One Big Mistake in English Writing and Speaking | [Five Billion or Five Billions - Which One is Correct?]
Common Grammatical Mistakes
When a specific number is placed before or at the beginning of Hundred, Thousand, Lakh, Million, Billion, Dozen, etc. we don't put an 's' at the end of Hundred, Thousand, Lakh, Million, Billion, Dozen, etc. because they act as an adjective and we know that adjectives don't have any singular or plural forms, but nouns have.
Let's Understand this By Taking An Example,
For example, Five billions people [Incorrect, because we have placed a specific number (Five) before the word 'billion' and 'five billion' acts here as an adjective.]
And The Correct One Is-
Five billion people [Correct]
On the other hand, Billion of people [Incorrect], but Billions of people [Correct, because we have not placed any specific number before the word 'billion' and the word 'billion' acts here as a noun. And we know that nouns have both singular and plural forms, but adjectives don't.]
1) The world has a population of almost eight billion people. [Correct]
But,
The world has a population of almost eight billions people. [Incorrect]
2) We need 20 thousand dollars. [Correct]
But,
We need 20 thousands dollars. [Incorrect]
2) Millions of people died during World War 1. [Correct]
But,
Million of people died during World War 1. [Incorrect]
3) Hundreds of dogs live in this city. [Correct] or One hundred dogs live in this city. [Correct]
But,
Hundred of dogs live in this city. [Incorrect] or One hundreds dogs live in this city. [Incorrect]
* Five hundred people/500 people died in a train accident. [Correct] or Hundreds of people died in a train accident. [Correct]
4) He can eat two dozen boiled eggs on an empty stomach. [Correct] or He can eat dozens of boiled eggs on an empty stomach. [Correct]
But,
He can eat two dozens boiled eggs on an empty stomach. [Incorrect] or He can eat dozen of boiled egg on an empty stomach. [Incorrect]
Important Note
1) John gave me two ten-dollar notes.[Correct]
But,
John gave me two ten-dollars notes. [Incorrect]
* In the above example, 'ten-dollar' acts as an adjective and the word 'note' is a noun. Here John gave me two notes (of ten dollars).
a) Your callous action can destroy thousand of lives. [Incorrect]
The correct one is:
Your callous action can destroy thousands of lives.
On the other hand:
My father gave me one thousand dollars. [Correct]
But,
My father gave me one thousand dollar. [Incorrect]
b) My mother gave me two thousand dollars. [Correct]
But,
My mother gave me two thousands dollars. [Incorrect] or My mother gave me two thousands dollar. [Incorrect]
Likewise,
Your plan saved millions of people's lives. [Correct]
But,
Your plan saved million of people's lives. [Incorrect]
Important Notes:
1) My younger brother is 18 years old. [Correct]
But,
My younger brother is 18 year old. [Incorrect]
a) I have ten thousands dollars. [Incorrect]
The correct one is:
I have ten thousand dollars.
Likewise,
b) Five dozen bananas. [Correct]
But,
Five dozens bananas. [Incorrect]
c) I'm in class sixth. [Incorrect] or I'm in the six standard. [Incorrect]
The correct one is:
I'm in class six. or I'm in the sixth standard.
Important Note:
1) My dad gave me a five hundred dollar note. (My dad gave me a note of five hundred dollars.) [Here 'five hundred dollar' acts as an adjective. And 'note' is a Noun. Nouns have singular and plural forms, but adjectives don't. That's why we can't say 'My dad gave me a five hundreds dollars note.']
2) Give me five hundred dollars. [Correct, Here 'five hundred' is used as an Adjective and the word 'dollar' is a Noun.]
3) I need hundreds of dollars. [Correct, because the word 'hundred' is used here as a Noun]
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