Meaning & use
skip counting
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountable
A way of counting forward or backward by a number greater than one, such as by twos or fives.
Grammar: Uncountable; used without 'a' or a plural: 'Skip counting helps with multiplication.'
Patterns
- skip counting by twos
- skip counting by fives
- practice skip counting
The children practiced skip counting by twos up to twenty.
Skip counting by fives is a quick way to count nickels.
She used skip counting to add the numbers faster.
Common combinations
- skip counting by twos
- We did skip counting by twos to learn even numbers.
- skip counting by fives
- Skip counting by fives helps when telling time.
- practice skip counting
- The teacher asked us to practice skip counting at home.
- skip counting backward
- Skip counting backward from twenty is a good warm-up.
Word family
- skip count verb
- To count in jumps of a given number.
Commonly confused: skip counting or counting?
skip counting vs counting
Counting usually means saying numbers one by one; skip counting jumps over some numbers.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'skip counting' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Skip counting' is an uncountable noun, so it works as the object of 'practiced' in the correct sentence. The other options use it as a verb, which is not standard.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “skip counting”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.