Breakdown of Мой дом — номер сто, а не девяносто.
дом
house
не
not
а
and (contrastive)
мой
my / mine
номер
number (phone, room)
девяносто
ninety
сто
one hundred
Questions & Answers about Мой дом — номер сто, а не девяносто.
Why does девяносто (ninety) look so different from пятьдесят (fifty) or шестьдесят (sixty)?
Most 'tens' in Russian end in -десят (meaning 'tens'), but 40 (сорок) and 90 (девяносто) are exceptions. Historically, девяносто might have meant 'nine before a hundred', which is why it doesn't follow the normal pattern. You just have to memorize it!
Why are the numbers сто and девяносто in the Nominative (dictionary) case here?
When you are just stating a number as a label or an address, like 'number 100' (номер сто), the number stays in its basic Nominative form. It acts as an identifier, almost like the name of the house.
Why do we use а не instead of но не for 'not ninety'?
In Russian, а is used to show a direct contrast or correction between two things ('this, not that'). Since you are correcting the house number from ninety to one hundred, а не is the natural choice.
What is the dash (—) doing in the middle of the sentence?
The dash takes the place of the verb 'to be' (is/are) in the present tense. It is often used when linking two nouns or a noun and a label, like connecting дом (house) with номер (number).
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