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For countable nouns you add 's' for non single quantity e.g. 1 hour, 2 hours, -1 degree, -2 degrees

What about 0 hour(s)? 0.5 hour(s)? 1.5 hour(s)?

user1589188
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  • See this for a detailed answer: http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/69162/are-these-plural-or-singular – ba_ul Dec 04 '14 at 04:48

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If the number of units is not equal to one, use the plural noun.

dnagirl
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  • Care to add reference? As 0 hours doesnt sound right to me at all. – user1589188 Dec 03 '14 at 04:42
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    Sorry, just experience. But if it helps, part of that experience is dealing with dynamic text in programming- e.g. Your search returned $number $results. and the standard output is singular $results for $number = 1 and plural $results for everything else, including zero. ps $word means a variable. – dnagirl Dec 03 '14 at 04:47
  • Ok, thats usual practice then, thank you. Although I'm still hoping to see the reference to a grammar rule. – user1589188 Dec 03 '14 at 04:59
  • That is the English grammar rule. Regular nouns get -s on the end for the plural form: noun/nouns. Nouns ending in -y change to -ies: fly/flies. But some nouns are irregular: mouse/mice, moose/moose, goose/geese. You just have to memorize the plural forms. – miltonaut Dec 03 '14 at 06:12
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    Figured it makes more sense to simply comment: 0 + (any noun) always results in the noun being treated plural. 0 hours is correct. Just run a few examples through your head. I'll give you a head start: 0 dogs, 0 chairs, 0 mice, 0 cars, 0 blankets.. it's just always pluralized. I don't know if there is a more elaborate explanation to it than what I just told you though. – J_LV Dec 04 '14 at 04:01