Function approximate

pattern/text/en/inflect_quantify.py:247–281

Returns an approximation of the number of given objects. Two objects are described as being "a pair", smaller than eight is "several", smaller than twenty is "a number of", smaller than two hundred are "dozens", anything bigger is described as being tens or h

(word, amount=1, plural={})

quantify_custom_plurals = {}

def approximate(word, amount=1, plural={}):
    """ Returns an approximation of the number of given objects.
        Two objects are described as being "a pair",
        smaller than eight is "several",
        smaller than twenty is "a number of",
        smaller than two hundred are "dozens",
        anything bigger is described as being tens or hundreds of thousands or millions.
        For example: approximate("chicken", 100) => "dozens of chickens".
    """
    try: p = pluralize(word, custom=plural)
    except:
        raise TypeError, "can't pluralize %s, only str and unicode" % word.__class__.__name__
    # Anything up to 200.
    if amount == 0: 
        return "%s %s" % (NONE, p)
    if amount == 1: 
        return referenced(word) # "a" chicken, "an" elephant
    if amount == 2: 
        return "%s %s" % (PAIR, p)
    if 3 <= amount < 8: 
        return "%s %s" % (SEVERAL, p)
    if 8 <= amount < 18: 
        return "%s %s" % (NUMBER, p)
    if 18 <= amount < 23: 
        return "%s %s" % (SCORE, p)
    if 23 <= amount < 200: 
        return "%s %s" % (DOZENS, p)
    if amount > 10000000:
        return "%s %s" % (COUNTLESS, p)
    # Hundreds and thousands.
    thousands = int(log(amount, 10) / 3)
    hundreds  = ceil(log(amount, 10) % 3) - 1
    h = hundreds==2 and "hundreds of " or (hundreds==1 and "tens of " or "")
    t = thousands>0 and pluralize(ORDER[thousands])+" of " or ""
    return "%s%s%s" % (h, t, p)
        
#print approximate("chicken", 0)
#print approximate("chicken", 1)