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  • Hi this is Tutor Nick P and this is Lesson 346. The title of today's lesson is

  • don't say 1/2 years ago or 1 years ago. Okay. Let's take a look at the note here.

  • The rule is anything over one year should be plural. So that's why even if

  • it's just a little bit over one year like a year and a half then we would say

  • you know one and a half years ago. So even though you still say the word 'one'

  • if it's above ... it's above one even if it's only like six months above

  • one we still use the plural. So let's take a look at the examples here. With

  • the X of course, this is wrong. I graduated a 1/2 years ago. No. Of course not

  • because that's a 1/2 year is even less than one year. I graduated a half year

  • ago. Yeah. With the check this of course is correct. I added this one in because

  • even though it's correct to say I graduated a half year ago, I think it's a

  • little more natural to say I graduated six months ago. Let's continue. Let's look

  • at the next one. I graduated one years ago. No. Again , it's right up to one year

  • it still stays singular. It has to be over a year. So you would say I graduated one

  • year ago. Of course that's correct. All right , and then here of course with

  • the X this is wrong. I graduated one and a half year ago. No. This is one where it

  • should be plural because again the half is above one. So of course. If it was a

  • number higher, it's still plural. I graduated two years ago. Definitely. Two is above

  • one or any other number above one. You use the plural.

  • So here of course with the check, this would be right. I graduated one and a

  • half years ago. All right. Now it could be a little tricky because sometimes we do

  • see it written like one and a half . where it may seem like it's singular. So let's

  • look at this note. Now of course if one and a half is made into an adjective

  • that would be singular. Well, that's because all adjectives are singular. So

  • let's take a look at the note here. It is a one and a - half-years program. No. That

  • would be wrong. You should say it is a one-and-a-half year program because one

  • and a half we use hyphens in between, that becomes an adjective.

  • Adjectives are always singular. Yeah. Students often make this sort of mistake.

  • Like they say a five-years-old child. Where it should be a five-year-old child

  • The five-year-old in this case becomes an adjective to the word child. So in

  • this case it stays singular because it's an adjective. Okay and let's continue.

  • There is one other tricky note to this. Now if you put the word 'year' first, the

  • word 'year' stays singular. So let me give you an example here. The war lasted for a

  • years and a half. Of course that's wrong. because if you're saying the 'a' it would

  • have to be singular. Here you're putting the word year first . So if the war lasted

  • for a year and a half. This is correct too, especially when it ends in half.

  • You're not saying ago or you're not continuing with the sentence and you're

  • putting the word year first. Where up here you didn't put the word year first. You

  • put the number first. Like you put the six months or you know a half year or

  • one year, one years ago. You put the number first here if you put the word

  • first , if you put the word year first, it could stay singular. So again , let's just

  • repeat that one last time. The war lasted for a year and a half. This would be okay

  • too. Okay. So I hope you can clearly see the

  • difference of when you're supposed to use it in the plural and when you're

  • supposed to use it in the singular. Anyway, thanks for your time. I hope was

  • informative. Bye-bye.

Hi this is Tutor Nick P and this is Lesson 346. The title of today's lesson is

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