addictionary
Well-Known Member
here's a question - why when using phrases like "there's a X year age difference" or "there's a X hour time difference" etc - why is the noun (ie, year or hour) singular even though the number is most likely more than one? Examples: there's a three year age difference between my kids, or there's a two hour time difference between Chicago and Los Angeles.
But if you say it like this: the difference is three years or the difference is two hours then you pluralize the noun.
Doesn't that seem odd?
Cause the word year is not a noun but more like an adjective in there. And I think it's more about the word phrases than the rules. Imagine a sentence like "I'm gonna year your sorry young face!" Now it's a verb. The same rule applies to words that hold a value of accountability/quantity. E.g. "Honey can you pay that fifty dollar bill for me? I'm a little down these days." Making it plural makes the saying sound a bit raw. So them English speakers leave it like that.