3 Age, birthdays, months and numbers 11-100 (A1)

Welcome back to Linguacade! I’m your teacher, Jason, and I would like to introduce myself a little more. Listen to this information about my age and my birthday:

I am 52 (fifty-two) years old and my birthday is the 14th (fourteenth) of January. How old are you? When is your birthday? This is the long form.

Hello! My name’s Jason. I’m 52 (fifty-two) years old and my birthday’s the 14th (fourteenth) of January. How old are you? When’s your birthday? This is the short form.

What is a birthday? A birthday is a special and important day. Your ‘birthday’ is the ‘day’ of your ‘birth’. The day of your birth is the day you were born and the day you were born is the day you came into this world. How do you spell ‘birthday’? It’s spelt B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y.

When is your birthday? Well, if you want to say when your birthday is, you will need to learn the months in English. But what is a month? A month contains 28 (twenty-eight) days, 29 (twenty-nine) days, 30 (thirty) days, or 31 (thirty-one) days. There are 12 (twelve) months in a year, so one year consists of 12 (twelve) months. What does ‘consists of’ mean? It means ‘contains’, so if a year consists of 12 months it contains 12 months. That means that there are 12 months in one year.

And how do you spell ‘month’? Well, it’s spelt M-O-N-T-H.

Listen to the 12 (twelve) months and repeat them after me:

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December.

Can you see that the months all have a capital letter? Do you remember that the days of the week also have a capital letter? Words that begin with a capital letter are called ‘proper nouns’. Words that don’t begin with a capital letter are called ‘common nouns’. So, ‘November’ is a proper noun because it begins with a capital letter, but ‘month’ is a common noun because it begins with a small letter. Remember that a small letter is also called a ‘lower-case letter’.

Let’s look at the month ‘February’ because it is a strange month. What does ‘strange’ mean? ‘Strange’ means ‘weird’ or ‘odd’ or ‘quite different’ or ‘not normal’. February is the 2nd (second) month in the year, after January. But why is ‘February’ a strange month? Well, first of all, most people don’t say ‘Feb-ru-ary’, rather they say ‘Feb-you-ry’ (February). Why do most people say ‘Feb-you-ry’? It is because ‘Feb-ru-ary’ is not easy to say. Another strange thing with February is that it normally contains 28 (twenty-eight) days and the other months contain 30 (thirty) or 31 (thirty-one) days.

Here is another strange thing with February: every four years, February contains 29 (twenty-nine) days. Here, ‘contains’ means the same as ‘has’. But, what does ‘every four years’ mean? ‘Every four years’ means one time in four years. So, in the 1st (first) year, February has 28 days. In the 2nd (second) year, February also has 28 days. In the 3rd (third) year, February also has 28 days. But, in the 4th (fourth) year, February has 29 days. The year when February has 29 days is called a ‘leap year’. So, February has 29 days in a leap year.

Now let’s look at, and remember, some basic numbers. What does ‘basic’ mean? Basic means ‘simple’ or ‘easy’. Listen to these numbers:

1 (one), 2 (two), 3 (three), 4 (four), 5 (five), 6 (six), 7 (seven), 8 (eight), 9 (nine), ten (10).

These numbers are called ‘cardinal numbers’. But what is a ‘cardinal number’? Cardinal numbers show quantity. The word ‘cardinal’ means ‘essential’ or ‘very important’ in English. We use the cardinal numbers to answer the question, ‘How many…?’

How many days are there in a week? There are 7 days in a week. And how many months are there in a year? There are 12 months in a year. Can you hear that you must use cardinal numbers to answer the question ‘How many…?’

Now listen to these numbers:

1st (first), 2nd (second), 3rd (third), 4th (fourth), 5th (fifth), 6th (sixth), 7th (seventh), 8th (eighth), 9th (ninth), 10th (tenth).

These numbers are ordinal numbers. But, what is an ‘ordinal number’? Ordinal numbers show order. In fact, the word ‘ordinal’ comes from the word ‘order’ in English. What does ‘order’ mean? Well, it means ‘sequence’ or ‘position’. We use the ordinal numbers to answer the question, ‘What position?’

What is the 1st (first) month of the year? The first month is January. That is because January is the month in position number 1 in the year. What is the 10th (tenth) month of the year? The tenth month of the year is October. That is because October is in position number 10 in the year. So, you must use ordinal numbers to say the position of a number. The ‘position’ is also the ‘place in a sequence’. Listen to this sequence of months:

January is the 1st (first) month of the year. The ‘first month’ means ‘month number one’.

February is the 2nd (second) month of the year. The ‘second month’ means ‘month number two’.

March is the 3rd (third) month of the year. The ‘third month’ means ‘month number three’.

April is the 4th (fourth) month of the year. The ‘fourth month’ means ‘month number four’.

May is the 5th (fifth) month of the year. The ‘fifth month’ means ‘month number five’.

June is the 6th (sixth) month of the year. The ‘sixth month’ means ‘month number six’.

July is the 7th (seventh) month of the year. The ‘seventh month’ means ‘month number seven’.

August is the 8th (eighth) month of the year. The ‘eighth month’ means ‘month number eight’.

September is the 9th (ninth) month of the year. The ‘ninth month’ means ‘month number nine’.

October is the 10th (tenth) month of the year. The ‘tenth month’ means ‘month number ten’.

November is the 11th (eleventh) month of the year. The ‘eleventh month’ means ‘month number eleven’.

December is the 12th (twelfth) month of the year. The ‘twelfth month’ means ‘month number twelve’.

The ordinal numbers are not easy in English. They are quite difficult. So, it is good to learn the ordinal number for your birthday first.

Listen again to this phrase:

My birthday is on the 14th (fourteenth) of January. This is the long form.

My birthday’s the 14th (fourteenth) of January. This is the short form.

Here, there is just one ordinal number. It is the ‘14th’ (fourteenth).

So, when is your birthday?

What if your birthday is on day number 25 of March? You must say, ‘My birthday is on the 25th (twenty-fifth) of March.

Listen to the cardinal and ordinal numbers from 1 (one) to 31 (thirty-one).

Number 1 (one) is the 1st (first) number.

Number 2 (two) is the 2nd (second) number.

Number 3 (three) is the 3rd (third) number.

Number 4 (four) is the 4th (fourth) number.

Number 5 (five) is the 5th (fifth) number.

Number 6 (six) is the 6th (sixth) number.

Number 7 (seven) is the 7th (seventh) number.

Number 8 (eight) is the 8th (eighth) number.

Number 9 (nine) is the 9th (ninth) number.

Number 10 (ten) is the 10th (tenth) number.

Number 11 (eleven) is the 11th (eleventh) number.

Number 12 (twelve) is the 12th (twelfth) number.

Number 13 (thirteen) is the 13th (thirteenth) number.

Number 14 (fourteen) is the 14th (fourteenth) number.

Number 15 (fifteen) is the 15th (fifteenth) number.

Number 16 (sixteen) is the 16th (sixteenth) number.

Number 17 (seventeen) is the 17th (seventeenth) number.

Number 18 (eighteen) is the 18th (eighteenth) number.

Number 19 (nineteen) is the 19th (nineteenth) number.

Number 20 (twenty) is the 20th (twentieth) number.

Number 21 (twenty-one) is the 21st (twenty-first) number.

Number 22 (twenty-two) is the 22nd (twenty-second) number.

Number 23 (twenty-three) is the 23rd (twenty-third) number.

Number 24 (twenty-four) is the 24th (twenty-fourth) number.

Number 25 (twenty-five) is the 25th (twenty-fifth) number.

Number 26 (twenty-six) is the 26th (twenty-sixth) number.

Number 27 (twenty-seven) is the 27th (twenty-seventh) number.

Number 28 (twenty-eight) is the 28th (twenty-eighth) number.

Number 29 (twenty-nine) is the 29th (twenty-ninth) number.

Number 30 (thirty) is the 30th (thirtieth) number.

Number 31 (thirty-one) is the 31st (thirty-first) number.

This is not easy. It is quite difficult. So, it is good to learn just the ordinal number for your birthday. Then, later, you can learn the other ordinal numbers.

Listen to these questions and answers:

When is your birthday?

My birthday is on the 30th (thirtieth) of September. This is the long form.

When’s your birthday?

My birthday’s on the 30th (thirtieth) of September. This is the short form.

Listen to these examples of birthdays:

Sarah’s birthday is on the 3rd (third) of May. The 3rd of May is day number 3 of May.

John’s birthday’s on the 28th (twenty-eighth) of August. The 28th of August is day number 28 of August.

My birthday is on the 22nd (twenty-second) of July. The 22nd of July is day number 22 of July.

My brothers are twins. Their birthday is on the 12th (twelfth) of March. The 12th of March is day number 12 of March.

Now listen to some more ordinal numbers:

What day is it today?

Today is Monday, the 4th of May (or Monday, May the 4th).

What day is Christmas Day?

Christmas Day is December the 25th (or the 25th of December).

What day is Valentine’s Day?

Valentine’s Day is February the 14th (or the 14th of February).

What is the last day of March?

The last day of March is the 31st of March (or March the 31st).

Here is an interesting fact. English people do not often use ordinal numbers after the 31st (thirty-first). It is quite rare. For this reason, I am not going to teach the ordinal numbers after the 31st (thirty-first) in this lesson.

To finish this lesson, we’re going to look at age and numbers from 30 (thirty) to 100 (one hundred).

First, listen to these sentences about age:

I am 52 years old. I am a 52-year-old man. I am 52 years of age. My age is 52.

My daughter, Ruth, is 25 years old. She is a 25-year-old woman. She is 25 years of age. Her age is 25.

What does ‘age’ mean? Well, ‘age’ is the number of years a person has been alive. When we want to know a person’s age in English, we ask the question ‘How old are you?’ This means ‘What is your age?’

Now, you must be careful with the question ‘How old are you?’ Sometimes, it is not good to ask a person the question, ‘How old are you?’ It can be a little rude. The word ‘rude’ means ‘not polite’ or ‘not acceptable’. Some people don’t like to say their age. This means that some people don’t want to say how old they are.

Listen to this long-form conversation.

Hello, my name is Rob and I am 24 years old. What is your name and how old are you?

My name is Paul and I am 21 years old. My birthday is on the 9th (ninth) of July. When is your birthday, Rob?

My birthday is on the 30th (thirtieth) of April.

Now listen to this short-form conversation.

Hi, I’m Rob and I’m 24. What’s your name and how old are you?

I’m Paul and I’m 21. My birthday’s on the 9th (ninth) of July. When’s your birthday, Rob?

My birthday’s on the 30th (thirtieth) of April.

Remember that when people talk, they normally use the short forms.

Listen to the numbers from 30 (thirty) to 100 (one hundred):

30 (thirty), 31 (thirty-one), 32 (thirty-two), 33 (thirty-three), 34 (thirty-four), 35 (thirty-five), 36 (thirty-six), 37 (thirty-seven), 38 (thirty-eight), 39 (thirty-nine), 40 (forty), 41 (forty-one), 42 (forty-two), 43 (forty-three), 44 (forty-four), 45 (forty-five), 46 (forty-six), 47 (forty-seven), 48 (forty-eight), 49 (forty-nine), 50 (fifty), 51 (fifty-one), 52 (fifty-two), 53 (fifty-three), 54 (fifty-four), 55 (fifty-five), 56 (fifty-six), 57 (fifty-seven), 58 (fifty-eight), 59 (fifty-nine), 60 (sixty), 61 (sixty-one), 62 (sixty-two), 63 (sixty-three), 64 (sixty-four), 65 (sixty-five), 66 (sixty-six), 67 (sixty-seven), 68 (sixty-eight), 69 (sixty-nine), 70 (seventy), 71 (seventy-one), 72 (seventy-two), 73 (seventy-three), 74 (seventy-four), 75 (seventy-five), 76 (seventy-six), 77 (seventy-seven), 78 (seventy-eight), 79 (seventy-nine), 80 (eighty), 81 (eighty-one), 82 (eighty-two), 83 (eighty-three), 84 (eighty-four), 85 (eighty-five), 86 (eighty-six), 87 (eighty-seven), 88 (eighty-eight), 89 (eighty-nine), 90 (ninety), 91 (ninety-one), 92 (ninety-two), 93 (ninety-three), 94 (ninety-four), 95 (ninety-five), 96 (ninety-six), 97 (ninety-seven), 98 (ninety-eight), 99 (ninety-nine), 100 (one hundred).

Finally, listen to these phrases:

My mum is 99 (ninety-nine). She’s very old! Next year, she will be 100 (one hundred).

Are you 45 (forty-five) years old?

No, I’m 46 (forty-six). How about you? How old are you?

I’m 39 (thirty-nine).

Sometimes, people do not say ‘years old’. So, it is possible to say ‘I’m 46 (forty-six) years old’ or, simply, ‘I’m 46 (forty-six)’.

This is the end of the lesson. Thank you for listening. Please go to linguacade.com to get the free transcripts for all my lessons. If you enjoy my content and want to improve your English even faster, please subscribe to the Linguacade Deep Dives on Patreon. Every Deep Dive episode explains the special words and phrases highlighted in bold in your free transcripts and subscribers get access to all Deep Dive episodes and transcripts for all levels. I’ll see you there.