twenty

Everyday

1. Twenty is the number 20. It is two tens. tree →
2. A twenty is a twenty-dollar or twenty-pound note. tree →

In the lessons

Maths: a number of things; twenty dollars as a note (change = 20 − cost); counting in twenties; 20 = 4 × 5. Everyday: ages (in her twenties), «twenty questions» game, twenty-twenty vision (perfect eyesight).

Examples

• She has twenty stickers. tree →
• He paid with a twenty-dollar bill. tree →
• Twenty children are in the class. tree →
• Twenty is four times five. tree →
• We have ten fingers and ten toes, twenty in all. tree →
• The bus comes every twenty minutes. tree →
• My aunt is in her twenties. tree →
• ‘I am fifteen, and she is twenty.’ tree →

Note

A number written in words; read it as 20. Twenty-one, twenty-two ... with a hyphen. «A twenty-dollar bill» is money paid, so change = 20 − cost. Trap: do not confuse twenty (20) with twelve (12).

In Jewish tradition

Twenty is often the age of adult men counted for the army or the census, and it appears in ages and gifts.

Interpretation. Tradition sees twenty as the age of responsibility for being counted and for the half-shekel given for each person.

Examples

• And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begot Terah. (Torah GEN.11.24, JPS 1917) tree →
• two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, (Torah GEN.32.14, JPS 1917) tree →
• And those that died by the plague were twenty and four thousand. (Torah NUM.25.9, JPS 1917) tree →
• And he judged Israel twenty years. (Prophets JDG.16.31, JPS 1917) tree →
• The children of Harim, three hundred and twenty. (Writings EZR.2.32, JPS 1917) tree →
• The children of Bebai, six hundred twenty and three. (Writings EZR.2.11, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

A number written in words; read it as 20. Twenty-one, twenty-two ... with a hyphen. «A twenty-dollar bill» is money paid, so change = 20 − cost. Trap: do not confuse twenty (20) with twelve (12).