The measuring-units tag has no wiki summary.
2
votes
1answer
37 views
Hyphen in physical quantities before nouns?
In cases where a physical quantity (consisting of a number and a unit) is used like an adjective to describe a property of an object, should it be written with or without a hyphen between the number ...
-2
votes
1answer
91 views
Height and weight written out
In formal writing I like to do this (in British style):
The infant weighed 10lb 5oz;
a 10lb 5oz infant
He was 6ft 3in tall;
a 6ft 3in man
My question is about the plural usage: do we ...
3
votes
2answers
88 views
Including units of a measure in a range
When specifying a range of values that have a unit of measure associated with them, what is the best practice for where to include the unit of measure?
1lb - 20lb
Or
1 - 20lb
And how ...
0
votes
1answer
79 views
Term for “sum of durations”
While writing to a friend, I attempted to ask which web browser they used most. In the end, I asked which browser they used “more frequently”, but this was not the true object of my curiosity. By ...
-1
votes
1answer
99 views
Need we use “sums” in sentences whenever they describe the sum of plural objects? [duplicate]
Need we use sums in the case that the sentence describes the sum of plural objects?
For example, “100 centimeters sums to one meter” versus “100 centimeters sum to one meter”.
They both seem make ...
3
votes
1answer
75 views
Should thin spaces be used between numerals and units
After starting to use the siunitx package for typesetting units (and the numerals before the units) in LaTeX, I noticed that it typesets a single space between a numeral and a unit (a space that is ...
2
votes
2answers
1k views
Terms for “half a decade”
Is "lustrum" (pl. lustra) an understandable (say, at least in academic publications) or valid/common term for a five year span, e.g. to use in a table summarizing data where space can be very ...
6
votes
2answers
161 views
A quantity followed by a measurement (eg: 200 35mm circles)
If you have a quantity of items, where the items themselves are described with a measurement, how should you format this so it is unambiguous?
For example, This diagram contains...
two hundred ...
29
votes
9answers
2k views
“1 in 10 are” or “1 in 10 is”?
Take the examples:
"One in ten children are dyslexic."
"One in ten children is dyslexic."
"One in ten children has dyslexia."
"One in ten children have dyslexia."
The "one" is singular so 2 and 3 ...
2
votes
2answers
4k views
“Rounded”, “heaping” and other types of teaspoon(fuls)?
Can you please elaborate what's "rounded" teaspoon, what's "heaped" teaspoon and what other "types" of teaspoons exists as a measures of volume?
And is there any difference between, rounded teaspoon ...
0
votes
2answers
179 views
Usage of hyphens with numeric measurements
What is correct:
two 1-Gb links;
two 1 Gb links; or
two 1Gb links?
I suspect the first, however I do not know the name of this situation, which makes it difficult to for me to find via Google. I ...
6
votes
3answers
8k views
“A total of 10 babies is…” vs. “a total of 10 babies are…” vs. “Ten babies in total are…”
Which one is the correct one?
A total of 10 babies is sleeping. (A)
A total of 10 babies are sleeping. (B)
Ten babies in total are sleeping. (C)
For me, both (A) and (C) are correct. ...
0
votes
1answer
245 views
How do I correctly write distance? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
When is it appropriate to use non-breaking spaces?
If I am writing "I ran X distance", should I leave a space between the value and abbreviated distance, or is it more ...
12
votes
3answers
8k views
Should there be a space before a percent sign?
Should there be a space before a percent sign or not?
Should you write 20% or 20 %?
I'm not sure if there is any consensus about this or not. Is one way more common than the other?
2
votes
4answers
375 views
What is a word that means “a span of six months”?
Is there a word that means "a span of six months"? That is, I want to connote a stretch of time that lasts half a year, not an event that happens every six months.
10
votes
6answers
619 views
More than 1000 gallons of paint is/are sold each day [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Plural/singular verb agreement with units
Does modifying a collective noun with a number make the subject plural?
Can anyone help me determine the correct verb in this ...
0
votes
2answers
193 views
Do I write “zero millimeter” or “zero millimeters”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicates:
Correct plural form of a zero quantified noun
There are no comments / There is no comment.
In the sentence "There is 0 mm of attached gingiva," is the proper word ...
-5
votes
2answers
529 views
Do we say and write 21 / 31 / 41 item or itemS?
I've been wondering, since these example numbers end with 1, isn't it natural to use the following noun in its singular form?
From what I've been seeing around on the web this does not seem to be the ...
6
votes
3answers
560 views
“How much is/are the two fares?”
Which is correct?
How much is the two fares?
How much are the two fares?
23
votes
3answers
2k views
Is two-thirds plural?
Is 2/3 always, sometimes or never plural?
E.g.
1a) 2/3 of the pizza were eaten.
1b) 2/3 of the pizza was eaten.
2a) 2/3 of the visitors were men.
2b) 2/3 of the visitors was men.
I ...
2
votes
1answer
2k views
One and a half minute/minutes [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Pluralization rule for “five-year-old children”, “20 pound note”, “10 mile run”
Should we use plural or singular for a fraction of a ...
16
votes
7answers
4k views
Should we use plural or singular for a fraction of a mile?
I have seen people say both 0.25 mile and 0.25 miles. Should we use plural or singular for a fraction of a mile?
4
votes
1answer
276 views
Do I use the plural or singular when referring to a positive number less than one?
I've been trying to work out which of the following make best grammatical sense but have been looking at them for so long now that my mind has turned to mush and they both seem wrong.
Which is ...
6
votes
3answers
397 views
Why don't we pluralize “foot” in measurements?
For example, to answer the question, "How tall are you?" valid answers include:
Five feet.
Five foot three.
Five feet, three inches.
Why the discrepancy between feet and foot, seemingly only in ...
2
votes
1answer
268 views
Is “They all had 15 minutes waits” grammatically correct? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Pluralization rule for “five-year-old children”, “20 pound note”, “10 mile run”
I was reading an article that used the phrase "15 ...
16
votes
2answers
2k views
Pluralization rule for “five-year-old children”, “20 pound note”, “10 mile run”
Why are year, pound and mile in the singular form in the phrases below?
five-year-old children
20 pound note
10 mile run
Is that because they're acting as adjectives, which are always invariable ...
5
votes
3answers
2k views
Are units in English singular or plural?
I am a little bit confused about using units in English, sometimes I hear that people use singular units for plural things, sometimes they use plural ones. Which one is correct?
3 meter(s) long?
...
4
votes
2answers
1k views
Plural/singular verb agreement with units
When writing about specific quantities, should the verb reflect a singular or a plural value? Do abbreviations vs. spelled-out words make any difference?
I took 2 ml of water, which was/were then ...
15
votes
20answers
3k views
Are there other idioms like “a stone's throw away” that both describe an activity and act as a measurement?
If something is quite close by, it could be described as being a stone's throw away; even closer might be a hop, skip and a jump. I'm interested in these "units" of measurement based on human action. ...
1
vote
3answers
2k views
What do you call “one hundredth of a second”?
As in:
He broke the world record of 14.05
I tried searching Wikipedia and ended up with centisecond. It sounds so scientific. What is it called in colloquial English?
1
vote
0answers
85 views
What's the unit for a blueberry? [closed]
What is the unit for a blueberry?
how do you count each blueberries?
ex) 3 pieces of cake
2 slices of pizza
5 ?? of blueberry
Edit: Do the following sentences sound natural?
...
2
votes
2answers
151 views
What is the unit measure used to detect magnetic indentations in a hard drive?
As the title states, what is the unit measure used to detect magnetic indentations in a hard drive?
To clarify, what I mean by indentation is, what is measured to determine if a byte is a 1 or 0?
10
votes
2answers
435 views
How flexible is “a dozen”?
How flexible is the measurement "a dozen"?
If there are nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand people at a rally it is acceptable to say one million people attended, but if eleven people are arrested ...
4
votes
3answers
506 views
Term for measuring in fractions of 1 [closed]
When you measure in fractions of 100, you call it a percentage. When you measure in fractions of 1000, you call it promille or per mil. There are even words for fractions of 10000 or 100000.
But what ...
2
votes
1answer
123 views
How do you refer to grouping numbers in lots of 60? [closed]
We have the term "metric" for things measured in decimal or powers of 1000:
millimeter
meter
kilometer
And the term "hexadecimal" for things measured in base 16.
What term describes grouping ...
1
vote
5answers
529 views
How to correctly express volume units
I have to replace imperial units with metric units in a text, and since this is not technical writing , I have to maintain the prose style and clarity.
This is a troubling phrase: "...the air in 1 ...
16
votes
5answers
880 views
Why is the unit of measure placed before the value for currencies? Are there other measures where the unit precedes value?
$1,000 is pronounced as "one thousand dollars".
Reading from left to right, it seems like it would make more sense to write the value as:
1,000$. This way the pronunciation of the value follows the ...
2
votes
0answers
134 views
Why do we use a leading dollar sign? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicates:
What is the difference between 20$ and $20?
Why is the unit of measure placed before the value for currencies? Are there other measures where the unit precedes value?
...
1
vote
3answers
146 views
What determines whether a numerical prefix is allowable for a unit? [closed]
The prefix centi- means 10-2.
But while centimetre is common, I have never heard of a centiwatt or a centisecond.
The prefix Mega- means 106. Hence Megabytes exist. So why do we not have Megametres?
...
-2
votes
2answers
1k views
Period before or after short form for inches
When writing a sentence that contains the short version of inches as a double quote, (e.g. the box measured 14") does the period come before, or after the quotation mark?
2
votes
1answer
509 views
“Forty foot” or “forty feet”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Pluralization rule for “five-year-old children”, “20 pound note”, “10 mile run”
Is it correct to say
"This is a forty foot drop"
...
9
votes
3answers
677 views
How to write units?
In a scientific article, should I write "3m", "3 m", "3 meters", or "3 [meters]"?
9
votes
3answers
894 views
Punctuation with units
I remember reading somewhere that if a unit is abbreviated as one character, there must not be a space between the number and the unit (e.g., 5m, 26K). If the unit is abbreviated as two or more ...
