Sorry, thirteen or thirty?; 24 English marks plural on the noun rather than using the same classifier system; 25 answers vary.

47. For parents and teachers | 给家长和老师

Move numbers through four representations: symbol → spoken English → written English → real-life sentence. A learner who fails at one representation may be perfectly strong in the others.

把数字在四种形式之间移动：符号 → 英语声音 → 英语拼写 → 真实句子。不要因为一个环节卡住，就把整个能力判断成“数字不会”。

Use contrastive practice for teen/ty, but do not stay in artificial minimal pairs forever. Move quickly into age, prices, times and phone numbers so the distinction has meaning.

中文学习者已经有强大的十进制数字概念。教学重点不是重新教数学，而是把已有概念映射到英语形式。

When the learner makes an error, ask what failed: number concept, English word form, pronunciation, listening, memory span, plural grammar, age syntax or checking behaviour. Repair that layer.

48. Final real-world challenge | 最终真实任务

Say ten random numbers from 0–100.
Distinguish five teen/ty pairs.
Give an invented age and ask another age.
Count five different objects with correct plurals.
Read an invented phone number.
Hear an invented phone number and write it.
Ask and answer one price question.
Read three room or route numbers.
Use first, second and third.
Check one number politely when it is unclear.

If you can do these slowly but accurately, the number system is beginning to belong to you. Accuracy first. Speed later.

如果你能慢慢但准确完成，这套数字英语已经开始属于你。先准确，再变快。

Next: Lesson No.006 | 下一课

Numbers now have jobs. Next, use them to organise a day and a week.

What time is it? It is seven o’clock. Today is Monday.
几点了？现在七点。今天星期一。

Lesson No.006 · Time and Days · 第 006 课

Reference floor: British Council A1 Elementary · British Council A1–A2 Vocabulary · Cambridge English Vocabulary in Use: Elementary · Cambridge Essential Grammar in Use A1–B1.

Small Group Tutorials

How to Learn Basic English (Chinese Edition) | Lesson No.005 | Numbers and Age | 数字与年龄