500 words article or 500 word article

1. 77

   Hunbbel Meerposted 12 years ago

   500 words article or 500 word article
   
   Grammatically, which option should be used?
   
   Should it be:
   
   1. I have written a 500 words article.
   2. I have written a 500 word article.
   
   Moreover, what would be correct in the following scenario?
   
   1. I have written two 500 words articles
   2. I have written two 500 word articles
   
   Thanks

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2. 81

   Nesbyteposted 12 years ago

   In both cases, use the singular "word". It's as simple as that, but HP wouldn't let me leave the answer that short so I've added this sentence.

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   1. 77

      Hunbbel Meerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you.

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3. 80

   timorousposted 12 years ago

   If you write "...500 word article", this would be correct. If you were to say "I wrote an article with 500 words", that would be correct. It all depends on where you place 'word' and 'article'. If they appear in that order, 'word' is singular, otherwise it is plural. I hope that's clear enough.

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   1. 77

      Hunbbel Meerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you. But I was/am a bit confused about the singularity of the word 'word'. I thought it like that:
      
      If we talk about 1 word, then it is obviously singular. Though, as we are talking about 500 words (not 1 word), shouldn't it be plural? (words)

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4. 0

   lisasuniquevoiceposted 12 years ago

   Hunbbel Meer,
   
   It should be "word, " not  "words."  The fact that you tell your reader that you've got a 500 word article is enough. You're saying I have 500 individual words for you. It is definitely "word."
   
   Lisa

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5. 60

   Goody5posted 12 years ago

   After reading your question a couple of times, I would just go with the singular version of the word - "WORD". It just rolls off of the tongue, and sounds better. Keep on hubbing 

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6. 64

   Lisa HWposted 12 years ago

   If I were writing that sentence I'd use, "500-word article" because the "500" and "word" are used together to describe the article.  I may be overlooking some exception to this grammar rule; but, in general, when two words are used to describe a noun (and when those two words need to be together because they "work" together to describe the noun) the two words are hyphenated.
   
   In comparison, another sentence might be, "I wrote a long, serious, article."  The two words that describe the article can act alone; so the comma is used.  One could say, "I wrote a long and serious article."  In contrast, the "500" and "word" "need" each other and wouldn't be used alone - hence, the hyphen.

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