Thirteen or Thirty? Number stress

Objective & content

This Sound Check video (about 3 minutes 30) fixes the stress in the numbers 13 to 19 and the tens. The rule: numbers ending in -teen have the stress at the end (thirTEEN, fourTEEN); numbers ending in -ty have it at the front (THIRty, FORty). Freya (British) and Cody (American) show why it matters: with the wrong stress you say a different number, for example thirteen dollars or thirty dollars. Students repeat the pairs and three short sentences, such as I'm thirTEEN years old, then play a three-round game: is it teen or ty?

Pedagogical guide

The mistake depends on the first language. Most learners stress the front of both numbers: thirty is right, and thirteen sounds like thirty. This is the usual pattern for German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese speakers. French speakers stress the end of a word, so for them thirty is the one that goes wrong. Polish speakers make either mistake. Both hosts put the stress in the same place: there is no British or American difference to explain here.

Suggested procedure

1. Before (2 min). Write thirteen and thirty on the board. Ask students to say both.
2. Watch (5 min). Play the video once. Students repeat aloud at "Say them with me" and at "Now a sentence, with me".
3. Game (3 min). Play the game again. Pause after the host says "Listen..." and the number, before the other host answers. The class votes: teen or ty?
4. After (3 min). In pairs, one student says fourteen or forty, sixteen or sixty. The partner says which number.

Materials & prerequisites

• The video, a screen and sound for the whole class.
• The numbers are at about A1- level.

Assessment & extensions

Say fifteen, eighty, seventeen, forty and nineteen in random order. Students write the number as digits.