dozen
B1Neutral to informal (in indefinite plural use). Common in both spoken and written English.
Definition
Meaning
A group or set of twelve items.
Used as a cardinal number; also used informally to indicate a fairly large but indefinite number (e.g., 'dozens of times').
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
As a cardinal number, it is typically used with another noun (a dozen eggs). In its indefinite plural form ('dozens of'), it suggests a large, approximate number greater than twelve but less than one hundred.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No significant difference in meaning or core usage. The idiom 'a dime a dozen' is slightly more common in AmE, while 'a baker's dozen' is equally known in both.
Connotations
The indefinite plural 'dozens of' carries a slightly informal, conversational tone in both varieties.
Frequency
Equally common in both BrE and AmE.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
[det] dozen [of] (N)[det] dozen Ndozens of NVocabulary
Synonyms
Neutral
Weak
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “a dime a dozen (very common and of little value)”
- “a baker's dozen (thirteen)”
- “by the dozen (in large quantities)”
- “talk nineteen to the dozen (talk very fast without stopping)”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Used in retail, manufacturing, and ordering contexts (e.g., 'Order two dozen units', 'Sell by the dozen').
Academic
Rare in formal academic prose except in historical/quantitative contexts. More common in informal academic speech.
Everyday
Very common for quantifying items like food, people, or occurrences.
Technical
Used in specific fields like baking (baker's dozen) or cartography (scale: one inch to the dozen miles - archaic).
Examples
By Part of Speech
adjective
British English
- It was a dozen-egg omelette.
American English
- She bought a dozen roses.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- I need a dozen eggs from the shop.
- There were about a dozen children at the party.
- We ordered three dozen pencils for the classroom.
- I've called him half a dozen times today.
- The recipe yields roughly two dozen cookies.
- Dozens of protesters gathered in the square.
- Such proposals are a dime a dozen in the consultancy world.
- The archaeologist unearthed several dozen artefacts from the Roman era.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think of a 'DOZEN' DONUTS in a box – a classic box holds 12.
Conceptual Metaphor
QUANTITY IS CONTAINER (a dozen eggs). LARGE NUMBER IS MULTIPLE STANDARD UNITS (dozens of problems).
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Russian 'дюжина' is a direct cognate but is less common in everyday modern Russian than 'dozen' is in English. English uses 'dozen' more frequently for exact counts.
- The phrase 'dozens of' (множество, много) is an idiom that does not translate literally to an exact multiple of twelve.
Common Mistakes
- Omitting 'of' after the plural 'dozens' (e.g., INCORRECT: 'dozens people'; CORRECT: 'dozens of people').
- Using 'dozen' as a plural without '-s' after numbers (e.g., INCORRECT: 'three dozens eggs'; CORRECT: 'three dozen eggs').
Practice
Quiz
In which sentence is 'dozen' used correctly?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
A singular noun. We say 'a dozen eggs' (not 'a dozen of eggs'), unless using the specific partitive structure 'a dozen of them/those/these'.
'A dozen' means exactly twelve. 'Dozens of' is an indefinite quantifier meaning 'very many' (likely between 24 and 100+).
Historically, bakers would add an extra loaf to a dozen to avoid severe penalties for selling underweight bread.
We say 'three dozen' (without -s) when it is a cardinal number. The form 'dozens' (with -s) is only used in the indefinite plural phrase 'dozens of'.
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