"I decided to go on holiday for a week. I think 10 days is too many for me."
Am I correct using 'is' instead of 'are'? Or the only way is to change the phrase to '10-days period is too long for me?'
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5Related question, Is it “5–6 weeks are a lot of time” or “5–6 weeks is a lot of time”?, “Four years are” vs. “four years is”. – Dec 26 '15 at 11:51
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Thanks, Rathony, should I delete my question then? – Artyom Lugovoy Dec 26 '15 at 11:59
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No, you can't delete your question after it is answered and the below answer is accepted. Your question will be closed as duplicate as the question on "four years are" vs "four years is" was closed. Please try to use the search before posting a question next time. Happy holidays! – Dec 26 '15 at 12:01
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Happy holidays to you too! Tbh, our (orthodox) Christmas will be on the 7-th of January, and that sentence I've just made up as an example. ;) I had no idea how to find a similar question, what collocation to use for it. :/ – Artyom Lugovoy Dec 26 '15 at 12:13
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It is not that easy as your question doesn't contain a key word for search. If you type "years is years are" in the search as in the link, you will see the duplicate question> Again, it is not that easy. :-) – Dec 26 '15 at 12:13
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Yes, and of course I didn't know that one of that two questions had a " years' " context.))) – Artyom Lugovoy Dec 26 '15 at 12:16
1 Answers
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It's not ungrammatical, but it is unnatural.
Consider the more natural "ten days is too long for me".
"Ten days" is conceptualised there as a single abstact entity, hence singular "is".
BillJ
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Do I understand you right that though the word 'period' is only implied, it's correct to say 'ten days is too long'? – Artyom Lugovoy Dec 26 '15 at 13:05
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1@Артём Луговой Yes, "ten days is too long" is perfectly natural, I can assure you. – BillJ Dec 26 '15 at 13:08