How do you say 1/1024th [closed]
Is there such a fraction in English as: "1/1024th" and if so, how is it pronounced? I can't image we say: "One thousand and twenty fourth" Maybe the correct way is to write it without the "th" and say something like: "a probability of one divided by one thousand and twenty four".
Solution 1:
Notice there's a general difference between BrE and AmE in speaking numbers, specifically with saying the word "and":
In American English, many students are taught not to use the word and anywhere in the whole part of a number, so it is not used before the tens and ones. It is instead used as a verbal delimiter when dealing with compound numbers. Thus, instead of "three hundred and seventy-three," "three hundred seventy-three" would be said. Despite this rule, some Americans use the and in reading numbers containing tens and ones as an alternative variant. English numerals
You can also see some comparisons at mathisfun.com
US
1,101 one thousand, one hundred one
UK
one thousand, one hundred and one
US
15,016 fifteen thousand, sixteen
UK
fifteen thousand, and sixteen
(No hundreds? Don't write them! but the and is still needed in the UK)
It should really say BrE instead of UK, because the "and" is used more widely across the world than just the UK.
When reading a fraction the first number (numerator) is stated as a cardinal number, one, two, twenty-seven.
The second number (denominator) can be stated as either a cardinal number or an ordinal number. Here are a number of alternatives (don't forget the "and" difference between BrE and AmE generally)
1/1024 or 1/1024th (assuming this notation even makes sense, which I'm not sure it does) can be said (and this is not exhaustive):
- One one thousand and twenty fourth - ordinal
- One in one thousand and twenty four - cardinal
- One part in one thousand and twenty four - cardinal
- One over one thousand and twenty four - cardinal
If you are talking probability you'll probably want to go for the second one.
- The probability of that is one in one thousand and twenty four
You can also say:
- That has a one one thousand and twenty fourth chance of happening
just as you'd say:
- That has a one twelfth chance of happening.
However I think the "[cardinal] in [cardinal]" construction would be more ideal and clear.
Statements where very large numbers are stated as ordinals can be unnecessarily more difficult to say.
- 128/5,353,958
One hundred and twenty-eight (five million three hundred and fifty three thousand, nine hundred and fifty eighths).
Again, don't forget the "and" difference, and notice the:
-th suffix
Used to form ordinal numbers: millionth.
American Heritage Dictionary
Only appears on the last number.
Solution 2:
I believe that the way you would approach the pronunciation of such a fraction would depend on the context in which it was being used.
If used purely as a fraction in a Mathematical context, "one one-thousand-and-twenty-fourth" would be appropriate. Unfortunately, the denominator is rather long and the expression may sound confusing.
So I would suggest you express the fraction like so:
one over one-thousand-and-twenty-four
With the "over" indicating that division is the mode of mathematical operation being used.
Alternatively, if the fraction was being used as odds in the context of Probability, you could express it as:
one in one-thousand-and-twenty-four
or as a percentage:
0.0977% (rounded to 3 significant figures)
If expressing an exact value is not necessary, you could round the denominator to a thousand. Thus becoming:
approximately one one-thousandth