What is up with our counting system?

Question

Why is it that we count, twenty one, twenty two, thirty one, thirty two, etc, but when we count tens we don't count as, ten one, ten two, etc.? It's just not logical Captain.

Answer 1

I believe the answer is that the numbers one through twenty are used much more than numbers exceeding this range. For example, we use the base 10 system for counting. Advanced calculations also use base eleven, twelve, and up (but rarely higher than twenty).

Furthermore, the etymology of the numeric naming system does not lend itself well to such numbers as ten-two, ten-three, etc. Consider that all of the other ten's end in -ty (twenty, thirty, fourty, and so on). This allows for a natural and uniform flow as you count up from twenty.

If you look up the history of the numbers (especially eleven and twelve), you will see that the origins of the word are a sort of amalgamation of meanings of other languages, like much of English. Thus, the best answer to your question is that those who created the English language found it more convenient to have distinct names for these lower numbers, and the exact reason why will likely never be known.

Answer 2

I suspect its to do with the fact that people weren't decimalised when the words first came into the language - counting in twenty was common - perhaps that's why it only seems regular after twenty and before that the names are more unique.

Answer 3

numbers like 11, twelve, thirteen (three-ten), etc get used more often, so shorthand names save time and energy. think about how often we measure things in terms of dozens, for example

Answer 4

Try other languages. It's the same thing.

Answer 5

difficult thing. lookup into yahoo and bing. that may help!