student asking question

Why does dollar have “s” at the end while “a billion” seems singular?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

There is an 's' at the end of the word dollars because you have more than one, which makes it plural. You do not use an 's' after the word "billion" when the words "a" or "several" are before the word billion. Ex: He makes several billion dollars a year. Ex: The company has a billion dollars to spend this week. You also do not make "billion" plural if there is a specified amount before it. Ex: She has two billion dollars. Ex: Freddie makes eight billion dollars a year! You can make "billion" plural as long as there is no specified amount. Ex: Billions of people died from the disease.

Complete the expression with a quiz!