Meaning & use
fourteen
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Meanings
number
The number 14, coming after thirteen and before fifteen.
Grammar: Used before a plural noun: fourteen students; it can also stand alone: I have fourteen.
Patterns
- fourteen + plural noun
- fourteen of + plural noun
- the fourteen of us
My sister is fourteen years old.
There were fourteen people waiting for the bus.
She counted fourteen chairs in the room.
nouncountable
A team, group, or set that contains fourteen members or items.
Grammar: Usually written as a word, not a figure, in ordinary prose, unlike scores and dates.
Patterns
- a fourteen
- the fourteen
The rugby fourteen played well in the second half.
He bought a fourteen of these small tiles.
Word forms
| ordinal | fourteenth |
|---|
Common combinations
- fourteen years old
- My cousin is fourteen years old.
- fourteen hundred
- The ticket cost fourteen hundred dollars.
- at the age of fourteen
- She started playing the violin at the age of fourteen.
- fourteen days
- You have fourteen days to return the item.
- one in fourteen
- About one in fourteen adults reported the same problem.
Synonyms and how they differ
- XIV
- The Roman numeral for fourteen, used on clocks, chapter headings, and formal lists rather than in normal sentences.
Word family
Commonly confused: fourteen or forty? fourteen or fourteenth?
fourteen vs forty
Forty is 40, while fourteen is 14; also note that forty has no letter u, unlike four.
fourteen vs fourteenth
Fourteenth is the position in a series (the fourteenth day), while fourteen is simply the quantity.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence.
Choose one answer.
When giving someone's age, English uses 'be + number + years old': She is fourteen years old. The other options either drop 'old' or use the wrong verb pattern.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “fourteen”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.