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Anonymous Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Sing vs. Plu

I am an avid lover of grammar, and am acutely aware of influences of the try-hard US English grammar on UK English.

In an American music video which I watched recently, it said "three hours of footage was stolen". Upon looking, I could not decide whether this was gramatically correct or not; I didn't know whether the quantity is supposed to determine the agreement or whether the object should.

Any ideas?
  

Top answer

Singular. It is considered one period of time. The hours are not considered individually.

— AlpheccaStars

  • Singular.
  • It is considered one period of time.
  • The hours are not considered individually.
  • The same is true for money.
  • Three hours is enough time to get to Timbuktu.
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2 Answers
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Singular. It is considered one period of time. The hours are not considered individually. The same is true for money.

Three hours is enough time to get to Timbuktu.

Here are the rules for these odd cases:

http://faculty.washington.edu/marynell/grammar/agreement.html
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You can always group multiple entities into a set which you then treat as a singular entity.

Three eggs is more than enough to make an omelet.
Eighteen minutes was erased from the tape recording.

Note even the singular demonstrative:

That seventeen miles is one of the prettiest drives in California.

CJ
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