Why is one second singular and 0.5 seconds plural?
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"One" by itself is always singular by definition.
"One tenth, one thousandth - all singular.
One "hundred" is one set of the plural "hundred" and when used as a single set or unit with a linking verb is still singular. You wouldn't say, "One hundred dollars are a lot of money."
If the subject is used as a collective noun it is plural. "One hundred balls are on the beach." But by itself, one is always just one.
Five or any other number greater than one is always plural.
But where is the ONE? I see - Zero. five
This was addressed to Robert.
"But where is the ONE? I see - Zero. five"
^^^Kenny, I'm sorry. I am so lost trying to follow you guys. I'm not sure what you are wanting me to respond to.
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A discrete "one" of something is the singular, you are talking about the "thing in itself".
Talking about anything other than "one" is talking not about the thing itself, but about an abstract number - a quantity - of that thing.
When talking about a quantity, you use the plural...I guess the logic is that "one of a thing" is just "a thing", not a quantity of the thing, and the "one of" bit is redundant "grammatical garnish", and not telling you anything.
"Two of a thing" is no longer equivalent to "a thing", it is "two things", which is a [quantity of] things.
"Half a thing" is not equivalent to "a thing" either, so again it is a [quantity of] things.
If it can't be simplified to "a thing", its plural.
The thing here is a second. 1 second = "the thing we call a second", but zero seconds, 0.5 seconds and 1.5 seconds don't = "the thing we call a second, so they are plural - they are "multiples" of a second, even if the multiplier is less than one.
Zero seconds, 0.5 seconds, 1 second, 1.5 seconds.
""Half a thing" is not equivalent to "a thing" either, so again it is a [quantity of] things. If it can't be simplified to "a thing", its plural."
*** That only applies IF the quantity is more than ONE. If something is less than one "IT" (A portion of one) can't become plural, but the parts (tenths) can.
"The thing here is a second. 1 second = "the thing we call a second", but zero seconds, 0.5 seconds and 1.5 seconds don't"
*** The thing here IS NOT A SECOND! The thing in question is once again Zero. five. Zero isn't a second. Zero represents NO TIME at all - not zero "seconds."
*** If we are going to call Zero a second, we may as well also call it a minute, an hour, or a day.
"If something is less than one "IT" (A portion of one) can't become plural, but the parts (tenths) can."
In decimal "fractions" there aren't "tenths" or other fractions, and it is pluralised even if less than one - hence "0.1 seconds" (in normal fractions it would be as you say, "1 tenth of a second")
"*** The thing here IS NOT A SECOND! The thing in question is once again Zero. five. Zero isn't a second. Zero represents NO TIME at all - not zero "seconds.""
No time at all, expressed in the unit we are using (seconds) is "zero seconds". The "seconds" is plural because the multiplier (zero) isn't one, and therefore zero seconds is not the same as "a second".
"*** If we are going to call Zero a second, we may as well also call it a minute, an hour, or a day."
You can use whatever unit of time you want. Zero seconds, zero years, zero millennia.
When the multiplier is zero, all these represent the same amount of time, but because the multiplier isn't one, we use the plural form of the time unit.
No-one is saying "zero is a second" or even "zero seconds" is a second. Only "one second" is "a second".
Total Answers: 3, Total Page Views: 3,295.Regardless ... five is a plural word, no matter how you use it, or how it is described
Five is, but one isn't... but it's still "0.1 seconds" in the same way it's "0.5 seconds"
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