Ten people are/is enough?

[pinkie9]

- Ten people are enough for a party.
- Ten people is enough for a party.

I know that are is usually used when the subject is plural.
But I think is is correct in this case, because "ten people" is considered one thing here. Am I right?
Is "Ten people are..." also okay?

 

[JohnParis]

Actually, both are correct. It's a question of style and perhaps a smidgen of BrE versus AmE.
Here are two sentences that express the same conundrum:
British Airways are pleased to announce new service from London to Denver.
United Airlines is pleased to announce new service from Denver to London.
Both are fine and used often. Just be consistent in your writing.

 

[YouWishYouKnew]

No teacher here.

I heard that "is enough" was the important part.
5 minutes is enough to finish my work.
10 people is enough for a party.
2 cars is enough for me.

I'm not 100% sure, though.
Hopefully some other members will give us their opinion.

You must always remember:
A language is not math.
In math 1 +1 = 2, no ifs, no buts no ands.
In a language there's often more than one solution.

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Many years ago there was a very popular TV show about a family with eight children.

The name of the program was "Eight IS Enough."

(Some people might say that it was a short way to say: a TOTAL of eight children IS enough.)

 

[Tdol]

I agree with JohnParis that both are OK. Choice could be determined by context- the doorman, say, who has let ten people in and doesn't want any more might feel that the plural worked better, but the party planner or person talking in abstract might go for the singular.

 

[pinkie9]

I see. Thank you so much!

 

[emsr2d2]

1 +1 = 2

Even this simple statement would cause differences in opinion as far as language is concerned. That sum could be read aloud as:

One plus one equals two.
One and one is two.
One plus one is two.
One and one are two.
One and one make two.
One and one makes two.