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How Do You Count?

Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 7:27 pm
by Slava
Here's an interesting book excerpt from Slate.com:

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/the_ ... ingle.html

I wonder if the book itself touches upon the use of gender and declension in number words?

Re: How Do You Count?

Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 8:57 pm
by gailr
Quite an interesting read, Slava.

Re: How Do You Count?

Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 9:33 pm
by Slava
Thanks, gailr.

My thoughts on gender and declension are from my experience with Russian. It has a plural for one, and all the numeric adjectives decline by gender.

A simple example: one "kniga"(book), 2,3,4 "knigi", 5 knig. The pattern continues throughout. Any number that ends in the word one uses that ending. 2,3,4, the same. Everything else, like 5.

As they are digits, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen don't count. It has to be the word; twenty-one kniga, thirty-two knigi, etc.