# Grey area in syntax of pluralities **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 7, 2003, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grey-area-in-syntax-of-pluralities/211943 "2003-11-07T18:53:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![miggitymike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@miggitymike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miggitymike)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grey-area-in-syntax-of-pluralities/211943/1 "2003-11-07T18:53:50Z")
“Syntax of pluralities” was about the most pseudointellectual way I could think of asking what the deal is with this special case: I understand that you can travel 1 _mile_ or you can travel 2 _miles_, but why is it that you can also travel 1.1 _mileS_? See what I’m saying here? It really doesn’t make sense to me that you anything that falls between 1 and 2 be lumped into the plural form. I really don’t have a solution, just wondered if anyone else thought this was odd. If it were up to me I’d hold the -s until I got 2 or more of something…like they tell you in elementary school. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grey-area-in-syntax-of-pluralities/211943/2 "2003-11-07T19:03:02Z")
What if you travel zero miles, or .5 miles? The general rule is that it’s only singular if there’s exactly one. Otherwise, it’s plural. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grey-area-in-syntax-of-pluralities/211943/3 "2003-11-07T19:22:44Z")
Related issues – $5 million but not $5 millions five-foot leap but not five-feet leap ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grey-area-in-syntax-of-pluralities/211943/4 "2003-11-07T20:04:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by acsenray \* > \*\*Related issues – > > $5 million but not $5 millions > five-foot leap but not five-feet leap \*\* The first is a shorthand for “five million dollars.” The numeral is a reference to the number of dollars, not the number of millions. The second is that the singular is used in an adjectival phrase about a number (which is also why “million” isn’t plural – you don’t pluralize the phrase). ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grey-area-in-syntax-of-pluralities/211943/5 "2003-11-07T22:27:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by miggitymike \* > \*\*“Syntax of pluralities” was about the most pseudointellectual way I could think of asking what the deal is with this special case: > > I understand that you can travel 1 _mile_ or you can travel 2 _miles_, but why is it that you can also travel 1.1 _mileS_? \*\* One and fractional amounts are plural because of the ‘and’ inbetween ‘1’ and the fraction. We say “one and one half miles.” Yes, it could have been singular in usage, but I guess that the use of ‘and’ made people think of it as plural. By extension, 1 1/2 miles becomes 1.5 miles (one point five miles), with the ‘point’ replacing the ‘and.’ However, people would and do say “half a mile.” But, OTOH, by extending the modern convention of decimalizing the numeral from 1.5 mile (“one point five miles”) we get .5 miles (“point five miles”). In this case, people connect the ‘point’ with pluralization. Only with ‘1’ do we have a clear singular without and ‘ands’ or ‘points’ to trick us into using the plural. Peace. ---
**Author:** ![alimarx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@alimarx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alimarx)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grey-area-in-syntax-of-pluralities/211943/6 "2003-11-07T23:35:32Z")
Store down my street: “T-shirts mart”- “Your sign is wrong.” “But we sell more dan one t-shirt!” ---
**Author:** ![Thin\_Ice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@Thin\_Ice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thin_Ice)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grey-area-in-syntax-of-pluralities/211943/7 "2003-11-08T00:34:48Z")
I always figured it should be singular for one or less, plural for anything more than one, no matter how tiny the amount over one: .4 mile up the road or 1.1 miles up the road.