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Anonymous Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
Is anything NOT equal to 1 a plural?
My year 4 teacher said when I was 9 that a plural was "Anything greater then one". Eg - 2 cats is a plural because its greater than 1
I was always great a computer code & maths but hopeless at spelling so I triumphantly said "No, a plural is anything that isn't one. Its not just anything more than one".
We say "I have 0.5 dollars left in my account" for example. This is less than one and yet we add an 's' to dollar.
I really didn't like her as she was a grammar nazi and looked down on me as I couldn't spell & favored children who could. Anyway she comes back after looking it up after lunch and said "Its anything that isn't singular".
I put my hand up "No! Minus one is singular and we would say I have minus 1 dollars in our bank account"
A lot of people say "I could say I have 0.5 of a cat". But what you are doing there is adding a multiplication of one to that cat with the word 'a'. I have 0.5 X 1 cat. Or 0.5 of a cat. Adding 'a' or 'X 1' to your noun negates that need for an 's' at the end.
So perhaps a maths questions. Is minus one singular?
Secondly was I correct at age 9? Should we add an "s" to anything that is -1? eg Minus 1 dollars? Minus 1 quarks in an atom and so forth. And are decimals below one and the integer negative one considered plurals?
I was always great a computer code & maths but hopeless at spelling so I triumphantly said "No, a plural is anything that isn't one. Its not just anything more than one".
We say "I have 0.5 dollars left in my account" for example. This is less than one and yet we add an 's' to dollar.
I really didn't like her as she was a grammar nazi and looked down on me as I couldn't spell & favored children who could. Anyway she comes back after looking it up after lunch and said "Its anything that isn't singular".
I put my hand up "No! Minus one is singular and we would say I have minus 1 dollars in our bank account"
A lot of people say "I could say I have 0.5 of a cat". But what you are doing there is adding a multiplication of one to that cat with the word 'a'. I have 0.5 X 1 cat. Or 0.5 of a cat. Adding 'a' or 'X 1' to your noun negates that need for an 's' at the end.
So perhaps a maths questions. Is minus one singular?
Secondly was I correct at age 9? Should we add an "s" to anything that is -1? eg Minus 1 dollars? Minus 1 quarks in an atom and so forth. And are decimals below one and the integer negative one considered plurals?
Top answer
5 dollars left in my account" for example. No, we don't. Anonymous This is less than one and yet we add an 's' to dollar.
- 5 dollars left in my account" for example.
- No, we don't.
- Anonymous This is less than one and yet we add an 's' to dollar.
- No we don't.
- Anonymous we would say I have minus 1 dollars in our bank account" No, we wouldn't.
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1 Answers
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AnonymousWe say "I have 0.5 dollars left in my account" for example.No, we don't.
AnonymousThis is less than one and yet we add an 's' to dollar.No we don't.
Anonymouswe would say I have minus 1 dollars in our bank account"No, we wouldn't.
AnonymousIs minus one s
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