Fraction is plural or singular?

[lagrange]

I would like to ask if a fraction quantity of less than one is plural or singular.

for example: 0.5 hour or 0.5 hours ??

Fraction quantity of more than one should be plural, correct?

4.5 hours ?


Thank you.

 

[Not Logged In]

You would say half an hour or thirty minutes not 0.5 of an hour.

 

[lagrange]

Thank you.
I know that way to say but you can see sometimes such as in a scientific paper, people write 0.5 hour, 1.5 hour etc.

Can you guide me?

 

[Aya del Playa]

It depends (context)! If you're saying, for example, "at 0.5 hours the reaction had not begun, at 1.0 hours the reaction [etc.]," then you would use the plural throughout. In general, in science writing, you'd use the plural. (But not always! CONTEXT )

 

[JamesM]

Thank you.
I know that way to say but you can see sometimes such as in a scientific paper, people write 0.5 hour, 1.5 hour etc.

Can you guide me?

Personally, I would consider anything that included a decimal portion of an hour to be followed by "hours": 0.5 hours, 1.5 hours, 1.1 hours, 0.0 hours, even 1.0 hours. If it were were written in a fraction, though, I would expect anything above 0 and up to 1 to be "hour": 1/10 hour, 1/2 hour, 3/4 hour, 1 hour, 1 3/4 hours. (I would read these out loud as "one tenth of an hour", "a/one half-hour", "three-quarters of an hour", "one hour", "one and three-quarters hours").

In timekeeping (such as timecards), it's common in AE to see "hr." rather than "hour" and "hrs." rather than "hours".

 

[Giordano Bruno]

I agree with JamesM.

I would say "Point five inches" or "Point five of an inch". Thus the singular form is used only for the single unit and not for amounts greater or less.

 

[. 1]

I agree with James on everything except the combination of a digit and fraction.

One and three quarter hours.
An hour and three quarters.

I can not explain it but English does not seem to like double multiples in the same phrase.

.,,

 

[JamesM]

I agree with James on everything except the combination of a digit and fraction.

One and three quarter hours.
An hour and three quarters.

I can not explain it but English does not seem to like double multiples in the same phrase.

.,,

Now that I see yours in print, I think it's much better than mine. I vote for .,,'s version.