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"the 90s were the best decade ever" or "the 90s was the best decade ever"

"the 90s" and "decade" are both referring to the same singular period of 10 years, so "was" seems to make more sense. "90s were" rolls off the tongue better though.

herisson
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    The 90s was better than the 80s, I guess, but best??? – Hot Licks Aug 12 '15 at 19:23
  • I've heard/seen both and I think of it as either a collection of ten individual years for the "were" use case or one unit of ten years for the "was" use case – psosuna May 24 '18 at 00:36
  • It it is considered as a number (ten) of years 'the forties were a significant period' I think it should be plural. If it is considered as a decade 'the forties was a significant decade' I think it should be singular. There is a conceptual difference. – Nigel J May 24 '18 at 09:47

2 Answers2

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I feel that this may well be a duplicate, but I can't discover an original.

These Google Ngrams show that decades are used with singular or plural agreement. They're essentially collective nouns for the years they contain. At least in the UK, referring to the Thirties say (and notice that the noun is often regarded as a proper name) and having in mind the complete time interval would be regarded as looking at a single interval, and be used with a singular-form verb:

The Thirties was the time that saw the rise of Nazism.

Sometimes, proximity agreement sounds far more natural:

The Sixties were the best years of the 20th Century.

I agree that the more logical 'The Sixties was the best decade ever' sounds rather unnatural, so I'd rephrase.

Edwin Ashworth
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    In your second example "decade" is not mentioned, nor is there a singular noun such as "the time" nearby. The OP's sentence could be read as "The [decade of] the 90s ...", making "was" appropriate. – Hot Licks Aug 12 '15 at 19:26
  • Thanks for the research! Yeah I kind of knew what the correct answer was but I was more wondering if it was acceptable to use "were". But I did end up rephrasing the sentence I was going to use. –  Aug 12 '15 at 19:30
  • @andrewtweber: I see Google Books has 44 instances of the 70s was* a decade*, and 26 of the 70s were* a decade*, so I think it's reasonable to say both forms exist, and both are therefore by implication "acceptable". You might find you like The best decade was* the sixties* more, simply because that word order steers you towards expecting a singular verb rather than suddenly springing it on you – FumbleFingers Aug 12 '15 at 20:47
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I honestly have no idea but I think it would be "was" wouldn't it? I mean, the 90s (or whatever you are referring to, such as the 40s or 80s or something) is technically a plural, since you are speaking about a decade, or multiple years. This is very confusing, and though I have asked several people, no one seems so agree on the correct answer...

Some people may argue that the 90s is A decade, not more than one decade. Maybe they're right, and, because of this, the correct answer would be "was". This is a huge argument that must be taken into consideration.

I agree with both sides, but I think that "were" is the clearest response. Be sure to respond and let me know what you think!!

ChRiStY bA bLiStY
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