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Hole One a New See Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

'fifth longer'

Hi everybody,

It is a quotation from a relatively new BBC article:

But the rodents in the study were living about a fifth longer without suffering problems that are common in old age, such as muscle loss or memory problems.
This is the link of the article: The secret to a longer life

It writes: 'fifth longer'. Does it mean 'five times longer'? I have never heard about such usage like this. (I also heard 'twenty ten' as it was read out as a date sometime before.)

Thanks for your help in advance.
  

Top answer

2 times the length. If a normal rat lives ten years, these rats live twelve. The year 2010 can be said "twenty-ten", just like 1910 can be nineteen-ten.

— Enoon

  • 2 times the length.
  • If a normal rat lives ten years, these rats live twelve.
  • The year 2010 can be said "twenty-ten", just like 1910 can be nineteen-ten.
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6 Answers
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A fifth longer is 1.2 times the length. If a normal rat lives ten years, these rats live twelve.

The year 2010 can be said "twenty-ten", just like 1910 can be nineteen-ten.
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Thank you Emotion: smile

Lol, it is a fraction. I knew that it is expressed like an ordinal number but I didn't think of it. Fail. Sorry
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Yeah, that site got it a bit wrong. What do you expect from "English Grammar 4U"? That's like "Spelling ? Us.com".
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Could you show me a relatively good site which deals with grammar things?

I mainly use the 'grammar in use intermediate' 'advanced grammar in use' books but these ones don't deal with dates. The above mentioned website was only an example. A lot of other sources don't mention the other option.

I can't decide that a site is good or not. I just check more sites if it is possible. I
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I was just kidding around. Every site will have mistakes and omissions. To tell you the truth, this site is the best one I've ever found for such questions. The Supreme Being (Mister Micawber) does not allow just anybody to post answers here, and he himself knows English through and through, as do the rest of them.

I hope a teacher (I am not one) can point you to good sites.
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Thank you very much Emotion: smile

I checked it. They really seem good.

And yes, I couldn't agree more. Mister Micawber is reall
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