Question

Bahasa Inggris.
Bagaimana penggunaan plural nouns ketika kita melibatkan bilangan tak bulat?
Misalnya,
one apple (normal)
two apples (normal)
three kilometres (normal)
Bagaimana jika 0,5 (half) km? Apakah trmasuk singular atau plural?

Answer 1

Verified answer

Plural of nouns are originally used to denote a quantity more than the default quantity represented by the noun, which is almost always one (normal nouns are usually singular, which means they only represent one object).

The English language tends to use plurals to refer decimals, even if it's less than one. The example you presented (0,5km) contains a common fraction, common fractions less than one may be substituted with a singular expression, for example, 0,5km would be half a kilometer. Other common fractions include a quarter (1/4), one-third (1/3), two-thirds (2/3), and half (1/2).

Examples:
// 0,3 kilometer would use a plural form, therefore written 0,3 kilometers.
// 0,25 miles (notice how it's plural if written with decimals) could be written with singular expressions, therefore written a quarter of a mile.

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Notes and stuff: usage of a singular expression to replace common fractions are not a must, so one can always say, for example, 0,5 loaf of bread (zero point five loaf of bread) instead of "half loaf of bread".