Meaning & use
thirteen
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Meanings
number
The number 13; the number after twelve and before fourteen.
Grammar: Used as a cardinal number before nouns: 'thirteen people'.
Patterns
- thirteen of something
- thirteen years old
She has thirteen cats.
There are thirteen students in the class.
He turned thirteen last week.
nouncountable
The number 13; a group of thirteen people or things.
Grammar: Usually singular when referring to the number itself: 'Thirteen is unlucky for some.'
Patterns
- a thirteen
- the thirteen of us
Thirteen is considered an unlucky number in some cultures.
The thirteen of us shared a taxi.
Common combinations
- thirteen years old
- My sister is thirteen years old.
- thirteen hundred
- The car costs thirteen hundred dollars.
- Friday the thirteenth
- Some people are superstitious about Friday the thirteenth.
Word family
- thirteenth adjective
- Coming after the twelfth; the ordinal number for 13.
Commonly confused: thirteen or thirty?
thirteen vs thirty
'Thirteen' is 13; 'thirty' is 30. The ending -teen vs -ty is the key difference.
Practice
How do you write the number 13 in words?
Choose one answer.
The correct spelling is 'thirteen'. 'Threeteen' and 'thirten' are misspellings, and 'thirty' means 30.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “thirteen”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.