Approximate Numbers in -ина
Approximate Numbers
Десет means ten; десетина means about ten. The ending -ина works on round numbers: десетина души (about ten people), стотина метра (about a hundred metres).
How It Works
1. The ending -ина. Add -ина to ten, the teens, the tens and a hundred:
- десет → десетина (about ten)
- петнайсет → петнайсетина (about fifteen)
- двайсет → двайсетина, also двадесетина (about twenty)
- трийсет → трийсетина, also тридесетина (about thirty)
- сто → стотина (about a hundred)
Small numbers do not take -ина, so say около пет instead. Careful: седмина and осмина are not approximate. They are numbers for groups of men (seven men, eight men).
2. The noun after it. Treat десетина like a number: десетина минути, двайсетина години. Masculine nouns for things take the count form: стотина метра, десетина дни, трийсетина лева. For people, души is the usual word: десетина души (about ten people).
3. With the article. These words end in -а, so they take -та when they come first: Десетината гости, които дойдоха, останаха до късно. (The ten or so guests who came stayed late.) When an adjective comes first, it carries the article instead: последните стотина метра (the last hundred metres or so).
4. Other ways to be approximate.
- Около or към before a number: около петстотин души, към осем часа (around eight o'clock).
- Two numbers joined by a hyphen: два-три дни (two or three days), пет-шест души.
- A combination of both: десетина-петнайсет минути (ten to fifteen minutes).
- Plural nouns for large amounts: десетки (dozens, tens of), стотици (hundreds of), хиляди (thousands of), as in стотици хора.
Examples (6)
- На срещата дойдоха десетина души.
About ten people came to the meeting.
Души is the usual word for counting people.
- До спирката има стотина метра.
It's about a hundred metres to the stop.
Метра is the count form of метър.
- Ще се върна след петнайсетина минути.
I'll be back in about fifteen minutes.
Петнайсетина means about fifteen.
- Тя е на трийсетина години.
She is about thirty.
A common way to guess someone's age.
- Останахме там два-три дни.
We stayed there two or three days.
Two numbers with a hyphen give a range.
- Десетината гости, които дойдоха, останаха до късно.
The ten or so guests who came stayed late.
Десетина comes first, so it takes the article -та.
Common Mistakes
Using the ordinary plural instead of the count form.
Вървяхме стотина метри.Вървяхме стотина метра.After an approximate number, as after any number, a masculine noun for a thing takes the count form: метра, not метри.
Mistaking седмина or осмина for an approximate number.
На срещата дойдоха седмина жени.На срещата дойдоха около седем жени.Седмина counts a group of men or a mixed group; it is not approximate and does not go with жени. To say about seven, use около седем.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Approximate numbers need numbers.
Related Patterns
- околоAround and About with Около
Another way to say about with a number.
Level 2 - двама/тримаNumbers for Groups of Men
Седмина and осмина look similar but count groups of men.
Level 2 - хиляда / милионLarge Numbers
Хиляди and стотици express large, rough amounts.
Level 3 - Quantities Without Of
Like a quantity word, десетина goes straight before the noun with no word for of.
Level 2
Words in This Pattern
Practice Approximate Numbers in -ина in Bubblegum
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