Agreement Between Number Name and Modified Noun
The number name and the noun it modifies must agree in number and gender.
The rule for number agreement is simple: When the number is 1, the modified noun is put in its singular form, otherwise it takes the plural form, including the case of number 0 and all non-integer numbers.
The gender agreement is somewhat complicated by the fact that the Romanian nouns are classified into three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Specifically, the neuter gender is a combination of the other two: A neuter noun behaves like a masculine noun in the singular, and like a feminine noun in the plural. The gender has implications on the morphology of some of the grammatically connected words, including the number names.
When the units digit of a number is 1 or 2, its name has two distinct forms, masculine and feminine. The only exception is unsprezece "eleven" which has only one form used for both genders.
The gender agreement requires the choice of masculine number names for masculine nouns, and feminine number names for feminine nouns. For the neuter nouns the agreement is obtained by choosing the masculine name of the number not just for number 1, but for all other numbers whose units digit is 1, despite the fact that the noun behaves as feminine; for numbers whose last digit is 2 the feminine numeral is chosen. Examples:
| Number | Masculine noun | Neuter noun | Feminine noun |
|---|---|---|---|
| copil "child" | scaun "chair" | oră "hour" | |
| 1 | un copil | un scaun | o oră |
| 2 | doi copii | două scaune | două ore |
| 11 | unsprezece copii | unsprezece scaune | unsprezece ore |
| 12 | doisprezece copii | douăsprezece scaune | douăsprezece ore |
| 21 | douăzeci şi unu de copii | douăzeci şi unu de scaune1 | douăzeci şi una de ore |
| 22 | douăzeci şi doi de copii | douăzeci şi două de scaune | douăzeci şi două de ore |
- Note
1. Although, as a neuter noun in the plural, scaune behaves like a feminine noun, the masculine form of the numeral douăzeci şi unu is used. This is because unu "one" also represents a number by itself; in the singular, the neuter noun requires a masculine modifier. If the noun is also modified by an adjective, the feminine form of the adjective is used: douăzeci şi unu de scaune galbene "21 yellow chairs".
Read more about this topic: Romanian Numbers, Cardinal Numbers
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