Question
kasumi-09
21 January

  • Japanese
  • Simplified Chinese (China)
  • English (US)
  • French (France)
Question about English (US)

I'd like to know how to read this number. Three-nine?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Central_...
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kasumi-09
21 January

  • Japanese
@henryHigg Ah, thank you. She pronounces nine, nine, nine.

In a Japanese classic anime a locomotive called "Three-Nine" appears. Is it correct in English to read the train plate that way?
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henryHigg
21 January

  • English (US)

I really don't know. It may be different in different countries.
I _think_ that they are normally said:- number, number, number.
124 = one two four, not = one hundred and twenty four.

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henryHigg
21 January

  • English (US)

@sterlingpkjm Thank you. Yes, obviously. But the question was specifically about train numbers which have this convention about the way the number is spoken.

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vaer
21 January

  • English (US)

@sterlingpkjm You can't ignore the context of questions and just jump straight to literal answers. Language is dynamic and unpredictable in ways that only context can clarify. Nobody would read that train number as "nine hundred ninety nine". Sounds hella awkward. Directing a non-native speaker to read it that way is doing them a disservice that will make them sound weird in real conversation later.

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cme4pif
21 January

  • English (US)

if you want to say three nines you can say.... Triple nine

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