“0 Bytes” vs “0 Byte”?

Question

Just was wondering why and Which one is the correct one? or both?

A zero byte file or zero length file is a computer file containing no data; that is, it has a length or size of zero bytes. Zero byte files cannot be loaded or used by most applications.

Ref : Wiki

"0 byte" 741,000 results on Google

"0 bytes" 7,470,000 results on Google

It's unclear what your question is. When describing something in units attributively, the singular unit is used (e.g. forty-degree difference, ten-kilometre run, etc.), as demonstrated in the Wikipedia article you link, and in Should we use plural or singular for a fraction of a mile?, Are units in English singular or plural?, or “A total of 0.0606 moles of NaOH was” or “were”? Or was your question about something else? — choster, Apr 07 '17 at 19:16
Possible duplicate of Correct plural form of a noun preceded by "zero" — FumbleFingers, Apr 10 '17 at 17:16

Mustafa · Accepted Answer · 2017-04-07T19:58:42.060

3

Having "zero" before "plurals" does not necessarily mean zero-quantity. You use zero but still, talk about an "abstract collection". You may find many examples in English. E.g:

I do not have any books

edited Apr 07 '17 at 19:58

answered Apr 07 '17 at 19:26

Mustafa

4,685

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 07 '17 at 19:32

The plural is commonly used after "zero" when identifying a quantity of things. Eg, one might say "There are zero apples in that basket."

As has been suggested in a comment, however, the singular is used when constructing a modifier phrase, as in "We had a zero-apple harvest from that tree."

“0 Bytes” vs “0 Byte”?

2 Answers2