Are there any other examples of times when reality breaks grammar and we just have to deal with it?
Example: Zero...it's a number so it has to be singular or plural, but since it isn't singular or plural, we just made it plural. "There are zero marbles."
Example: Zero...it's a number so it has to be singular or plural, but since it isn't singular or plural, we just made it plural. "There are zero marbles."
Comments
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BccyQaNKXz8
It’s also a noun when we speak of the plane, a loser, or the incredible actor.
Each of which would add the expected “-es” plural suffix if there were more than one!
(Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo)
And zero fucks were given"
They pulled up their pants...?
I've been a writer too many years ... I mean WE'VE.....
There are zero marbles
There is zero marble
Now, contextually, one of those suggests that we have a dearth of spherical glass game pieces. The other suggests that the quarry is tapped out. But that's a different conversation.
In this context, the noun is used as a unit, and the singular is the exception
caffeine just hit
And millions reclaimed their health and family.
Now is the time for QUIET BOYCOTTING
And millions will break free from the illusion of prosperity.
An illusion created and billionaires to steal food from your family table.
DONT BUY IT, YOU DONT NEED IT.
Singular.
There are zero marbles.
There are marbles.
There are red marbles.
There is the singular and the non-singular
Zero qualms
Are you saying that “no” is also plural? “There are no marbles?”
No. It’s simply how negation works. We usually generalize/pluralize the noun. But adjectives in English don’t have plural/singular aspects.
I know you’re playing with the idea of haha it’s zero, but it’s a plural noun! Haha! But idk it’s not breaking any grammar rules.
Maybe some semantics ?? But not grammar imo
There are some marbles.
There are zero marbles.
It's a quantity modifier, not a count modifier.
Zero = none
There are none.
There are some.
French, German, Celt, Nord, Britannic.
Be like English, choose.
The rancid phlegm that bankrupted 4 casinos is right on track to do it to the richest country in the history of the world.
It will surely decimate all our lives but for him?
It’s a Tuesday. Like today, it’s literally a Tuesday.
@hankgreen.bsky.social was talking about reality breaking grammar & here you are.
Ya’duns learnt me suh’em!
It's not reality breaking grammar, it's just grammar.
We're trying to figure out how and if that divide (which is found across many languages) is linked to human cognition. For the time being, we've definitely not concluded, but that's what that is.
"There are zero marbles" (count; marble as countable object; potential context: Assuring your blind friend that it's safe to cross the floor now)
"Binary is a code made up of ones and zeroes"
A whole ‘nother
https://bsky.app/profile/hankgreen.bsky.social/post/3ljkwh77c5c2u
There is zero marble?
🫤
Half mile.
Three-quarter miles.
three quarters of a mile
Strange one, Hank!
E.g. He has zero lucky charms.
He has zero luck.
If you write:
He has a zero lucky charm.
Zero acts as an adjective and we assume it’s the shape of the charm, etc.
The answer to "how many marbles _are_ there?" makes sense as "there are zero marbles," but not as "there is zero marbles."
That's not broken grammar, but I think it's worth investigating!
On an actually serious note: pretty sure "There are zero marbles" just intuitively follows the pattern of "There are no marbles / There aren't any marbles."
similarly , “zero” exists in a linguistic superposition… it’s neither singular nor plural in a strict sense, but for practical use, we “measure” it as plural (“There are zero marbles”).
I love Quantums… and I cannot lie…
Schroedingers Zero
Being singular would be odd.
but what is raining?
"it"
what is "it"?
"*gestures broadly*"
Idk if I explained that well but I hope you get me.
"Wha...?"
I don't have any marbles.
I have no marble.
zero mostel was in ‘The Producers’
“There is zero chance.”
“There are zero marbles”
oh and you cant divide with it or something, idk im just trying to quote young sheldon lol
Similar to how we technically don’t have a future morphological tense, but instead a “past,” and “non-past.”
Plural is the default state. Singular is the exception (only applies to 1)
Per your question:
You cannot convince me Alibi isn’t simultaneously Singular, Plural, Noun, and Verb.
Amount of zeros right there.
Zero more on that list?
Zero functions perfectly as a noun.
How many problems do I have with that? There are NO marbles.
Zero came after English grammar stabilised, we used the partative for no things: I have no marbles.
English partative looks like the plural sometimes. So it's confusing ppl.
“The crowd are going wild”
*It’s probably just Americans devolving the English language, but that one stuck in my head
btw, im sure the "devolving" bit is a joke, but it's important to stress that these differences are neutral, not better or worse
"The crowd's going wild" (i.e. is) is what we'd normally say.
Nevertheless, the issue of how to treat collective nouns, which are, grammatically speaking, singular, often troubles the careful writer. (I tend to rewrite, to avoid...)
VS.
I have zero patience (uncountable, zero clearly singular)
Zero (integral) apples
Zero (continuous) chance
(cf fewer vs less)
There is zero data
There are zero data
:D
"Marbles" means we still have hope.
my comment was with humorous intent, but i can be very unfunny so
The song is really great though!
I meant to say that neither 0.5 or -4 is plural.
How many marbles are there? One. There are one marbles.
Seems fine to me
How many marbles are there?
One. There is one marble.
The number of marbles is 2
I was bad at grammar in school so I focus on the “rule” for “are vs is” = plural vs singular and get confused at why “is” works for both 1 or 2 marbles
If I step back from being afraid of grammar, I see “number” is singular so it is “is”
It makes mathematical sense.
I have zero marbles right now.
The existence of Contranyms.
(Over here, we'd say "There's..." - which amounts to the same thing, grammatically speaking.)
Which is, in its essence, the exact opposite of zero.
My current reality has me running out of proper terms for a thing.
Made a little post about it. Like to hear it? Here it go... https://bsky.app/profile/therasmussen.bsky.social/post/3ljdopoap522f
"Buffalo buffalo (Buffalo buffalo buffalo) buffalo Buffalo buffalo."
This is a grammatically correct sentence.
Like, no one has ever observed or actually interacted with physical nothing. Nobody, ever. And you have all of these people making conclusions
Pretty funny really
The concept of "time" is kind of similar
Meanwhile, physicists are like "dude does your GPS work or not"
Like, it flows at different rates in different places, and we've measured it. Of course it's real