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Is 0.1 million singular or plural?
Since 0.1 is smaller than 1, shouldn't it be singular?

E.g:

  • This: 0.1 million people is above the age of 65.
  • or: 0.1 million people are above the age of 65. <--This sounds right, but is it singular?
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5  
people are And that's all that matters here. – Kris Apr 18 '12 at 6:50
0.1 is less than one. 0.1 mililion is not. – Kris Apr 18 '12 at 6:52

closed as general reference by Robusto, Matt Эллен, FumbleFingers, Mitch, jwpat7 Apr 19 '12 at 4:11

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2 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

In your question, 0.1 million signifies how many people are above 65. The plurality is for people which is the noun here. 0.1 million is just a qualifying number, it is neither singular nor plural.

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up vote 1 down vote

As a general rule, if you're dealing with countable items, then anything other than 1 is plural, and will use the plural form of the verb.

You should also use plural for fractions that are greater than one. You will say 1.5 kilograms, not 1.5 kilogram. (There seems to be a grey area for fractions less than 1 though; see this discussion).

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What is less than one here? – Kris Apr 18 '12 at 7:20
@Kris: I don't understand what you're asking. – Milind Ganjoo Apr 18 '12 at 9:00

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