…when I was in my teens.
Note that you can use early, mid-, middle, or late to indicate approximately where someone’s age comes in a particular range of years.
He was then in his late seventies.
She was in her mid-twenties.
Jane is only in her early forties.
She was well over fifty.
She was only a little over forty years old.
There weren’t enough people who were under 25.
Note that you can also use above or below followed by the age of and a number.
55 per cent of them were below the age of twenty-one.
The over-sixties do not want to be turned out of their homes.
Schooling for under-fives should be expanded.
2.261 You can put several of the above structures after a noun to talk about the age of a person or thing.
…a woman in her early thirties.
…help for elderly ladies over 65.
She had four children under the age of five.
2.262 If you want to say that someone’s age is similar to someone else’s age, you use structures such as of his age and of her parents’ age after a noun. The of is often dropped.
A lot of girls of Helen’s age are interested in clothes.
It’s easy to make friends because you’re with people of your own age.
She will have a tough time when she plays with children her own age.
talking about the age of a thing
2.263 If you want to say what the age of a thing is, you can use
It’s at least a thousand million years old.
The house was about thirty years old.
Note that you can also use this pattern after a noun.
…rocks 200 million years old.
…a sixth-century church.
…life in fifth-century Athens.
…a 1,000-year-old temple.
Approximate amounts and measurements
2.264 If you do not know the exact number, size, or quantity of something, you can give an approximate amount or measurement using one of a group of special words and expressions. Some of these words and expressions are put in front of a quantity and some are put after it.
Here is a list of some of the words and expressions used to give approximate amounts and measurements:
about
almost
a maximum of
a minimum of
approximately
around
at least
at most
at the maximum
at the most
less than
maximum
minimum
more than
nearly
no more than
odd
or less
or more
or so
or thereabouts
or under
over
roughly
some
something like
under
up to
expressing minimum amounts
2.265 Some of these expressions indicate that a number is a minimum figure and that the actual figure is or may be larger.
Here is a list of expressions that indicate a minimum number:
a minimum of
at least
minimum
more than
or more
over
plus
2.266 You put a minimum of, more than, and over in front of a number.
He needed a minimum of 26 Democratic votes.
…a school with more than 1300 pupils.
The British have been on the island for over a thousand years.
You put or more and plus after a number or amount, and minimum after an amount.
…a choice of three or more possibilities.
This is the worst disaster I can remember in my 25 years plus as a police officer.
He does an hour’s homework per night minimum.
You put at least in front of a number or after a number or amount.
She had at least a dozen brandies.
I must have slept twelve hours at least!
expressing maximum amounts
2.267 Some of these expressions are used to indicate that a number is a maximum figure and that the actual figure is or may be smaller.
Here is a list of expressions that indicate a maximum number:
almost
a maximum of
at most
at the maximum
at the most
less than
maximum
nearly
no more than
or less
or under
under
up to
2.268 You put almost, a maximum of, less than, nearly, no more than, under, and up to in front of a number.
The company now supplies almost 100 of the city’s restaurants.
These loans must be repaid over a maximum of three years.
…a puppy less than seven weeks old.
She had nearly fifty dollars.
We managed to finish the entire job in under three months.
Their bodies might be up to a metre wide.
You put at the maximum, at most, at the most, maximum, or less, and or under after a number.
Classes are of eight at the maximum.