Soybeen
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| 01 Nov 2016 11:07 PM |
How when we are using measurements between one and negative one excluding 0 we still use the plural form?
0.25 inches 0 inches 1 inch 25 inches
-0.5 decibels 0.5 decibels 1 decibel 10 decibels
Unless we use the word form of fractions, in which case we say,
a quarter foot / one-fourth foot a half foot / one-half foot one foot two feet
But the plural again if we use the numerical form?
1/4 feet 1/2 feet 1 foot
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Soybeen
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| 01 Nov 2016 11:14 PM |
*fractional form
Also, out of curiosity, who says 1/4 foot instead of 1/4 feet? I've never been told the correct way to notate that.
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cntkillme
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| 01 Nov 2016 11:14 PM |
idk but would we say
'1.0 feet' because '1.0 foot' doesn't sound right |
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Soybeen
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| 01 Nov 2016 11:16 PM |
I mean, if you say "one-point-zero-feet", because really you're saying "one-foot-plus-zero-more-feet" I think it would make more sense to say 0.25 foot because that's like saying "zero-and-0.25-of-one-foot"
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cntkillme
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| 01 Nov 2016 11:18 PM |
I'd still say 0.25 feet because it just sounds better. If you were to say "a quarter of a foot" that works too |
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Soybeen
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| 01 Nov 2016 11:19 PM |
Right it sounds better, but why are we using the plural if we're talking about less than one foot ;) ? This is thesis material.
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cntkillme
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| 01 Nov 2016 11:20 PM |
| Because the English language is awful. |
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Lem0nzzx
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| 01 Nov 2016 11:20 PM |
Pretty sure it's still plural either way.. Maybe not, but that's just a logical assumption.
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Soybeen
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Lem0nzzx
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cntkillme
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| 01 Nov 2016 11:23 PM |
| I mean technically "0.25" is not singular since singular implies "1" |
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Soybeen
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| 01 Nov 2016 11:24 PM |
But .25 of one apple is still a single piece of an apple
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cntkillme
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| 01 Nov 2016 11:25 PM |
| No it's less than a single piece |
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Soybeen
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| 01 Nov 2016 11:30 PM |
Physically how, if a piece by definition is a portion of a whole?
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cntkillme
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| 01 Nov 2016 11:31 PM |
| because it's not a WHOLE (1) piece ;] |
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Soybeen
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| 01 Nov 2016 11:37 PM |
But plural = more than 1 why do we use the plural form when talking about less than one :(
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Salinas23
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| 01 Nov 2016 11:38 PM |
It's not just english tho
I can tell you guys Spanish and French have the same condition I have a spider on my back. |
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cntkillme
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| 01 Nov 2016 11:39 PM |
| i know but the english language is bad |
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cntkillme
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| 01 Nov 2016 11:40 PM |
all those languages are bad. all languages are bad. |
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Soybeen
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| 01 Nov 2016 11:43 PM |
I dunno about contemporarily bad, maybe in the future when we all communicate via mind-chips in binary then we can say that english was relatively bad compared to the future standard
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cntkillme
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| 01 Nov 2016 11:45 PM |
| I know what you're saying but I think we just consider "1" to be the only singular number |
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Kodran
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| 01 Nov 2016 11:45 PM |
it's a singular quarter of a foot whereas 0.25 feet is not a singular anything
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Soybeen
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| 01 Nov 2016 11:48 PM |
Isn't it equally logical, though, to think that .25 is a single portion of 1 as opposed to 2.0 which is two portions of 1
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Soybeen
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| 01 Nov 2016 11:50 PM |
At this point I no longer find this topic interesting ^_^
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Kodran
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| 01 Nov 2016 11:51 PM |
I'm with cnt on this one that we consider only 1 singular and everything else plural.
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