30 minutes parking?
A Japanese friend asked me why some signs say 30 minute parking and not 30 minuteS parking, which he expected would be the case.
I was at a loss. I couldn’t come up with any other examples of this, either. What is this phenomenon called? Any rationale for why we do it this way?
Thanks!
naeboo~ (unregistered)
February 9, 2005, 10:15am
As long as we use the hypen after the quantity, we need to use the unit of measurement (time,length,etc) in the singular form.
egs: 30-year-old man; 30-minute parking
Or, 30 years' of age; 30 minutes' parking in the plural form without the hyphen.
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Gerry Merchant (unregistered)
March 8, 2005, 2:21pm
Nice comment Naeboo but please don't put apostrophes at the end of plural nouns.
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speedwell2
March 8, 2005, 2:27pm
Actually Naeboo's first example is incorrect, but his second example is correct.
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naeboo~ (unregistered)
May 9, 2005, 3:19pm
the examples are all correct.please do some research before correcting. thank you.
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naeboo~ (unregistered)
May 9, 2005, 3:21pm
i think the apostrophes at the end of plural nouns of measurement are quite acceptable too,gerry.
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Sarah (unregistered)
May 9, 2005, 11:58pm
I disagree, naboo--the apostrophes have no place there. The apostrophes in such a spot would imply a possessive ownership, which is not the case. What are your thoughts on why to include them?
The hyphens are correct in my book.
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naeboo~ (unregistered)
May 10, 2005, 5:23am
the apostrophes being there do not mean there had to be some possessive connection to the object in discussion. they are mere illustration of the units of measurement.
that's what i have been taught to use anyways. and wld continue to do so. :)
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naeboo~ (unregistered)
May 10, 2005, 5:26am
maybe i'm wrong. please someone enlighten the legit reason why the apostrophes shldnt be there?
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sarah (unregistered)
May 11, 2005, 1:08am
This explains some of the instances when apostrophes are used in relation to measurement:
http://www.ucalgary.ca/UofC/eduweb/grammar/cour...
This explicitly states it's for SOME cases only:
http://www.bcc.ctc.edu/writinglab/Apostrophe.ht...
This adds that minute or prime notation may sometimes require an apostrophe.
http://www.answers.com/topic/apostrophe-mark
Those are just the first rules I googled and found. Do they make a convincing case for you?
Are you from the U.S.? Maybe it's a regional preference baffling us?
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dave
January 22, 2005, 3:42am
It is quite frequent. Offhand, the general rule appears to be that when a number of minutes (or in fact ANY unit of measurement) is being used as an adjective, "minute" is singular.
E.g.
24-hour fast;
the 4-minute mile;
a 15-minute break.
Or, with non-time-related units of measurement:
A 100-metre run;
A 20-mile hike;
A 5-ton truck.
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Persephone Imytholin (unregistered)
January 22, 2005, 12:48pm
30-minute parking says to me that parking [is allowed for a] 30-minute [period].
While you can run a four-minute mile then have a 15-minute break, you can also hand in your two weeks' notice and take 4 hours' rest. Early Modern English allowed for other variants on this, such as two hours' traffic of the stage.
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dave
January 22, 2005, 1:40pm
In the examples you just gave, "weeks" and "hours" were functioning as nouns rather than adjectives.
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Persephone Imytholin (unregistered)
January 22, 2005, 5:47pm
The point was to show that constructions using plural forms also appear.
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ivy
January 26, 2005, 7:00pm
for those are confused the ' in the hours' show possession
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