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Can you please tell me if I need to use the before number 5 in the following context.
Number 5 is my favorite number because it brings me luck.
The number 5 is my favorite number because it brings me luck.
I've noticed both are used. Are both correct in the context? If no, would you give contexts where you would use one rather than the other?
The idiomatic way of stating it, among us who discuss our favorite numbers or otherwise discuss numbers at parties in this manner, is without either the article or the word "number" - so:
Five is my favorite number.
"The number five" works here as well but probably wouldn't be as common, if perhaps for no other reason than its wordiness.
"Number five" is marginal; I wouldn't use it. This form is more of a reference or designation for something:
"Which lane can we bowl in?"
"[Number] five is available."
Both are used and both are acceptable.
