9-1-1 and other numbers to know: phone numbers and prices in English

Q: How do you answer "How much is it?"

Start with It's and add the price , usually the short way: It's eighteen dollars. It's twelve fifty. The long form, twelve dollars and fifty cents , is just as correct. In 9-1-1 and other numbers to know , an A1 lesson on edio.ai, a dialogue at a phone store gives the price of a blue case both ways, one after the other.

Q: How do you say prices in English?

Read the dollars and the cents as two numbers : $2.75 is two seventy-five , $6.10 is six ten , and $19.99 is nineteen ninety-nine . In full, add the words: two dollars and seventy-five cents . Under a dollar, say only the cents, so 75¢ is seventy-five cents , and keep the -s for more than one: one dollar , but five dollars .

Q: How do you say phone numbers in English?

Digit by digit, with a short pause between groups . A US number has three groups, an area code, three digits and four digits, so (646) 555-0190 is six four six, five five five, oh one nine oh . Don't turn the groups into big numbers: six hundred forty-six or fifty-five five would only confuse the listener.

Q: How do you say an email address in English?

Say at for @ and dot for each period : kofi.mensah@example.com is kofi dot mensah at example dot com . Keep point for decimals like 3.14; in an email, it's always dot . To ask for one, say What's your email? , and answer with It's and the address, read slowly.

Q: Is it "nine one one" or "nine eleven"?

Nine one one , one digit at a time , the same way you read a phone number. Other short numbers work alike: New York City's line for problems like noise or parking, 3-1-1, is three one one . Keep 9-1-1 for fire, the police or an ambulance, and 3-1-1 for problems that aren't emergencies.

Q: Do you say "oh" or "zero" in a phone number?

Both are correct, so use either one : 555-0100 can be five five five, oh one oh oh or five five five, zero one zero zero . In 9-1-1 and other numbers to know on edio.ai, the two friends at the phone store show the choice: one reads oh one six three , the other zero one one eight .

Q: When do you use "How much is" and "How much are"?

Use is for one thing and are for more : How much is a large pizza? How much are the sodas? The answer makes the same choice, with It's for one and They're for more: They're two dollars each. Check the noun first: sodas ends in -s, so the verb is are , and How much is the sodas? is wrong.

Q: How do I teach phone numbers and prices to beginners?

Teach them through a contact list and price tags , where learners really meet them. The A1 lesson 9-1-1 and other numbers to know on edio.ai builds on a fridge note of the house's numbers and a phone-store dialogue where two friends swap numbers and read a price tag. The scheme and drills come next, with prices short and long and is or are , and pairs finish by swapping made-up contact details.

Q: What's a good game for practicing phone numbers?

Swap pretend contact details from role cards : one student reads a number aloud, and the partner writes it down and reads it back. In 9-1-1 and other numbers to know on edio.ai, an open-the-box game hands out roles with cell numbers like (212) 555-0151 and emails at example.com, plus prices to say, such as $4.50 and 75¢, and a quick choice between 9-1-1 and 3-1-1.

An A1 ESL lesson plan for saying phone numbers and prices in English, from 9-1-1 to How much is it?

Grammar: Phone numbers said one number at a time (nine one seven, five five five…), emails with at and dot, dollars and cents, and How much is…? or How much are…?
Topic: Numbers to know in the US, from 9-1-1 and New York's 3-1-1 to a phone store, with words like emergency, operator, ambulance and price.
Activities: Students read a fridge note, hear a phone-store dialogue and a voicemail, do self-checking drills such as a price table, order a pizza by chat, swap pretend contact details and record a voicemail.

What's inside

Chapter 1Ring, ring!
- PictureUnlock
- Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
- Study the new wordsVocabularyTry it
- Look at the pictures and choose the right wordChoose by pictureUnlock
Chapter 2Let's read: numbers on the fridge
- Look at the photo: a red phonePictureUnlock
- Read the note on the fridgeReal-life documentTry it
- Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
- Read again and choose the right answerQuizUnlock
Chapter 3Let's listen: what's your number?
- Listen to Mia and Kofi at a phone storeListeningTry it
- Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
- Listen and choose the right answerQuizUnlock
- Listen to a voicemail from Big Slice PizzaListeningUnlock
- Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
- Listen to Gina and choose the right answerChoose the optionUnlock
Chapter 4Grammar: five five five, four fifty
- Study the scheme: phone numbers and pricesGrammar schemeTry it
- Choose the right wordsChoose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the table: say the pricesFill in the tableTry it
- Fill in the gaps. Use the word after the gap.Fill in the gapsUnlock
- Drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
Chapter 5Let's talk: swap numbers
- Choose the right repliesChatTry it
- Open a box and swap contact detailsOpen the boxUnlock
Chapter 6Homework
- Choose the right answer: how do you say it?QuizUnlock
- Match the words and their meaningsMatchUnlock
- Record a voicemail with your contact detailsSpeaking, checked by the teacherUnlock

Vocabulary

10 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+7 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

emergency
ambulance
fire truck
police car
operator
help
need

Grammar: saying phone numbers, emails and prices

Phone numbers and prices are the first numbers beginners need, and a note in a shared kitchen is full of them: 9-1-1, the roommates' cells, the pizza place. Learners say every number on its own, read emails with at and dot, and ask How much is it?, with answers in dollars and cents.

Say phone numbers and prices

Phone numbers: one number at a time, in three groups. Prices: dollars and cents.

A phone number: three groups, one number at a time

A US number has an area code, then three numbers, then four. Each number is said on its own, with a short stop after each group: nine one seven, five five five, oh one six three. For 0, oh and zero are both fine.

A US phone number: three groups

Group	Example	Say
the area code: 3 numbers	(917)	nine one seven
3 numbers	555	five five five
4 numbers	0163	oh one six three

One number at a time

Say every number, and make a short stop after each group: nine one seven … five five five … oh one six three. For 0, say oh or zero. Both are fine!

9-1-1 is nine one one

Short numbers follow the same rule: 9-1-1 is nine one one, not nine eleven, for fire, police and ambulances. New York's 3-1-1, the number for city problems, is three one one.

9-1-1nine one one: fire, police, ambulance
3-1-1three one one: city problems in New York
555-0100five five five, oh one oh oh (or zero one zero zero)

Emails: at and dot

In an email address, @ is at and the period is dot, not point: mia dot turner at example dot com. Learners swap details with What's your phone number? and What's your email?

Emails

@ = at
. = dot
mia.turner@example.com = mia dot turner at example dot com

Swap contact details

What's your phone number? It's nine one seven, five five five, oh one six three.
What's your email? It's mia dot turner at example dot com.
I need your number. Is it new?

Prices: dollars and cents, short and long

It's one dollar, but five dollars and fifty cents: both words take -s for more than one. Most prices are said the short way, four fifty for $4.50, or in full: four dollars and fifty cents.

Price	Say
$1	one dollar
$5	five dollars
50¢	fifty cents
$4.50	four fifty or four dollars and fifty cents
$1.50	one fifty or one dollar and fifty cents
$19.99	nineteen ninety-nine or nineteen dollars and ninety-nine cents

How much is…? How much are…?

In a price question, the verb matches what you ask about: is for one thing, are for two or more. How much is the phone case? It's twelve fifty. How much are the sodas? They're two dollars.

One thing: is, it's

How much is the phone case?
It's twelve fifty.

Two or more: are, they're

How much are the sodas?
They're two dollars.

Common mistakes

Emergency? Call nine eleven!
Emergency? Call nine one one!
9-1-1 = nine one one
How much is the sodas?
How much are the sodas?
two or more sodas → are
It's five dollar.
It's five dollars.
two or more → dollars, cents
mia point turner
mia dot turner
in an email, . = dot

Try the phone numbers and prices exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

What's in the lesson

12 auto-checked exercises
2 games
1 teacher-checked task
1 real-life document
1 grammar scheme
1 set of word cards
2 audio clips
2 pictures
2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

say a US phone number in three groups, one number at a time: nine one seven, five five five, oh one six three
tell 9-1-1, for emergencies, from 3-1-1, for city problems in New York
read an email address aloud with at and dot: mia dot turner at example dot com
say prices in dollars and cents, the short way or in full: $4.50 is four fifty
ask and answer about prices: How much are the sodas? They're two dollars.

Lesson 11 is the third lesson in Numbers all around, a unit of English A1.1 · Hello, World. It builds on lesson 9's numbers to 100, now in prices like nineteen ninety-nine, and on lesson 10's plurals, which decide between How much is…? and How much are…? Lesson 12 then reviews the whole unit. US phone numbers start with a three-number area code, so students say them in three groups.

The warm-up is a spin wheel of questions about phones and prices, ten word cards from cell phone to operator with pictures and audio, and a picture task with a fire truck, an ambulance and a police car. Students read Emma's fridge note on 9-1-1, 3-1-1 and the house's numbers, then answer true-or-false and multiple-choice questions. They listen to Mia and Kofi at a phone store (an AI-voiced dialogue) and to Gina's voicemail from Big Slice Pizza, catching the numbers and prices. The grammar chapter has the scheme and four exercises, including a table of prices said short and long, each checked as students answer. In the speaking chapter, students order a pizza as Mia in a chat, then open boxes to swap contact details.

Homework is a quiz on saying numbers, prices and an email, a match of words and meanings, and a voicemail for a new friend with a pretend number and email and the price of a pizza where the student lives. The voicemail goes to the teacher to check.

Grammar:: saying phone numbers · emails · prices in dollars · How much is/are…?
Topic:: phone numbers · emergency numbers · 9-1-1 · prices

Teaching tips

Start from the wheel's emergency question: ask what number students call where they live, then compare it with 9-1-1 before the reading.
Dictate the house's numbers from the fridge note one group at a time, with a pause after each, and let students check their answers against the note.
Play Gina's voicemail with pens ready: students write down every price and her number before they see the questions.
Set up a pretend shop with things from your desk and price tags, and have students ask How much is…? and How much are…? and answer the short way.
Keep every swapped number in the 555-01 range, as the lesson does, so nobody shares a real phone number or email in class.

Liked it?

Teach the whole lesson in edio

24 exercises in 6 chapters, ready to teach. edio is an online platform for language schools and teachers: ready-made interactive lessons, live classes, homework and student progress in one place.

Start a free trial
7 days, no credit card.
Open the lesson
Find it in the library of 621 ready lessons. Teach it as it is, or copy any chapter into your own lessons.
Teach it live or as homework
Students work in their own accounts, in sync with you during the lesson, and the practice exercises check themselves.

Teach it free for 7 days

The whole course: English A1.1 · Hello, World

32 lessons for complete beginners in simple American English, from the verb to be to can and can't. Eight units cover greetings, family, numbers, home, food, daily routines, the town and free time, and each ends with a review lesson. Pictures and definitions replace translations, and the practice exercises check themselves.See the course

Unit 1 Hello!
greetings, the verb to be, countries and nationalities, yes/no questions
Unit 2 My people
family members, possessive adjectives, have got, describing people
Unit 3 Numbers all around
numbers and dates, a/an and plurals, phone numbers and prices
1. Lesson 9Why is March 14 Pi Day?Numbers 0 to 100, decimals and US dates
2. Lesson 10How old is the General Sherman tree?A, an and plurals, with big numbers and How old…?
3. Lesson 11 · you're here9-1-1 and other numbers to knowSaying phone numbers, emails and prices
4. Lesson 12Review: 102 floors and 1,860 stepsNumbers, dates, ages and prices, reviewed
Unit 4 Home sweet home
rooms in a house, this, that, these and those, furniture, opposites
Unit 5 Food I love
likes and dislikes, present simple questions, ordering food
Unit 6 My day
telling the time, daily routines, days of the week, prepositions of time
Unit 7 My town
places in town, prepositions of place, giving directions
Unit 8 Free time
hobbies, can and can't, sports, making plans

Questions about this lesson

How do you answer "How much is it?"

Start with It's and add the price, usually the short way: It's eighteen dollars. It's twelve fifty. The long form, twelve dollars and fifty cents, is just as correct. In 9-1-1 and other numbers to know, an A1 lesson on edio.ai, a dialogue at a phone store gives the price of a blue case both ways, one after the other.

How do you say prices in English?

Read the dollars and the cents as two numbers: $2.75 is two seventy-five, $6.10 is six ten, and $19.99 is nineteen ninety-nine. In full, add the words: two dollars and seventy-five cents. Under a dollar, say only the cents, so 75¢ is seventy-five cents, and keep the -s for more than one: one dollar, but five dollars.

How do you say phone numbers in English?

Digit by digit, with a short pause between groups. A US number has three groups, an area code, three digits and four digits, so (646) 555-0190 is six four six, five five five, oh one nine oh. Don't turn the groups into big numbers: six hundred forty-six or fifty-five five would only confuse the listener.

How do you say an email address in English?

Say at for @ and dot for each period: kofi.mensah@example.com is kofi dot mensah at example dot com. Keep point for decimals like 3.14; in an email, it's always dot. To ask for one, say What's your email?, and answer with It's and the address, read slowly.

Is it "nine one one" or "nine eleven"?

Nine one one, one digit at a time, the same way you read a phone number. Other short numbers work alike: New York City's line for problems like noise or parking, 3-1-1, is three one one. Keep 9-1-1 for fire, the police or an ambulance, and 3-1-1 for problems that aren't emergencies.

Do you say "oh" or "zero" in a phone number?

Both are correct, so use either one: 555-0100 can be five five five, oh one oh oh or five five five, zero one zero zero. In 9-1-1 and other numbers to know on edio.ai, the two friends at the phone store show the choice: one reads oh one six three, the other zero one one eight.

When do you use "How much is" and "How much are"?

Use is for one thing and are for more: How much is a large pizza? How much are the sodas? The answer makes the same choice, with It's for one and They're for more: They're two dollars each. Check the noun first: sodas ends in -s, so the verb is are, and How much is the sodas? is wrong.

What do you say when you call 9-1-1?

Tell the operator what happened, the address and your number, slowly and clearly: There's a fire. I need an ambulance. Then stay on the line until the operator says you can hang up. In the US, 9-1-1 is only for emergencies, like a fire or a person who can't breathe, and never for the time or a phone number.

How do I teach phone numbers and prices to beginners?

Teach them through a contact list and price tags, where learners really meet them. The A1 lesson 9-1-1 and other numbers to know on edio.ai builds on a fridge note of the house's numbers and a phone-store dialogue where two friends swap numbers and read a price tag. The scheme and drills come next, with prices short and long and is or are, and pairs finish by swapping made-up contact details.

What's a good game for practicing phone numbers?

Swap pretend contact details from role cards: one student reads a number aloud, and the partner writes it down and reads it back. In 9-1-1 and other numbers to know on edio.ai, an open-the-box game hands out roles with cell numbers like (212) 555-0151 and emails at example.com, plus prices to say, such as $4.50 and 75¢, and a quick choice between 9-1-1 and 3-1-1.

What's good homework for practicing phone numbers and prices?

A recorded voicemail with made-up contact details works well, because every digit and price has to be said aloud. The homework in 9-1-1 and other numbers to know on edio.ai adds a self-checking quiz on reading 9-1-1, $12.99 and an email, and a word match. The voicemail is for a new friend: a name, a 555 number, an email at example.com and the price of a pizza where the student lives, for the teacher to check.

Are there interactive exercises for phone numbers and prices?

Yes: self-checking tables and chats mark each answer instantly. Anyone can try four parts of 9-1-1 and other numbers to know on its edio.ai page, no account needed: the note on the fridge, the dialogue at a phone store, a table where students write prices the short and the long way, like four dollars and fifty cents, and a chat where they order a pizza. Everything else in the lesson needs an account.

Unlock full lesson

About this lesson

What's inside

Vocabulary

Grammar: saying phone numbers, emails and prices

A phone number: three groups, one number at a time

A US phone number: three groups

9-1-1 is nine one one

Emails: at and dot

Emails

Swap contact details

Prices: dollars and cents, short and long

How much is…? How much are…?

Common mistakes

Try the phone numbers and prices exercises

What's in the lesson

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

Teaching tips

Teach the whole lesson in edio

Start a free trial

Open the lesson

Teach it live or as homework

The whole course: English A1.1 · Hello, World

Unit 1 Hello!

Unit 2 My people

Unit 3 Numbers all around

Unit 4 Home sweet home

Unit 5 Food I love

Unit 6 My day

Unit 7 My town

Unit 8 Free time

Questions about this lesson

Teach this lesson with your students