Editing Counting (section)

==Forms of counting==
[[File:Hanakapiai Beach Warning Sign Only.jpg|thumb|right|Counting using [[tally marks]] at [[Hanakapiai Beach]]]]
{{further|Prehistoric numerals|Numerical digit}}

Verbal counting involves speaking sequential numbers aloud or mentally to track progress. Generally such counting is done with [[decimal|base&nbsp;10]] numbers: "1, 2, 3, 4", etc. Verbal counting is often used for objects that are currently present rather than for counting things over time, since following an interruption counting must resume from where it was left off, a number that has to be recorded or remembered.

Counting a small set of objects, especially over time, can be accomplished efficiently with [[tally marks]]: making a mark for each number and then counting all of the marks when done tallying. Tallying is [[Unary_numeral_system|base&nbsp;1]] counting.

[[Finger counting]] is convenient and common for small numbers. Children count on fingers to facilitate tallying and for performing simple mathematical operations. Older finger counting methods used the four fingers and the three bones in each finger ([[phalanges]]) to count to twelve.<ref name=Macey>{{cite book |last=Macey |first=Samuel L. |title=The Dynamics of Progress: Time, Method, and Measure |year=1989 |publisher=University of Georgia Press |location=Atlanta, Georgia |isbn=978-0-8203-3796-8 |pages=92 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xlzCWmXguwsC&pg=PA92}}</ref> Other hand-gesture systems are also in use, for example the Chinese system by which one can count to 10 using only gestures of one hand. With [[finger binary]] it is possible to keep a finger count up to {{nowrap|1=1023 = 2<sup>10</sup> − 1}}.

Various devices can also be used to facilitate counting, such as [[tally counter]]s and [[abacus]]es.