grammatical number - When to, and when not to pluralise month?


Can someone please explain the correct way of pluralising month, for instance why do we sometimes use months or month, such as:


"Victor is a 7 month old baby"


and


"Victor is 7 months old"


What is the grammar behind this?



Answer





  1. '7 month old' is actually '7-month-old'. It serves as an attribute that modifies a noun. (e.g. old in the old dog.)


    It is adjectival and therefore has no plural form. You need to put an article in front of it and a noun after it.


    For example: He is a 7-year-old boy.




  2. 'is 7 months old' is a predicate that states something about the subject. (e.g. old in the dog is old.)


    In this case, adding -s to the end of year is the proper and regular way.


    For example: The boy is 7 years old.




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