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Platform 9 3/4 read as

Forums: English, Esl, Grammar, Pronunciation
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oristarA
 
Reply Tue 29 Nov, 2011 10:42 pm
Platform 9 3/4 read as "Platform nine and three quarters" or "Platform nine and three fourths?"

Why and why not?
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Type: Question • Score: 0 • Views: 6,184 • Replies: 7
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contrex
 
  1  
Reply Wed 30 Nov, 2011 01:09 am
JK Rowling is English; The "Harry Potter" books are set in England; Kings Cross Station is in London; London is in England.

We say "Nine and three quarters" in England.
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Lustig Andrei
 
  1  
Reply Wed 30 Nov, 2011 01:24 am
@oristarA,
Nine and three-fourths is not incorrect but it's not common useage. Nine and three-quarters is the way most native English-speakers would say it.
oristarA
 
  1  
Reply Wed 30 Nov, 2011 02:32 am
Thank you both.
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contrex
 
  1  
Reply Wed 30 Nov, 2011 12:56 pm
@Lustig Andrei,
Lustig Andrei wrote:

Nine and three-fourths is not incorrect but it's not common useage. Nine and three-quarters is the way most native English-speakers would say it.


Fractions are spoken as ordinal numbers (third(s), fifth(s), sixth(s) etc) with two exceptions: 1/2 one (or a) half, likewise 1/4 and 3/4 are quarters (at least in UK English, I think "fourths" is used sometimes in US English) You wouldn't normally use 2/4 and 4/4 because they can be reduced to 1/2 and 1 respectively.
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oristarA
 
  1  
Reply Fri 28 Dec, 2012 10:13 pm
@Lustig Andrei,
contrex wrote:

JK Rowling is English; The "Harry Potter" books are set in England; Kings Cross Station is in London; London is in England.

We say "Nine and three quarters" in England.


Lustig Andrei wrote:

Nine and three-fourths is not incorrect but it's not common useage. Nine and three-quarters is the way most native English-speakers would say it.


In the film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, it sounds that Potter just pronounces it as Nine three-quarters. That is, "and" is omitted there.
engineer
 
  1  
Reply Fri 28 Dec, 2012 10:34 pm
@oristarA,
He may have barely pronounced the "and" as "-n" but it was probably there. Common usage is to use "and" to separate the whole number from the fraction.
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JTT
 
  1  
Reply Fri 28 Dec, 2012 10:44 pm
@oristarA,
Quote:
In the film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, it sounds that Potter just pronounces it as Nine three-quarters. That is, "and" is omitted there.


As E has noted, the 'and' is there, Ori. There are many instances in English where sounds are blended so much they almost go or do go unvoiced.

Listen again if you can. Listen for "ni nen three quarters".
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