Know Your English (Aug 2001)

Know your English

Can we say 7 into 20 is 140?

This is the standard practice in India. When we want to multiply, we say one of the following: multiply, into, or times. Native speakers of English, on the other hand, tend to use either "multiply" or "times". For example, a native speaker might say, "Three hundred and twenty times twenty is six thousand four hundred" He may also say, "Three hundred and twenty times twenty makes six thousand four hundred". For a simple sum like the one that you have given, the native speaker would say, "Seven twenties are one hundred and forty". Notice that it isn't "is", but "are". Two fives are ten. Three tens are thirty.
The word "into" is normally reserved for division and not multiplication. For a native speaker, ten "into" one hundred and twenty would mean one hundred twenty divided by ten. The answer in this case is twelve. But for many Indians the answer would be one thousand two hundred - because we tend to associate "into" with multiplication.


Source:
The Hindu daily, Tuesday, August 14, 2001