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As far as I know there is is used with singular and there are with plural nouns. However, the following table says:

There is .81 ounces of sugar in an orange.

How can it be explained?

Note: I know there's is used with plural subjects in spoken English, but this is there is, and the context doesn't seem to be informal in an educational textbook.

enter image description here Source: American English File 1 workbook, second edition, page 58

  • 0.81 ounces is less than one ounce – Mari-Lou A May 18 '21 at 05:24
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    @Mari-LouA: That's right, but 0.81 ounces is a plural subject. As you know, we use the plural -s for all numbers except 1. –  May 18 '21 at 05:36
  • Sugar and salt are always "singular" because they are uncountable nouns and I think the use of the singular verb is influenced by the prepositional noun phrases "of sugar" and of salt, the same could be said for using the singular verb for "of jam". This question will attract a lot of discussion (and disagreements) in my opinion. Good luck! – Mari-Lou A May 18 '21 at 05:41
  • @Mari-LouA You are correct about the use of 1. – Brad May 18 '21 at 06:06

2 Answers2

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There is .81 ounces of sugar in an orange.

The problem has arisen with the use of the decimal system with an imperial measurement. Which has lead to someone mistakenly writing "Ounces" not Ounce

Let's consider 0.5 ounces of sugar in an orange.

That would normally be written as half an ounce not "ounces"

we use the plural -s for all numbers except 1 or parts of 1

Therefore it is incorrect it should have been written as

There is 81/100 ounce of sugar in an orange. (There is .81 ounce of sugar in an orange)

Each bottle seasons 25 quarter-pound burgers or roughly six pounds of meat; Ref thefreedictionary.com

However it does seem like this mistake is fairly common. We normally write 450 grams of flour, 450 grams of sugar, 450 of butter and it seems when we decimalise things we keep on writing in the same way. 0.50 pounds of flour, 0.50 pounds of sugar 0.50 pounds of butter. As opposed to when we use the imperial system of fractions when we write; Half a pound of flour, Half a pound of sugar, Half a pound of butter. But it is also notable that in the Cambridge English Dictionary a gram is defined as 0.001 kilogram not 0.001 kilograms

gram; noun [ C ]; (abbreviation g); a unit of measurement of weight equal to 0.001 kilogram

Brad
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When a measurement is being described in a sentence, that quantity takes a singular verb form.

In such cases, the entire quantity is thought of as a single entity that should be considered together, not separately. See the following examples, in which the entire sample was added or tested at a single time:

In total, 10g of tissue was tested. (NOT: 10g of tissue were tested)

Five milliliters of solvent was added to the mixture. (NOT: Five milliliters were added)

Your examples are like those above. They are measured quantities, so they should use "is." In fact, I would argue that the last example, the one that says "16 ounces," should use "is," not "are."

"Calories" is another matter. A calorie is an International System of Units (ISU) measure of heat, like a meter is for distance. The word "calories" when it refers to food is actually short for "kilocalories," a thousand times the heat energy of an actual calorie, but I digress. Just like with grams, millimeters, etc., when a measurement in calories is being described in a sentence, it should really call for a singular verb conjugation, like "is," but for whatever reason, people so often use a plural verb conjugation, like "are," instead that I'm reluctant to call it a grammatical error since English grammar is descriptive, not prescriptive, so I'll just go so far as to say the usage of the plural verb "are" in that example is irregular in the sense that it is inconsistent with how we normally express measurements. Still, what I myself would say, along with many others, is, "There's about 125 calories in a banana," not, "There are about 125 calories in a banana."

Benjamin Harman
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  • "In fact, I would argue that the last example, the one that says '16 ounces,' should use 'is,' not 'are.'" Can we say it depends on the speaker's intention: If you see things as separate items, use 'are', and if you consider the entire quantity as a single entity, use 'is'? –  May 18 '21 at 04:37
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    That's just it— measurements aren't considered separate items, just like money amounts and time aren't. We say, "There's 15 minutes left," not, "There are 15 minutes left," and, "There's five dollars on the bed," not, "There are five dollars on the bed." I mean, in the situation you don't mean the amount five dollars but mean there are five one-dollar bills on the bed, you may say, "There are five dollars on the table," but that's a different meaning. It's clear the table above doesn't mean 16 separate items, like 16 individual, one-ounce packets of jam in a jar. Very good question, though. – Benjamin Harman May 18 '21 at 05:24
  • The last sentence with "are" is perfectly grammatical as are all the others. – Mari-Lou A May 18 '21 at 05:26
  • I disagree totally with this. The plural versions sound better to me in almost every example. – TypeIA May 18 '21 at 05:31
  • Okay, then agree to disagree . I want to point out, though, that all the way down to the paragraph that starts "Your examples" is directly quoted at the underlined link that starts my answer: https://www.aje.com/arc/editing-tip-singular-and-plural-verbs-measured-quantities/ . Cambridge Dictionary also agrees: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/grammar/british-grammar/measurements . Now, I recognize many deviate from this grammar, which I touched on in my last paragraph, and maybe so much so the rules of grammar should change, but until then, my sourced answer is standard grammar, so… – Benjamin Harman May 18 '21 at 06:23
  • Your arguments about 16 ounces I fully agree with. There is 16 ounces, not There are 16 ounces. However the use of was as in Scientific writing is misguided. The two issues are not directly linked. A plural verb is appropriate when items should be considered individually (e.g., "Ten mice underwent surgery"). In this example, so a plural verb Mice is correct. Twenty percent of the participants were assigned to the experimental condition. Is incorrect "Twenty percent of the test was assigned to the experimental condition". Should have been used It is scientific not a story. – Brad May 18 '21 at 07:42
  • The use of "was" in Scientific writing is used to keep the report on target. Un - like Prof Mudrak's wandering narrative. However to return to the point. In total, 10g of tissue was tested. Five milliliters of solvent was added to the mixture. WAS is obviously correct BECAUSE IN BOTH CASES the unit is tissue and solvent, not tissues and solvents. Therefore it has no relation to the original question asked or directly to scientific writing. – Brad May 18 '21 at 08:08
  • Your claim "scientific writing" uses nonstandard grammar to conjugate verbs lacks foundation, but if you have it, please provide it. Until then, we use the foundation in hand: one set of grammar rules corroborated by two sources, one the non-scientific Cambridge Dictionary. That foundation and I agree with you: "solvent" and "tissue" are counted as singular for verb conjugation. So is "jam." So they DO relate to the original question since, grammatically, "15 grams of tissue" is just like "16 ounces of jam," meaning if "There is 15 grams of tissue," then "There is 16 ounces of jam." – Benjamin Harman May 18 '21 at 10:04
  • …not that the subject count of "solvent," "tissue" or "jam" actually has anything to do with it since they're not the subject of their sentences. I was just following your logic, Brad. The subject's never a modifying prepositional phrase, like "of solvent," "of tissue" or "of jam." The subject is the measurement, so "five milliliters," "15 grams" and "16 ounces." While seeming plural, each is a measurement. The cited and corroborated rules of grammar state measurements, time and money count as singular for verb conjugation (e.g., "90 pounds was too much," not, "90 pounds were too much."). – Benjamin Harman May 18 '21 at 10:38