Watch your feet

Add comment June 5th, 2008

The plural of “foot” is “feet,” but remember that in English modifiers aren’t the same as nouns. In a phrase such as “a 500,000-square-foot factory,” “foot” is correct, NOT “feet.”

Think about similar phrases you use more often: a 2-liter bottle, NOT a 2-liters bottle, a 10-kilometer run, a 75-cent can of Coke, a 12-gallon tank of gasoline.

The same applies with irregular plurals: a 12-man team, a five-person committee, a 500,000-square-foot factory.

Similarly, it’s “freshman” class, NOT “freshmen.”

Singular, isn’t it?