# Do you use plural with decimal quantifier? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 10, 2011, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-plural-with-decimal-quantifier/570912 "2011-02-10T17:07:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-plural-with-decimal-quantifier/570912/1 "2011-02-10T17:07:07Z")
Which of the following is accepted as correct? “0.5 liters of water” or “0.5 liter of water” ? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-plural-with-decimal-quantifier/570912/2 "2011-02-10T17:12:59Z")
“0.5 liters” sounds better to me, though I don’t know how I’d justify it except that the 5 in there sounds plural. You could avoid the issue by saying “500 millilitres” or “0.5 l”. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-plural-with-decimal-quantifier/570912/3 "2011-02-10T17:36:29Z")
> [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](#): > > Which of the following is accepted as correct? “0.5 liters of water” or “0.5 liter of water” ? The former. The singular unit is appropriate only when there is exactly 1 unit present. If you express the fractional portion of a unit as a proper fraction (rather than a decimal), then it functions as a multiplier against a single unit. So “0.5 liters of water” is the same as “half [of] a liter of water.” ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-plural-with-decimal-quantifier/570912/4 "2011-02-10T18:24:30Z")
0.5 is less than the unit, so it can’t be plural. “0.5 liter of water” ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-plural-with-decimal-quantifier/570912/5 "2011-02-10T18:34:52Z")
> [@Gymnopithys](#): > > 0.5 is less than the unit, so it can’t be plural. > > “0.5 liter of water” That’s not the issue. This isn’t a matter of logic; it’s purely convention. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-plural-with-decimal-quantifier/570912/6 "2011-02-10T18:42:52Z")
As a native American English speaker, “0.5 liters of water” sounds a little better to me than without the ‘s’, even though “half a liter” is much much better than with the ‘s’. The alternative of “0.5 liter of water” isn’t a horrible glaring mistake though. Like **guizot** said, this is language, not logic. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-plural-with-decimal-quantifier/570912/7 "2011-02-10T18:50:11Z")
> [@Gymnopithys](#): > > 0.5 is less than the unit, so it can’t be plural. > > “0.5 liter of water” Don’t attempt to apply logic to English style or grammar. That way lies madness. The correct answer is as posted above: the singular is only used for exactly one unit. So 1 liter of water, or 0.5 liters of water. Now you might say, “but wait! What about fractions? Nobody says three fourths liters water!” And that’s because when dealing with fractions there is an implicit whole liter there. One says “three fourths of **a** liter of water.” You can drop the “of” for brevity. Or just say 750mL, which is probably clearer. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-plural-with-decimal-quantifier/570912/8 "2011-02-10T19:28:31Z")
nm. Covered at the end of your post. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-plural-with-decimal-quantifier/570912/9 "2011-02-10T19:59:44Z")
in my experience in an environment that use the metric system (science), you will often hear the singular because it is. the decimal ending in a number greater than one gives a tendency for the plural to sound better to many. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-plural-with-decimal-quantifier/570912/10 "2011-02-10T22:00:09Z")
You could just say “about one pint” and avoid the problem. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-plural-with-decimal-quantifier/570912/11 "2011-02-10T22:25:36Z")
What if you were to say 1.0 liters, i.e. “one point zero liter(s)”, emphasizing the accuracy of the information? Even in that case, I want to include the “s”. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-plural-with-decimal-quantifier/570912/12 "2011-02-10T22:34:02Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > You could just say “about one pint” and avoid the problem. No – you need to specify what kind of [“pint”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pint) – 473, 551 or 568 ml. ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-plural-with-decimal-quantifier/570912/13 "2011-02-11T04:52:09Z")
Well, I could say half a liter, but in truth I am looking for a general case, not just pertaining to water. For example, it could also be “The stock index goes up by 0.2 point(s)” or “The goblin suffers 0.43 point(s) of damage”. ---
**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-plural-with-decimal-quantifier/570912/14 "2011-02-11T05:02:33Z")
I had a conversation about this with my girlfriend on a particularly boring drive some time ago. It was spurred by our Garmin GPS saying “In point-five miles turn left” or some such. I argued the same point: 0.5 is one-half, which is less than one, so it shouldn’t be plural. My sister’s GPS unit solves the problem completely: It says, using perfect received pronunciation, “After one half of a mile, turn right.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mornac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Mornac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mornac)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-plural-with-decimal-quantifier/570912/15 "2011-02-11T05:02:53Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > What if you were to say 1.0 liters, i.e. “one point zero liter(s)”, emphasizing the accuracy of the information? Even in that case, I want to include the “s”. –In fact if you are talking about 1.5 liter(s) you still have the problem since you have less than the minimum amount of liters (two) to qualify for pluralness. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-plural-with-decimal-quantifier/570912/16 "2011-02-11T05:04:15Z")
I would always say “0.5 liter of water” myself. If it’s not more than 1, then it’s not plural. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-plural-with-decimal-quantifier/570912/17 "2011-02-11T05:10:19Z")
I’ve _never_ heard anyone say “point five mile” or something similar. It’s “point five miles” and “point three inches” or whatnot. I’m surprised to hear that people use the singular form for these constructions. It’s not used in the circles of English speakers I talk to. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-plural-with-decimal-quantifier/570912/18 "2011-02-11T05:17:25Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’ve _never_ heard anyone say “point five mile” or something similar. We obviously talk to different people. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-plural-with-decimal-quantifier/570912/19 "2011-02-11T13:12:34Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > We obviously talk to different people. Well, you do live halfway across the world. Anyways, if you want to be technical, then you wouldn’t be saying “zero-point-five liters” at all. Decimals are read with their place values. So it would be “zero and 5 tenths of a liter.” Another example would be 0.567 L, which properly should be read “zero and five hundred sixty-seven thousandths liters.” I think that’s being rather overly pedantic. Stick with what people actually use. I quote from the Chicago Manual of Style [Online FAQ](http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/CMS_FAQ/Plurals/Plurals09.html): > [@](#): > > Recently Chicago Tribune language writer Nathan Bierma made sense of this conundrum in a reply to a similar question. He quoted Bill Walsh of the Washington Post, who suggests that the trouble resides in thinking of the singular as one or less, whereas it’s more helpful to think of the singular as exactly one, neither more nor less. Walsh points out that we say “zero dollars,” not “zero dollar.” By this logic, you should write “0.4 percentage points.” ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-plural-with-decimal-quantifier/570912/20 "2011-02-11T13:49:46Z")
in my experience the fractional part of a decimal is not always converted to a fraction to verbalize it. some applications where fast accurate data transfer is important the characters are read left to right. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-plural-with-decimal-quantifier/570912.md?page=2)