100 foot vs 30 feet

English as a Second Language
1

SHOCKING footage shows a gaping hole open up in the middle of a soccer field.

The sinkhole was 100 foot wide and 30 feet deep.

Why is it 100 foot (singular) when the depth is 30 feet (plural)?

Thanks.

2

It should be 100 feet wide and 30 feet deep.

You can use 100-foot as an adjective. It is usually hyphenated, but sometimes you see it without the hyphen.

There is a 100-foot sinkhole.

I bought a 50-foot rope.
I bought a rope that is 50 feet long.

I had a 30-minute wait.
I waited for 30 minutes.

There is an interesting variation. Sometimes -ed is added. I don’t know why. Language just evolves in weird ways.

A four-footed animal.
A three-legged stool.

When used in this way, I think the number is always spelled out.

3

four-footed and three-legged are compound adjectives. The latter one reminds me of ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ (1967) by Franco Zeffirelli, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, when Catherine says …‘I’ll paint your face and comb your hair with a three-legged stool.’ I don’t know the exact words, but those are in it. However, very important is that four-footed and three-legged are not pronounced as you might think. They end in /id/.

Hope this helps.

4

I thought about mentioning the pronunciation. I decided not to complicate things. But since you brought it up…

The -ed pronunciation is usually pronounced the same as past tense regular verbs. The pronunciation partly depends on the preceding consonant(s).

Footed → This is two distinct sounds ‘foot ed’.
Legged → You will hear this both ways, as a single sound ‘legd’ or as two distinct sounds ‘leg ed’.

Compare to past tense regular verbs.
Beg → begged → pronounced as a single sound ‘begd’
Net → netted → pronounced as two distinct sounds.

Unlike ‘legged’, ‘begged’ is never pronounced as two sounds.

Also note that the final consonant of ‘foot’ is not doubled, whereas it is doubled with ‘net’.
Foot → footed
Net → netted

Same with the -ing form

Footing
Netting

I have no idea why. That’s just the way it is.

So I decided not to complicate things, then did it anyway. I would never get into this sort of thing with beginners.

1 Like
5

Take the same road with you and force me to do what I and your friend(s) did in 200… if you h guts trye…I have proof something happened on 2nd February 2018…in order of somehing or -one something in 2018… Pass the news to your…friend? I doubr if he is…but stuck with the older man now…You know NNN , we could have been such good friends.

6

Say what you like.

7

“To comb your noddle with a three-legged stool
And paint your face and use you like a fool.“

  • The Taming of the Shrew Act I, scene 1
1 Like
8

I’m so happy, Arinker, you obviously enjoyed reading the play. I enjoyed watching the movie. It’s wonderful that we have something in common.

9

It amazes me. "Yes, indeed, ‘That’s the way it is’, I’m surprised that the woman who sang it, lasted so long, because she abused her vocal cords and during the breaks of every single one of her concerts she needed oxygen, ‘Donnez-moi de l’oxygene’ another song of that woman, when she was climbing the ladder of fame and look what it brought her. A lot of money and NOTHING. People say: she was hot but now she not, very wise, my dear NN, one could say that about oneself: You were hot, but now you’re not and also You were never hot, at least not to me, and you will never be hot…I’m very sorry.