Re: inch/inches

[Anne Krabach <annek@toto.csustan.edu>]

"Inch" is an adjective when it describes the fish.



On Thu, 28 Oct 1999, Gillian Jordan wrote:

> Dear Grammarians,
> 
> On a paper a student wrote:  The lobster (three and a half inch) was too
> small  to meet the legal limit. 
> 
> When the Instructor said that the student should use "inches" instead of
> inch (because it was plural), the student disagreed and cited the following
> example: I caught a six inch fish.
> 
> Why is inch singular when is comes before the noun, yet plural when it
> comes after: The fish was six inches long?  Can you help?
> 
> 
> Assistant Professor of English
> UMA/UCB
> 262-7753
> 
>