More than 10% of Japan’s population is now age 80 or older, the government said Monday, the latest worrying milestone in the rapidly graying country’s demographic crisis.
Regarding the actual article, I have nothing to add that hasn’t been discussed already (and at this point I bet nobody will see this comment anyway). However, the specific grammar error in the title annoys me to no end, so I wanted to vent.
…one in 10 residents are…
It should be “…one in 10 residents is…”
People seem to forget how to conjugate after three words. Similarly, all too often I read something like, “None of these things are…” I don’t have an English degree, but in my mind parsing that phrase is like nails on a chalkboard.
For the 0 of you still reading, a tip: You can omit certain parts of the sentence - and expand others - to test how the subject-verb pair sounds.
“None of these things are…” -> “Not one of these things are…” -> “Not one are…” Wtf??
Anyway, thanks for listening to my Ted Talk Ralph Rant.
But both examples you’re suggesting sound wrong to me, and here’s why.
“One in ten residents is” ignores the fact that you’re actually referring to roughly 10 million people. As in, “in Japan, 10 million people are over 80”. If you were maybe saying something like “one of these ten people is” that makes more sense.
“None of these things is” ignores the fact you’re talking about a quantity of 0. It’s not the same as “not one of these things” because that is just a negation of “one of these things” you’re saying “0 things are”.
It may not be formally or technically correct, but I’m a native English speaker and they just feel right.
You just hurt my brain, but in a good way, like scraping off a layer of rust.
On the first point, you’ve convinced me. I wasn’t thinking about the context of the phrase. After factoring that in, it makes more sense the way you put it.
But I’m still stuck on the second one. I don’t disagree with the way you explained it, but for some reason I can’t reconcile your reasoning with my intuition. Unfortunately, the only way I can rationalize it is by gesturing broadly toward older literature, from the early 20th century. There’s something about the artistic style people used that I’ve always found beautiful, and my usage of “not one”, to me, kind of fits. I admit it makes no logical sense, but in my mind it feels as correct as anything else.
Regardless, I’ll consider your logic next time I use “none” because you’re definitely not wrong about it.
“Not one are” sounds wrong to me but “None are” sounds correct. I want to check English rules, one sec
Okay, so it appears “none” can be singular or plural. So it can also mean “not one of any” so “none are” is grammatically correct. Interestingly, “none is” vs “none are” is apparently something not infrequently debated.
“1 in 10 residents” does not refer to a person but a proportion of people, which is a plurality of people. Change it to “10% of residents” and it’s clear that 'are"is more gooder.
If you want to super expand it…
A proportion of 1 in 10 residents are…
Or
Proportionally 1 in 10 residents are…
Aaand also…
“are” acts on “residents”, not “1 in 10”. “1 in 10” is an adjective phrase. Residents is the noun.
Regarding the actual article, I have nothing to add that hasn’t been discussed already (and at this point I bet nobody will see this comment anyway). However, the specific grammar error in the title annoys me to no end, so I wanted to vent.
It should be “…one in 10 residents is…”
People seem to forget how to conjugate after three words. Similarly, all too often I read something like, “None of these things are…” I don’t have an English degree, but in my mind parsing that phrase is like nails on a chalkboard.
For the 0 of you still reading, a tip: You can omit certain parts of the sentence - and expand others - to test how the subject-verb pair sounds.
“None of these things are…” -> “Not one
of these thingsare…” -> “Not one are…” Wtf??Anyway, thanks for listening to my
Ted TalkRalph Rant.I see you.
But both examples you’re suggesting sound wrong to me, and here’s why.
“One in ten residents is” ignores the fact that you’re actually referring to roughly 10 million people. As in, “in Japan, 10 million people are over 80”. If you were maybe saying something like “one of these ten people is” that makes more sense.
“None of these things is” ignores the fact you’re talking about a quantity of 0. It’s not the same as “not one of these things” because that is just a negation of “one of these things” you’re saying “0 things are”.
It may not be formally or technically correct, but I’m a native English speaker and they just feel right.
You just hurt my brain, but in a good way, like scraping off a layer of rust.
On the first point, you’ve convinced me. I wasn’t thinking about the context of the phrase. After factoring that in, it makes more sense the way you put it.
But I’m still stuck on the second one. I don’t disagree with the way you explained it, but for some reason I can’t reconcile your reasoning with my intuition. Unfortunately, the only way I can rationalize it is by gesturing broadly toward older literature, from the early 20th century. There’s something about the artistic style people used that I’ve always found beautiful, and my usage of “not one”, to me, kind of fits. I admit it makes no logical sense, but in my mind it feels as correct as anything else.
Regardless, I’ll consider your logic next time I use “none” because you’re definitely not wrong about it.
“Not one are” sounds wrong to me but “None are” sounds correct. I want to check English rules, one sec
Okay, so it appears “none” can be singular or plural. So it can also mean “not one of any” so “none are” is grammatically correct. Interestingly, “none is” vs “none are” is apparently something not infrequently debated.
Sources: Grammarbook
Merriam Webster
Also, could someone tell me how to force a line break?
That’s interesting. I should explore the syntax of my native language more, haha. Thanks for the sources!
As for line breaks, I’m not sure if some variant of \n works (guess we’ll find out), but I just hit enter twice when I want one.
For some reason it didn’t work there. Oh well
deleted by creator
“1 in 10 residents” does not refer to a person but a proportion of people, which is a plurality of people. Change it to “10% of residents” and it’s clear that 'are"is more gooder.
If you want to super expand it…
A proportion of 1 in 10 residents are…
Or
Proportionally 1 in 10 residents are…
Aaand also…
“are” acts on “residents”, not “1 in 10”. “1 in 10” is an adjective phrase. Residents is the noun.