[Grammar] is or are?

[roseriver1012]

Just a simple question. One and a half apples are/is on the table. Which is right? "is" or "are"?



p.s. Just now I looked it up in the dictionary, and found the following two sentences:

One and a half hours are allowed for the exam. An hour and a half is allowed for the exam.

Why? one uses "is", while the other uses "are"? Who can help me?

 

[5jj]

Just a simple question. One and a half apples are/is on the table. Which is right? "is" or "are"?

'Are'. More than one apple is involved.


One and a half hours are allowed for the exam.
Correct. More than one hour is involved.

An hour and a half is allowed for the exam.
Correct. The speaker is thinking of a (singular) unit/amount of time.

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[roseriver1012]

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Then since the speaker can choose to consider it as a unit or not, is it also right to say "One and a half hours is allowed for the exam.", and "An hour and a half are allowed for the exam."?

What about the first sentence I showed? Can it be "one and a half apples is on the table."?

 

[5jj]

Then since the speaker can choose to consider it as a unit or not, is it also right to say "One and a half hours is allowed for the exam.", Yes and "An hour and a half are allowed for the exam."? No. This type of construction, beginning with the indefinite article, is generally used with a singular verb.

What about the first sentence I showed? Can it be "one and a half apples is on the table."?
No, we are talking of a quantity, of more than one apple. However, we can, in different contexts, consider 'one a a half apples' as a quantity: 'One and a half apples is not much to have for lunch'.

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