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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

Number / measurements with singular or plural

3 dollars is too much for this coffee

38 chickens (that amount) is going to collapse the roost

the first I know is correct, but is the second correct or should it be 'are'?

so with any numbered noun will it be singular?

and should the following be less or fewer? and should it be is or are? :

less / fewer than triple digits in rushing yards is / are not enough to win against this team
  

Top answer

-- No, 'is' fine; in fact, if you use 'are', it suggests to me that the chickens are planning this destruction. - - Probably, as long as you are talking about the quantity. Less than triple digits in rushing yards is not enough to win against this team-- Prescriptivists may defend 'fewer', but I see it again as a quantity - and more natural - with 'less'.

— Mister Micawber

  • -- No, 'is' fine; in fact, if you use 'are', it suggests to me that the chickens are planning this destruction.
  • - - Probably, as long as you are talking about the quantity.
  • Less than triple digits in rushing yards is not enough to win against this team-- Prescriptivists may defend 'fewer', but I see it again as a quantity - and more natural - with 'less'.
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1 Answers
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3 dollars is too much for this coffee

38 chickens (that amount) is going to collapse the roost

the first I know is correct, but is the second correct or should it be 'are'?-- No, 'is' fine; in fact, if you use 'are', it suggests to me that the chickens are planning this destruction.

So with any numbered noun will it be singular?-- Probably, as lo
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