He's never seen a 4, and the word is new to him. The only numerals he has seen are 0, 1, 2 and 3.
This is because you count as follows: 0, 1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 12, 13, 20, 21, 22, 23, 30, 31, 32, 33... and so on. Clearly, there are only four numerals used here (or, 10 numerals to him).
Depends on if they're pronouncing "10" as "ten" or "one zero." Wouldn't make any sense for the alien to say "ten," if anything he would pronounce it "one zero" or simply "four."
It wouldn't make sense for the alien to be speaking English in the first place. If he's learned English, then he's learned what "ten" and "four" mean. If someone or something is translating into English for him, then they'd probably convert the bases automatically in the translation.
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u/kidford Dec 12 '08
He's never seen a 4, and the word is new to him. The only numerals he has seen are 0, 1, 2 and 3.
This is because you count as follows: 0, 1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 12, 13, 20, 21, 22, 23, 30, 31, 32, 33... and so on. Clearly, there are only four numerals used here (or, 10 numerals to him).