Log inSign up

Il a vendu une soixantaine de voitures.

Il a vendu une soixantaine de voitures.
He sold about sixty cars.
From Lesson 229:Approximative numbers (-aine)·French

Questions & Answers about Il a vendu une soixantaine de voitures.

How do you form soixantaine from soixante?
To add the approximative suffix -aine to a number ending in a vowel like soixante (sixty), you first drop the final -e before adding the suffix.
Why is it une before soixantaine? Are all these approximative numbers feminine?
Yes! When you add -aine to a number to mean "about [number]", the new word becomes a feminine noun. Therefore, they will always use feminine articles like une or la.
Since cars is plural, why is it de voitures instead of des voitures?
Une soixantaine acts as an expression of quantity. Just like with beaucoup de (a lot of) or un peu de (a little of), you use a simple de (or d') after it, even though the following noun voitures is plural.

Learn Il a vendu une soixantaine de voitures and more in French

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning French →