Meaning & use
13
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Meanings
number
The whole number that comes after twelve and before fourteen.
Grammar: Used as a cardinal number to count or quantify.
Patterns
- thirteen + plural noun
There are thirteen students in the class.
She celebrated her thirteenth birthday last week.
The house has thirteen windows.
number
Often considered unlucky in Western culture.
Grammar: Used as a noun or adjective when referring to the superstition.
Patterns
- thirteen is unlucky
Many people think thirteen is an unlucky number.
Some buildings skip the thirteenth floor.
He refused to sit at a table with thirteen people.
Common combinations
- thirteen years old
- My brother is thirteen years old.
- the thirteenth of the month
- Her birthday is on the thirteenth of June.
- Friday the thirteenth
- Some people stay home on Friday the thirteenth.
Synonyms and how they differ
- a baker's dozen
- Means thirteen items, especially in the context of buying baked goods; it is informal and not a direct synonym for the number itself.
Word family
- thirteen number
- The cardinal number 13.
- thirteenth adjective
- Coming after the twelfth and before the fourteenth.
Commonly confused: 13 or thirty?
13 vs thirty
Thirty is 30, while thirteen is 13. They sound similar but have different stress: thirteen is stressed on the second syllable, thirty on the first.
Practice
Which sentence uses '13' correctly?
Choose one answer.
13 is the age after 12, so 'She is 13 years old' is correct. A year has 12 months, the 13th floor is often considered unlucky, and 13 is odd, not even.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “13”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.