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Which of these two statements is correct?

Did you know 1 in 4 kids have an undetected vision problem?

Did you know 1 in 4 kids has an undetected vision problem?

Community
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Layton Everson
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  • Both versions are acceptable and are standard English. For more info, there's the 2002 reference grammar by Huddleston and Pullum et al., The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (CGEL), page 504, in the section on proportional constructions, example [15.iii] "One in a hundred students takes/take drugs." – F.E. Feb 19 '15 at 20:49
  • Do you mean 1 out of 4 specific kids, or do you mean 1/4 of all kids? – Barmar Feb 19 '15 at 21:02
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    It looks like your thread is about to be closed. :( -- Let me give you a brief explanation on your example. "Did you know [ (that) 1 in 4 kids has/have an undetected vision problem] ?" has a subordinate clause ("[ (that) 1 in 4 kids … problem]") and the subject of that subordinate clause is the noun phrase "one in four kids". The subject is plural in number due to the plural head "kids" and that supports a plural verb ("have"), but the singular "one" within the subject allows the optional singular override ("has"). – F.E. Feb 19 '15 at 21:32
  • The statement is referring to 25% of children. – Layton Everson Feb 20 '15 at 01:20

3 Answers3

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You want to use "has," as the subject is one kid, not four kids. This is the kind of thing where the technically correct version doesn't sound as good to our ears as the alternative, but the logic makes sense if you restructure the sentence: "Did you know that in 4 kids, 1 has an undetected vision problem?"

Zachary Ellington
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Since your sentences refers only to one kid, the verb should be "has."

Fred Bailey
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  • It doesn't refer only to one kid. It refers to 1/4 of all kids. – Barmar Feb 19 '15 at 21:01
  • That's true that when worded as an actual fraction, the verb would be plural. But if worded as given, that is, "one in [plural]," the verb is singular. Think of the phrase as "one [kid] in four kids." – Fred Bailey Feb 19 '15 at 21:12
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    Have you looked at the linked duplicate question? The answers there indicate that there's no definitive rule one way or the other. – Barmar Feb 19 '15 at 21:18
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    Why can't we think of the phrase as "one quarter of the kids"? – Edwin Ashworth Feb 19 '15 at 21:50
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"Have". Fractions are grammatically plural -- 0.25 kids on average have a problem.

Greg Lee
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