Ten years is vs Ten years have

[Winwin2011]

1. Ten years is a long time to wait.
2. Ten years have passed since I last Tom..

Sentence 1 uses singular verb to be and sentence 2 uses plural verb to be.
Could anybody tell me why, please?

 

[emsr2d2]

1. Ten years is a long time to wait.
2. Ten years have passed since I last Tom..

Sentence 1 uses singular verb to be and sentence 2 uses plural verb to be.
Could anybody tell me why, please?

In the first sentence, it is taken to be "A period of ten years ..." so is followed by the singular.
In the second sentence, it is taken to mean "Ten individual years ..." so is followed by the plural.

Sentence 2 could be reworded to "Ten years was a long time to wait before seeing Tom again".

 

[Odessa Dawn]

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I think you meant in the second sentence you wrote ... is followed by the plural, didn't you?

Thank you, ems.
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[emsr2d2]

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I think you meant in the second sentence you wrote ... is followed by the plural, didn't you?

Thank you, ems.
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You're right. Well spotted. Thank you. I have edited my post. Thank you.