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Anonymous Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
plural and singular in numbers
Hi everybody. I got confused about plurals and singulars in numbers. Example: "Scientists get glimpse of universe as it was 13 billion years ago" In that sentence 13 billion written in singular form. Is it wrong to write instead 13 billions years?
Top answer
In the example you give, "billion" is a modifying adjective (It modifies "years"). It is singular. It works the same way as any other modifying adjective: I see 12 fat green cows.
- In the example you give, "billion" is a modifying adjective (It modifies "years").
- It is singular.
- It works the same way as any other modifying adjective: I see 12 fat green cows.
- NOT: I see 12 fat greens cows.
- However, I believe that in general, if you have a concrete number, it is singular.
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1 Answers
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In the example you give, "billion" is a modifying adjective (It modifies "years"). It is singular.
It works the same way as any other modifying adjective:
I see 12 fat green cows. NOT: I see 12 fat greens cows.
However, I believe that in general, if you have a concrete number, it is singular. If none, then it can be plural. This works for all number classes: hundred(s), thous
It works the same way as any other modifying adjective:
I see 12 fat green cows. NOT: I see 12 fat greens cows.
However, I believe that in general, if you have a concrete number, it is singular. If none, then it can be plural. This works for all number classes: hundred(s), thous
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