How much is /How much are

[ripley]

Hi,
Can I say:
1. How much are 150 gr. ham?
or should I use the singular form anyway?

2. How much is 150 gr. ham?

Thanks. Rip.

[Alc112]

Hi,
Can I say:
1. How much are 150 gr. ham?
or should I use the singular form anyway?

2. How much is 150 gr. ham?

Thanks. Rip.

i don't know why you used ham as an uncountable noun.
I can say 1 ham, 2 hams
So...
How many is 150 gr ham?

Please correct me!!!!
I'm not sure

[Tdol]

i don't know why you used ham as an uncountable noun.
I can say 1 ham, 2 hams
So...
How many is 150 gr ham?

Please correct me!!!!
I'm not sure

I will correct you.
Ham can be both uncountable and coutable, and it is normally uncountable. If we are buying the whole piece of meat, the entire leg, we buy 'a ham', but most of us buy in smaller quantities, so we buy the meat, which is uncountable, so it should be 'How much is 150 g of ham?'

[Alc112]

I will correct you.
Ham can be both uncountable and coutable, and it is normally uncountable. If we are buying the whole piece of meat, the entire leg, we buy 'a ham', but most of us buy in smaller quantities, so we buy the meat, which is uncountable, so it should be 'How much is 150 g of ham?'

Thank you!!!
what's your name?

[Tdol]

You're welcome.

Richard

[ripley]

Hi, Richard,
I still can't understand why you have to use how much if you are talking about grammes, which are plural.

Why can't you say
1How much are 200 grammes ham? or
2 How much are 200 grammes oranges? as an alternative to

3How much do 200 grammes ham cost?
4 How much do 200 grammes oranges cost?

Thanks Rip (Samuela, girl)

[Tdol]

Samuela, think about your puchase- you're buying ham, the division into grammes is less important than the meat. You'd say 'how mush is two litres of water', but 'how much are two bottles of water'. What you are buying is the key to singualr and plural more than the unit.

[Casiopea]

In addition, it's the quantity that's in focus. For example, the subjects and subject complements below are underlined and the verbs they agree with are in bold:

This quantity is how much? (singular subject + singular verb)
How much is this quantity?

This quantity costs how much? (singular subject + singular verb)
How much does this quantity of ham cost?

Note, DO carries -s: "does cost". Without DO, the verb "cost" carries -s: costs.

Also,

These 200g bags are how much? (Plural subject + plural verb)
How much are these 200g bags?

This 200g bag is how much? (Singular subject + singular verb)
How much is this 200g bag?

This 200g bag of apples is how much? (Singular subject + singular verb)
How much is this 200g bag of apples?