111
Approximate numerals and their formation
Textbook: pp. 165–166
GoalForm and write approximate numerals.
New words
approximate numeral · chama son-tacha (about) · -tacha-lab (dozens, scores of) · -lab
Explanation
Numerals that show a quantity by estimate are approximate numerals. They are made with -tacha, -lab, -larcha: o‘ntacha (about ten), yigirmatacha (about twenty); o‘nlab (dozens), yuzlab (hundreds), minglab (thousands); o‘nlarcha, yuzlarcha (some tens, some hundreds). Approximation is also expressed by pairing numerals: ikki-uch (two or three), besh-olti, o‘n-o‘n besh (ten to fifteen). Such pairs are written with a hyphen. The suffixes are joined to the numeral. -lab (o‘nlab, yuzlab) shows an inexact but large quantity.
Worked examples
There are about ten trees in the garden.
Hundreds of people gathered in the square.
Class activity
“Estimate”: estimate the beans in a jar (o‘ntacha, yigirmatacha...) and then count to check.
Practice
1
What does an approximate numeral show?
A quantity roughly, not exactly.
2
Form with -lab: yuz, ming, o‘n.
Yuzlab, minglab, o‘nlab.
3
Write correctly the approximate pairs: ikki uch, o‘n o‘nbesh.
Ikki-uch; o‘n-o‘n besh: with a hyphen.
4
Why is yuzlab odam not an exact number?
Because -lab shows an inexact, large quantity of hundreds.