Day or Days

[shevi2027]

Hello!!

"3 days start" or "3 day start" ??

Normally I have heard people use the term "3 day start". But when the number 3 comes in front of the verb "day" doesn't it make it plural ??

Thanks alot...

[rewboss]

It should be written with a hyphen: "three-day start".

The phrase "three-day" is used here as an adjective, not a noun phrase: it modifies the noun "start". When that happens, you don't use the plural of "day".

Here are some more examples:

six-week holiday
eight-hour working day
hundred-metre sprint
71-Hour Ahmed (a character in a Terry Pratchett novel)

[englishstudent]

How about "year" and "years"?

This sentence I came across does not sound
right.

"A was six year old when B decided to
send him to school."

Shouldn't this be either
"A was six years old when......"
or
"A was a six-year old child ....."

Thanks

[Casiopea]

Lyrics from Gilligan's Island, an American TV show: "a 3 day tour". The word 'day' functions as an adjective, and adjectives don't take plural -s.

[Casiopea]

"A was six years old . . . "

How old? [Six years] old (See Food for Thought below)
How many tour days? Three [tour days]
What kind of tour? A three-day tour.

Hope that helps.

Food for Thought
Q: How old were you when you made your first step?
A: I was one years old.
B: I was one year old.

Which one is correct, A or B?

[englishstudent]

Casiopea, yes, it helps. Thank you. :)

Regarding, the Food for Thought,
I would answer "B" :)

[Casiopea]

Oops. C) I was a year old.

[shevi2027]

"A was six years old . . . "

How old? [Six years] old (See Food for Thought below)
How many tour days? Three [tour days]
What kind of tour? A three-day tour.

Hope that helps.

Food for Thought
Q: How old were you when you made your first step?
A: I was one years old.
B: I was one year old.

Which one is correct, A or B?

B is correct..isn't it??

[Casiopea]

Welcome, shevi.

In my dialect, North American, it's common to say, "I was a one year old". Given the rules of English grammar (See the example, "one month", below), "I was one year old (at the time)" seems to be correct; however, it's not something I've ever heard anyone say, which isn't to say it's not correct.

Q: How old were you when your family moved to the USA?
A: I was one month old.

[rewboss]

Welcome, shevi.
In my dialect, North American, it's common to say, "I was a one year old". Given the rules of English grammar (See the example, "one month", below), "I was one year old (at the time)" seems to be correct; however, it's not something I've ever heard anyone say, which isn't to say it's not correct.

The correct punctuation would help clear things up a bit. It's not "a one year old", it's "a one-year-old". Here, "one-year-old" is an adjective functioning as a noun -- very unusual in English, but it does happen.

It functions as a noun because it can be turned into a plural: "One-year-olds cannot be expected to speak three languages". This is the same as "One-year-old children cannot be..."