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Which of these is correct?

Three spoonfuls of sugar is too much.

or

Three spoonfuls of sugar are too much.

I feel like the second could be correct, because there are more than one spoon. But on second thought, the first one seems correct, because any amount of sugar is uncountable. So which one is correct in your opinion, and why?

user451740
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  • Does this answer your question? Singular or plural verb after units of measure ('Two cups of sugar [was or were] added to the recipe.') //// Scientific measures ('3.1 kg of molasses was added to the pan') and 'in-between' measures ('3 cups/cupfuls of sugar was added to the pan') behave this way. 'Fuzzy measures' 'A handful of companies control the nation's economy' and (other?) pseudo-partitives ('3 boxes of chocolates were delivered') behave differently. – Edwin Ashworth Apr 25 '22 at 15:00

1 Answers1

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The first sound best. One considers Three spoonfuls of sugar to be a single amount, or dose if you will. We are not counting the spoons but the end quantity.

Elliot
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