|It’s important for English language learners to be able to count, spell out, and pronounce all kinds of numbers in English. Fractions are especially tricky when it comes to expressing numbers orally or writing them alphabetically.|
The bigger task is how can we write fractions in English without breaking the rules in grammar? Do we have to follow the exact way it is written in Mathematics language or should it be different?
We can describe numbers smaller than one by using decimals or fractions. Today, most systems use decimals, but it is still useful to know how to read and say simple fractions in English.
Look at these examples of fractions:
We write: We say:
½ a half OR one half
¼ a quarter OR one quarter
¾ three quarters
⅓ a third OR one third
⅔ two thirds
⅕ a fifth OR one fifth
⅗ three fifths
⅛ an eighth OR one eighth
⅝ five eighths
1½ one and a half
5¾ five and three quarters
When do we really need to use the writing of fractions in our daily life? We can apply the knowledge when we are to submit a report to our employers. We can also use it when we are to budget the time we need to spend into something – household chores per se. It can also help us in making decisions in our life like deciding the possibility of something. Fractions can be of a big help to us and it one should obtain the knowledge on how to correctly write it in English language.
|Although the system of fractions is not used much these days, we commonly use a few simple fractions in everyday speech, for example:|
• They phoned half an hour ago.
• Hurry up! The bus leaves in a quarter of an hour.
• The police station is about three quarters of a mile past the traffic lights.
• The baker sliced the pie into two-thirds.
|It is an advantage to know the proper way to write fractions in English language however we also take note that after "one a Note that after "one and a half", the noun is plural:|
• Go straight on for one and a half kilometers. (OR ...one kilometer and a half)
• We had to wait for one and a half hours. (OR ...an hour and a half)
|The ability to know the proper way to write fractions can give us better edge in making our reports or it can also help us to be more efficient in all the things that we do since we know how to use fractions and write it in the English language.|