I saw an eight-foot bear in the zoo?

[keannu]

For counting unit,does only foot work here or feet as well?

ex)I saw an eight-foot(feet) bear in the zoo.

 

[bhaisahab]

For counting unit,does only foot work here or feet as well?

ex)I saw an eight-foot(feet) bear in the zoo.

"I saw an eight-foot bear..." is correct. Alternatively you could say, "I saw a bear that was eight feet tall..."

 

[birdeen's call]

How about "...that was eight foot tall"?

 

[5jj]

How about "...that was eight foot tall"?

I say it.

 

[Raymott]

I say, "a 2.4 metre bear"

 

[bhaisahab]

I say, "a 2.4 metre bear"

A 2.438 metre bear, surely.;-)

 

[Roselin]

eight-foot (with hyphen singular) .. eight feet ( without hyphen plural)
two-inch... two inches

two-metre.. two metres

 

[freezeframe]

For counting unit,does only foot work here or feet as well?

ex)I saw an eight-foot(feet) bear in the zoo.

I thought this thread would be about a bear that has 8 legs. Severely disappointed. :-(

 

[JMurray]

I thought this thread would be about a bear that has 8 legs. Severely disappointed.

freezeframe: something like this?
(click on me)

 

[5jj]

eight-foot (with hyphen singular) .. eight feet ( without hyphen plural)

It would be nice if it worked that way, but it doesn't seem to. I am six foot tall without a hyphen or my shoes.

 

[Roselin]

It would be nice if it worked that way, but it doesn't seem to. I am six foot tall without a hyphen or my shoes.

can we say " I am SIX FOOT tall" ? One of our English teachers said that six foot was wrong, it should be six feet... and if we want to say six foot then it sould be hyphenated and taken as an adjective.

 

[5jj]

can we say " I am SIX FOOT tall" ? One of our English teachers said that six foot was wrong, it should be six feet... and if we want to say six foot then it sould be hyphenated and taken as an adjective.

"I am six foot tall" is perfectly acceptable English, as is "I am six feet tall". We do indeed hyphenate the words when they are used adjectivally before the noun - "Her new husband was a six-foot tall athlete".

 

[Raymott]

I thought this thread would be about a bear that has 8 legs. Severely disappointed.

freezeframe: something like this?
(click on me)

Um ... doesn't this bearspider have ten legs? Is it a new species? Ursarachnoidea decapodica?

 

[Barb_D]

I wouldn't say I am six foot tall (even if it were true). Only feet works here for me.

 

[5jj]

I wouldn't say I am six foot tall (even if it were true). Only feet works here for me.

Is that a personal response, or a general AmE one?

I ask, because it seems to me that I am six foot tall is completely acceptable in BrE. THE OALD even gives 'foot' as an alternative form (to 'feet') for the plural. I find that hard to accept; I would, for example, never say, "We are flying at 35,00 foot". However, talking about one's height, or the dimensions of my vegetable patch, 'foot' appears to be acceptable in BrE.

It seems to work when the word is followed by an 'explainer' - tall, long, deep, etc. Interestingly (for me, at least) this usage of what I consider to be a singular form does not work with other units of measurement, for example, inch, yard, mile, metre, pound, etc, though I do weigh foureteen stone seven.

 

[Barb_D]

I don't *think* it's personal. We might say "He stands about six foot" but once you add "tall" you use "feet." (Unless it's premodifying a noun, of course - an eight-foot-tall bear.)

The box is about six feet tall and four feet wide, The box is six feet tall.

Does it change for you if you add another dimension? Would you say "The box is six foot tall and four foot wide?"

 

[birdeen's call]

COCA search:

-1.[mc*] foot tall (meaning: a cardinal number different from 1 followed by "foot tall") - 62

[mc*] feet tall (meaning: a cardinal number followed by "feet tall") - 1762

BNC search:

-1.[mc*] foot tall - 28

[mc*] feet tall - 137

This could be interesting to you: AUE: FAQ excerpt: Why do we say "30 years old", but "a 30-year-old man"?

 

[5jj]

I don't *think* it's personal. We might say "He stands about six foot" but once you add "tall" you use "feet." (Unless it's premodifying a noun, of course - an eight-foot-tall bear.)

The box is about six feet tall and four feet wide, The box is six feet tall.

Does it change for you if you add another dimension? Would you say "The box is six foot tall and four foot wide?"

Thanks for that. I find it interesting that you can say 'he stands about six foot', but not 'he stands about six foot tall'. There seems to be no more system in the AmE way of things than in the BrE.

In answer to you last question - no. I am happy with 'six foot tall, four foot wide and two foot deep'.

 

[Barb_D]

Let's chalk it up to another pondial difference, then!

 

[5jj]

Let's chalk it up to another pondial difference, then!

Yup. It's fun. It would be so boring if we all spoke and wrote in the same way.