Each question carries 0.5 marks vs Each question carries 0.5 mark

Question

Which one is right and why? Does the answer change if instead of 0.5 we have let say 5.

Please see Should we use plural or singular for a fraction of a mile? and Plurality of numbers between -1 and 1 among others. — choster, Sep 23 '14 at 19:43

DJClayworth · Answer 1 · 2014-09-24T14:44:36.360

1

'0.5 marks' is normal. '0.5 mark' would be unusual. If you wanted to be strict and pedantic you might write '0.5 of a mark', but most people wouldn't. "Half a mark" is also very common.

edited Sep 24 '14 at 14:44

answered Sep 23 '14 at 19:27

DJClayworth

25,795

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 23 '14 at 19:45

0

If we refer strictly to dictionary -one of the meanings is-

An appraisal; a rating. Often used in the plural: earned high marks from her superiors.

Also used to indicate various grades of academic achievement: got a mark of 95 instead of 100.

I can say .....Each question carrries 0.5 (% weightage) marks.

answered Sep 23 '14 at 19:45

Misti

13,774

At least in UK usage, marks are indeed the weighting for a question, but not necessarily a percentage. – DJClayworth Sep 23 '14 at 23:17
#DJClayworth Sure, so would it be correct to say "Each question carrries 0.5 % weightage. – Misti Sep 24 '14 at 14:05
That would be a grammatically correct sentence, though not necessarily meaning the same as the OPs original sentence. – DJClayworth Sep 24 '14 at 14:43

score -3 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 23 '14 at 19:22

-3

Are you trying to say that each question is worth half a percentage point? If so, why not just say it that way?

Further explanation:

"carries" is weird, because one doesn't think of a question being the kind of thing that has arms and can move a heavy item from one place to another. It just isn't the right metaphor.

"mark" is also weird. I know that you can say, especially in Britain, that somebody got "good marks" on a test. But it looks to me like that's a generic usage where "mark" = "grade". And you can't say that a question is worth half a grade.

answered Sep 23 '14 at 19:22

shane

470

1

'mark' is perfectly normal usage in the UK for the number of 'points' awarded for a correct answer. 0.5 marks is only equivalent to 0.5% if the test is out of 100. – DJClayworth Sep 23 '14 at 19:26
So you can say: "Question one is worth 1 mark, Question 2 is worth square root of two marks, Question 3 is worth pi marks." Can a student ask, of some particular test, "How many marks is this worth?" – shane Sep 23 '14 at 19:28
1

And in Germany, getting marks for a correct answer is an economic stimulus. – Sep 23 '14 at 19:31
1

@shane Yes, absolutely you can say that, or ask that. (Leaving aside the issues with non-rational numbers). – DJClayworth Sep 23 '14 at 19:33
In that case, the right answer to my ear would be ".5 of a mark" as you note above. – shane Sep 23 '14 at 19:44

Each question carries 0.5 marks vs Each question carries 0.5 mark

3 Answers3