Pronouncing Years in American English

Pronouncing Years in American English

Have you ever wondered how to read years in English?

In today's Everyday Grammar, we take a closer look at some ways to pronounce years in American English.

The most common and easiest way to pronounce years is to say the first two digits² as one number and the last digits as another two-digit¹ number. Let's call this the "first method."

For example:

I was born in 1987 (nineteen eighty-seven).

Last year was 2022 (twenty twenty-two).

When we read stories for VOA Learning English, we use this method of saying years in most cases.

For years where the third digit is a zero, there are additional ways of saying the year.

Americans often say "oh" for the number zero. So, a number like 1801 (one thousand eight hundred one) would be "eighteen oh one."

The first Mother's Day celebration was held in Grafton, West Virginia in 1908.

Another, less common, way would be to say, "eighteen hundred and one."

In American English, it is common not to say the "and" when talking about years. Some people might think it sounds out-of-date or very formal. But for most, it is just an extra syllable³ that is not necessary.

If the year ends in two zeros, we can just say, "hundred." So, 1700 (one thousand seven hundred) would be "seventeen hundred."

If the year ends in one zero, use the first method:

1990 was an unusual year for our circle of friends.

When the year ends in three zeros, say the year as one number. One followed by three zeros is "one thousand," and two is "two thousand."

I turned 13 years old in the year 2000.

People often use the word "year" right before saying the numbers to show that they are talking about time and not talking about other things.

With the start of the new millennium⁴, the way that we say the years changed a little.

There are two ways we can pronounce these years. We can pronounce them with the word "thousand" or we can use the first method, breaking the year into a pair of two-digit numbers.

For the years 2001 to 2009, saying the year with the word "thousand" is most common.

Between 2007 and 2008 the world experienced a terrible financial crisis⁵.

Barack Obama became the 44th President of the United States in 2009 (two thousand nine).

After 2011, both methods are common.

Amanda graduated from college in 2017 (twenty seventeen).

I worked at a local coffee shop in 2012 (two thousand twelve.)

In VOA Learning English, we use the first method because it has one fewer syllable.

Now let's go further back in time to talk about the years before the year 1000.

In America English, we often split⁶ 3-digit years into sets. We usually say the first digit separately and then the last two digits as a set.

The year 492 (four ninety-two) was a leap year.

Final thoughts

In today's Everyday Grammar we took a closer look at some ways to pronounce years in English. While the most common and easiest way is to say the first two digits and the second two digits as sets, as in 2023 (twenty twenty-three), this method is not the only way.

We now know that the word "oh" is used instead of "zero" for dates like 1901 when the third number is a zero. We also found out there are two ways to say years starting in 2001.

Words in This Story

pronounce – v. to make the sound of (a word or letter) with your voice

digits – n. numerals from 0 to 9, used to form part of a number

formal – adj. following or according with established form, custom, or rule

syllable –n. a natural division of a word usually involving one vowel⁷ sound and one consonant⁸ sound

millennium – n. a period of a thousand years

financial – adj. relating to money

pair –n. two of something

leap – n. a long or high jump

1 digit   

n.零到九的阿拉伯数字，手指，脚趾

参考例句：

• Her telephone number differs from mine by one digit.她的电话号码和我的只差一个数字。
• Many animals have five digits.许多动物有5趾。

2 digits   

n.数字( digit的名词复数 )；手指，足趾

参考例句：

• The number 1000 contains four digits. 1000是四位数。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The number 410 contains three digits. 数字 410 中包括三个数目字。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 syllable   

n.音节；vt.分音节

参考例句：

• You put too much emphasis on the last syllable.你把最后一个音节读得太重。
• The stress on the last syllable is light.最后一个音节是轻音节。

4 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

5 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

6 split   

n.劈开，裂片，裂口；adj.分散的；v.分离，分开，劈开

参考例句：

• Who told you that Mary and I had split up?谁告诉你玛丽和我已经离婚了？
• The teacher split the class up into six groups.老师把班级分成6个小组。

7 vowel   

n.元音；元音字母

参考例句：

• A long vowel is a long sound as in the word"shoe ".长元音即如“shoe” 一词中的长音。
• The vowel in words like 'my' and 'thigh' is not very difficult.单词my和thigh中的元音并不难发。

8 consonant   

n.辅音；adj.[音]符合的

参考例句：

• The quality of this suit isn't quite consonant with its price.这套衣服的质量和价钱不相称。
• These are common consonant clusters at the beginning of words.这些单词的开头有相同辅音组合。