English Experts

[donay mendonça]

Bom dia pessoal!

Me desculpem o tópico mas é que eu estava pensando no is/are quando usamos os números, acho que nunca tinha parado para pensar nisso e nunca tinha "precisado", bom, em português falamos, por exemplo, 2 + 2 são 4. Com isso em mente hoje escrevi um e-mail perguntando o preço de uma coisa e perguntei se o preço de uma revista + o frete era XX, então eu disse "magazine + shipping are $10, right?, no meu pensamento "revista + o frete" são duas coisas e deveria usar "are" procurei no google e achei um video assim... two plus two is 4. Como devo usar?!

David

[Thomas]

2 + 2 ARE 4

You will hear and read "is", but "are" is correct.

To illustrate how often this mistake is made among natives, there was a joke that would ask:
Which is correct? 17 + 8 IS 26, or 17 + 8 ARE 26?


The answer? Neither. 17 + 8 ARE 25.

[dezim]

Obrigado Thomas!! é que eu tinha visto esse video:



E também em uma pesquisa no google, um artigo da Wikipedia chamado "2 + 2 = 5" diz: "two plus two makes four" ai fiquei pensando que como são dois deveria se só make sem "s"

Mas muito obrigado mesmo!


David Bassotto

[Henry Cunha]

I have always used it in the singular. The explanation may be that what we are really saying is

The sum of 2+2 is 4. (or)
Two plus two equals four. (never 'equal')

Would anyone say 10 divided by 2 are five? (No.)

[Henry Cunha]

Or think of it this way: any number used in a mathematical operation is abstracted to being a single number -- in other words, a mass noun. So we say, for example:

Ten is even, and eleven is odd. = Ten is an even number, and eleven is an odd number.

Ten is divided by two in this case.

But if our problem refers to real items, then we say:

Ten candies are to be divided between two children. How many will each child get?

[claudemircloud]

I am a little bit confused about these explanation above...

If we say 2 plus 2 ( the result) is equal to 4 is the same than we say 2 plus 2 is equal the number 4.

In the same way we say that 1 plus 0 is 1 or 1 plus 0 is equal the number 1.


But if we think:

the number 2 plus another number 2 are equal to the number 4



I am not pretty sure about that but I think it is right

[Henry Cunha]

"the number 2 plus another number 2 are equal to the number 4"

Yes, you could say it that way, but this is a kind of blind adherence to grammar rules as opposed to the conveniently simplified language we use to express arithmetic relationships. The addition, multiplication tables are commonly learned using the singular "is" or "equals". The numbers are treated as singular entities, for convenience:

2+2 is [equals] 4.
2x2 is [equals] 4.
1/4 + 1/4 equals 1/2.

This is not a huge issue. If you think using the plural sounds better because of the phrasing, go ahead and use it.