Name: English Tutor Nick P, Lesson (346( When to Say One and a Half year and One and a Half Years
Uploaded: 2019-07-03T14:37:38.000Z
Duration: 4 min 15 s
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Hi this is Tutor Nick P and this is Lesson  346. The title of today's lesson is

The imperative

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

Sentences with adverbs of degree

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