seventy-nine: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples
B1Neutral
Quick answer
What does “seventy-nine” mean?
The number after seventy-eight and before eighty.
Audio
Pronunciation
Definition
Meaning and Definition
The number after seventy-eight and before eighty; 79.
The cardinal number represented by the numeral 79, often associated with specific cultural references (e.g., a song title by the band 'Steely Dan').
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No significant difference in the number itself. In formal writing, British English may use 'seventy-nine' without 'and' in large numbers (e.g., 'five thousand seventy-nine'), whereas American English typically omits the 'and' more consistently. In spoken language, 'and' is common in both.
Connotations
Neutral number; no specific cultural connotations differ between regions.
Frequency
Equally common and frequent in all varieties of English.
Grammar
How to Use “seventy-nine” in a Sentence
[determiner] seventy-nine [noun plural] (e.g., seventy-nine participants)[verb] seventy-nine (e.g., The total came to seventy-nine)[preposition] seventy-nine (e.g., an increase of seventy-nine)Vocabulary
Collocations
Examples
Examples of “seventy-nine” in a Sentence
noun
British English
- Seventy-nine is considered a prime number.
- His new lottery ticket ended in seventy-nine.
American English
- Seventy-nine is the atomic number of gold, wait no, that's seventy-nine for something else.
- Room seventy-nine is at the end of the hall.
adjective
British English
- The seventy-nine passengers were safely evacuated.
- She celebrated her seventy-ninth birthday quietly.
American English
- We need seventy-nine copies for the meeting.
- He's in his seventy-ninth year.
Usage
Meaning in Context
Business
Used in reports, metrics, or financial figures (e.g., 'Profit rose by seventy-nine basis points').
Academic
Used in statistics, historical dates, or quantitative data (e.g., 'A sample size of seventy-nine subjects').
Everyday
Used for age, quantity, prices, and addresses (e.g., 'I live at number seventy-nine').
Technical
Used in coding, measurements, or serial numbers (e.g., 'Error code seventy-nine').
Vocabulary
Synonyms of “seventy-nine”
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Watch out
Common Mistakes When Using “seventy-nine”
- Writing 'seventy nine' without a hyphen (the standard form for numbers 21-99 is hyphenated).
- Mispronouncing as /ˌsevənˈtaɪn/ or blending the syllables incorrectly.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine are hyphenated when written out.
In American English, the 't' in 'seventy' often becomes a soft flap 'd' sound [ɾ], making it sound like 'sevəndi'.
The ordinal form is 'seventy-ninth' (79th). 'Seventy-nine' itself is cardinal.
The most common mistake is omitting the hyphen in writing and misplacing stress, saying 'SEVen-ty-NINE' instead of the standard 'SEV-en-ty-NINE'.
The number after seventy-eight and before eighty.
Seventy-nine is usually neutral in register.
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “Seventy-nine and holding (humorous reference to age, suggesting someone is perpetually 79 to avoid saying 80)”
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Seventy (70) sounds like 'heavenly', and nine (9) is the highest single digit. Imagine 79 is the 'heavenly number' just before reaching the big eight-zero (80).
Conceptual Metaphor
A NUMBER IS A POSITION ON A PATH (e.g., 'We're up to seventy-nine on the list').
Practice
Quiz
Which of the following is the standard written form for the number 79?