Teenagers

Why are adolescents also called teenagers? Because they are the ages between thirteen and nineteen. Of course, they would like to think they are more mature than they are. They’re filled with hormones, so it’s not strange that they are confused. But just because teenagers dress more like adults nowadays, there’s no reason why you should confuse the two. You see, when you want to say the decades, you say the teens instead, or at least it sounds like you do. For example, you say fifteen instead, when you want to say fifty.

The key to avoiding confusion, is to emphasize the second syllable when referring to teens, making sure to pronounce the N at the end, and the first syllable when referring to decades.

Look at the two columns of teens and decades below. The underlined syllable is the one that gets emphasized. Try saying them, and then listening to the recording further below to check your pronunciation. Then try again!

teens                   decades   

thirteen (13)        thirty (30)

fourteen (14)       forty (40)  

fifteen (15)          fifty (50)

sixteen (16)         sixty (60) 

seventeen (17)    seventy (70) 

eighteen (18)       eighty (80) 

nineteen (19)       ninety (90)