Grammar - verb

Status
Not open for further replies.

chanbr

Junior Member
Joined
May 21, 2009
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Hong Kong
Current Location
United States
Hi,

Can I use "is" for the following sentence?

Roughly 8-man hours is required for cleaning.
 

SoothingDave

VIP Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2009
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
No, use "are." Hours are.
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
Hi,

Can I use "is" for the following sentence?

Roughly 8-man hours is required for cleaning.

Hours would be followed by the plural "are". Also, your hyphen is in the wrong place. They are not "8-man hours", they are "eight man-hours". I'm not sure if everyone still uses "man-hours". In these politically correct times, I have heard "person-hours" used to denote that a job is not specific to one gender.
 

SoothingDave

VIP Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2009
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
Hours would be followed by the plural "are". Also, your hyphen is in the wrong place. They are not "8-man hours", they are "eight man-hours". I'm not sure if everyone still uses "man-hours". In these politically correct times, I have heard "person-hours" used to denote that a job is not specific to one gender.

We still have "manhours" in my experience. Though "man machine interfaces" are now "human machine interfaces."
 

chanbr

Junior Member
Joined
May 21, 2009
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Hong Kong
Current Location
United States
Thank you very much. Learned something today.
 

Barb_D

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Mar 12, 2007
Member Type
Other
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
I say "labor hours" in my business writing.

However, I'm okay with the singular verb.

Eight hours is a quanitity, the same way "One hundred dollars is not too much to pay" is a quantity or "three miles is a little far to walk" or "three hours is a little too far for a day trip."

I'd accept either one.
 

5jj

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 14, 2010
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
Czech Republic
Current Location
Czech Republic
I'm okay with the singular verb.

Eight hours is a quanitity, the same way "One hundred dollars is not too much to pay" is a quantity or "three miles is a little far to walk" or "three hours is a little too far for a day trip."
I agree. For me, 'are' is fine.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top