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I am talking about a number sequence and before the last number, I want to say:
and the last is ...
as, for example, in "1, 2, 3 ... and the last is 100".
When I use a translator, it shows:
der letzte ist ...
or
das letze ist ...
Since numbers are feminine, I would have said:
die letzte ist ...
What should be the correct form to say this? And why don't we make letzte a noun form Letzte, since we are using an article here?
The expression the last is, or in German der/ die/ das letzte ist, is an elliptical expression, in which the noun was omitted. Therefore, the question is: The last what? And depending on the noun that you have in mind, the article changes.
For example:
- the last (value) is
der letzte (Wert) ist- the last (number) is
die letzte (Zahl) ist- the last (item) is
das letzte (Element) ist
The ellipsis is also the reason why letzte is not capitalized here; it is an adjective, which modifies the (omitted) noun.
That can be said in different ways. I would prefer "1, 2, 3... and finally 100".
1, 2, 3 ... und zum Schluss 100
But you can also say:
1, 2, 3 … und abschließend 100
or
1, 2, 3 … und als letztes die Zahl 100
The grammatical gender of an article, a pronoun or some other parts of speech always depends on the gender of a noun.
Always!
This means: at all times, without any exception.
Learn this: If there is no noun, it still depends on the gender of a noun.
So, it depends on the noun the speaker has in their mind. Very often the context provides such a noun, so not only the speaker, but also the listeners know which noun is meant, and so everybody also knows which gender is the correct gender.
In other words: All three genders are possible. It simply depends on the context. Are you counting male participants of a sports competition? Are you counting books on a shelf? Are you counting jam jars in your stock?
Without this information, your question cannot be answered.
Hängt vom Kontext ab. Der Mathematiker würde "1, 2, 3, ... bis 100." sagen.
If this happens in an reasonably informal context, or even a university lecture, the most likely phrasing would be something like
1 2 3 und so weiter, [notable pause] ...100.
Einzwodrei, ded-ded-ded, 100.
Alles von 1 bis 100.
Ein, zwo, drei vierfünfsechsimablblblbl , 100.
1, 2, 3, bis am Schluss dann 100.
In writing, to be precise I'd go with
Alle ganzen Zahlen von 1 bis einschließlich 100.
A rather common ending would be
und zu guter Letzt 100
Which is sort of an expanded version of "und zuletzt 100" which scans better.
