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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

Is vs. Are / 2 pieces' vs. 2-piece

Hello,

Could you please advise on this? Thank you.

A. How much are 2 pieces' chicken?
B. How much is 2 pieces' chicken?
C. How much are 2 pieces of chicken?
D. How much is 2 pieces of chicken?

E. How much is a 2-piece chicken?
F. How much is 2-piece chicken?

1. Which sentences above are correct?
2. Which are commonly spoken by native speakers?
3. Is the apostrophe (') necessary in A and B?
4. Do you think 'is' in B and D are also correct because we actually mean the cost, which is singular?
5. Also, is this sentence correct: "How much are the baskets of bananas?"? Or it should be 'is'?
  

Top answer

C and D are OK. The others are incorrect. The choice between "is" and "are" depends on whether you consider "two pieces of chicken" to be two items or one.

— Mr Wordy

  • C and D are OK.
  • The others are incorrect.
  • The choice between "is" and "are" depends on whether you consider "two pieces of chicken" to be two items or one.
  • "How much are the baskets of bananas" is correct.
  • "is" does not work in this sentence.
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8 Answers
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C and D are OK. The others are incorrect. The choice between "is" and "are" depends on whether you consider "two pieces of chicken" to be two items or one.



"How much are the baskets of bananas" is correct. "is" does not work in this sentence.
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Thank you, Mr Wordy, for the answers. I appreciate it.


A. How much are the cost of 2 pieces' chicken?
B. How much is the cost of 2 pieces' chicken?
C. How much are the cost of 2 pieces of chicken?
D. How much is the cost of 2 pieces of chicken?

E. How much is the cost o
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"How much is the cost of... ?" is awkward. Choose between "How much is... ?" and "What is the cost of... ?" In everyday conversation (in shops, for example) the former is more common.

In your case, the correct form using "cost" is "What is the cost of two pieces of chicken?" The other possibilities that you mention are all incorrect (that is, unless there really is something called a "t
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Thank you, again, Mr Wordy, for your explanations. I now understand.
Mr Wordy(that is, unless there really is something called a "two-piece chicken" that I am unfamiliar with!)
I see two pieces chicken from the KFC menu, but I didn't know before how to form the correct sentence with this when placing an order.
Mr WordyNote that "tw
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Hmmm. "two weeks' notice" is correct, but the original "belonging to" meaning of the possessive is stretched about as far as it will go. I suppose "two pieces' chicken", if it existed, would by analogy have to mean something like "chicken consisting of two pieces". It seems debatable to me whether this interpretation is stretching the meaning of the possessive any further than "two weeks' notice"
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Thank you so much for the explanations.
Mr Wordyso perhaps it's as much convention and tradition as logic that allows one but not the other.
1. I'm sorry, but what does 'not the other' mean here?
Mr WordyPerhaps someone else has a better explanation?
2. I was wondering if another native speaker could either confirm
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Anonymous1. I'm sorry, but what does 'not the other' mean here?
"allows one but not the other" = allows "two weeks' notice" but does not allow "two pieces' chicken".
Anonymous3. Also, I believe 'two-piece chicken' exists in KFC's menu. Which of the following is correct?

How much is a two-piece chicken?
How much is two-piece
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Thank you, Mr Wordy, for your clarification. This is much clearer to me now.
Mr Wordytwo-piece chicken" could be a shortened form, I guess. Unfortunately I can't find the item listed at kfc.com so I'm not sure exactly how they style it themselves.
I see this from the menu of KFCs in the Philippines. However, I agree with you that "two-piece chicken meal/dinne
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