Is there a standard for speaking "1500" as "one thousand five hundred" versus "fifteen hundred"?
I was asked by a French colleague, and had no clear answer, whether it's more correct to say "One thousand five hundred" or "fifteen hundred" when speaking the number 1500. Putting aside how we say dates, which have their own formula.
After some thought, my best answer was I tended to say "fifteen hundred" when dealing with abstract things ("fifteen hundred dollars") that I tend to think of as a unit (when I think of $1500, I think of that sum, not of 1500 individual dollar bills), but "one thousand five hundred" when dealing with countable objects, like "there are one thousand five hundred marbles in the box."
I was wondering if there was a standard or guidance documents, possibly for broadcast, that would provide some sort of structured answer to the question.
One thousand five hundred is the way we speak numbers in "standard form." You need to use this style in formal situations and situations where clarity is required. For example, when children are learning to read numbers you always say the number in standard form so that they understand the value. If you are giving a business report or discussing scientific findings you need to say the numbers in standard form. Fifteen hundred is the equivalent of saying "hi" instead of "hello." It is accepted and understood but only appropriate in certain situations.
