Why is it singular?

because in this case your "is" belongs to "money" - an uncountable noun!

Currency and measurements use singular verbs (Two kilometers is not that far to walk).

"Ten dollars" here should not be thought of as ten one-dollar bills lined up next to each other, but as a single price. This happens whenever you measure/count something and then consider it collectively. Ten dollars is a lot of money. Ten kilometers is a long distance. Ten gallons of water is a lot of water. Ten sheep is a lot of sheep.

Because **money** is uncountable :)

When referring to "dollars" like this, you're not actually talking about the physical coins or bills, you are referring to the *price* of 10 dollars. This means it is a *measurement*, which is singular. For example: "20 kilometres *is* quite far" "2 millilitres *isn't* enough"

Prices are treated as a singular noun

"Ten dollars" is being treated as a single amount of money, not as 10 separate dollars. It would be the same with any amount, from 1 to 1 billion.

Its singular because money is considered singular regardless of the amount. That being Said..... Ten Dollars would be a lot of money for a cup of coffee. 

A good question, and the answer is that a singular unit, even of multiple items, is referred to in the singular. The way that works here is "ten dollars" is a lump sum of money. It is thus a single unit, not ten individual dollars. Part of your brain is going to struggle with this answer and I want to reassure you that struggle is entirely valid. The problem is not you; English convention does not follow concrete rules of logic. We just happen to refer to a quantity of money in the singular even though the underlying count is typically a plural of something like dollars. A million dollars **is** a lot of money. Ten dollars **is** not a lot of money, but it **is** a lot of money for a cup of coffee. Eight dollars and thirty-seven cents **is** enough for the bus ride.

The answer is always "Because English sucks." Source: I'm a native English speaker.

**Thinking of it as a single amount.** We're talking about ten dollars as **one single amount of money**. We're not talking about ten individual dollars separately. **Like saying "it".** You could replace "ten dollars" with the word "it" in the sentence: "**It** is a lot of money for a cup of coffee." Since "it" is singular, we use "is." "Five miles **is** a long walk." (We're thinking of five miles as one distance) **But if we were talking about individual dollars, you'd use "are":** "The ten dollars **are** scattered on the table." (Here, we're talking about the individual dollar bills) It's all about whether you're thinking of the dollars as a single amount or as separate items.

Isn't "Ten dollars would be a lot of money for a cup of coffee." also perfectly valid?

I am a native English speaker and I mess up “are/is” when talking all the time 😂

Mhhh my only guess would be that it refers to 'money' but I'm not sure

cuz it refers to the number 5 is

Because it IS money

Generally because it's a singular value compared to the value amount. Measurements and currency are treated that way as the reading is what you referring to and not necessarily the numerical amount of that reading. The "sticker price" of the coffee is 10$ but there is only one sticker price that is reffered to. Not sure if that makes sense...

Think of it as one price or one quantity. “What’s the price” “Ten dollars” “That’s too much” (that is - singular - as in that price is too much, too high, too expensive). “How much?” “A thousand dollars” “I can’t afford that!” (That price, that amount.) It works with weights and distances as well. “How far is it to your house?” “Thirty miles” “Thirty miles is a lot to walk in one day!” “Your dog weighs twelve kilos” “Is twelve kilos a lot for a poodle?” “No, it’s about average.”

Does anyone else think D is a possible correct answer? Grammatically it can work. “I was planning on opening a café. I was thinking of charging ten dollars for a coffee.” “Hmmm, I don’t know, ten dollars would be a lot of money for a cup of coffee.”

dollars are plural, money isn't

Basically because a group is single (we are talking about a value of 10 dollars not 10 separate dollars). Consider 1) "$10 is all the cash I have." vs 2) "These ten dollars are more valuable to collectors then normal dollars." In #1 we are talking about one sum or group of money (you can imagine it as a 💰). While in #2 we are talking about 10 separate dollars that are similar or share a trait (but are individuals not a group).

Isn't a dollar value meant to be expressed as a singular unit as well?

I've always found it interesting that Americans and Brits use this singular/plural distinction differently when taking about sports. Like "Duke is playing well" vs. "Liverpool are playing well". And some of it depends on whether you're referring to a city/location or a plural mascot: "Philadelphia is playing well" vs "The Eagles are playing well," and to make it more confusing, if that were a British club, you'd probably drop the "the" and just say "Eagles are playing well".

5 cats is not many but 10 cats are. Ya that's English for you.

I'm pretty sure the "is" would be linked to the number rather than the "dollars", which like other people have said, is treated as a unit. I'm thinking about how this sentence would be shortened colloquially. For example, you could say, "Is ten dollars a lot to pay for this?" And someone could reply, "/Ten/ is a lot," and this phrase would not sound strange. On the other hand, "/Dollars/ [are] a lot" would not make sense. To me it seems like the important information here is the number, not the information we get from the units (dollars, cats, cookies, whatever), because it is ultimately the number that is a lot, a little, enough, that goes a long way, etc. In other words, we are evaluating the number to figure out if the statement of relative scale is accurate. On the other hand, I would still expect "five cats are meowing" or "ten people are stranded" to be valid sentences because it's not the five that is meowing, it's the cats, and it's not the ten that is stranded, it's the people. "Five cats is a lot" or "ten people is a lot" are judgements of scale, so you focus on the number.

Because the emphasis is on the number of dollars rather than the dollars themselves. For example, you could say "my ten dollars are wet from the rain" when talking about the state of the money, compared to "ten dollars is a lot for coffee", which refers to the amount of money specifically.

A lot of comments are focusing on the fact that it's money specifically, which is treated as non-count. I think that's part of it. But we would also say "10 cookies is a lot to eat in one sitting" not "10 cookies are a lot to eat", so I think there's more happening. With this construction the second part is only true of the collective, but not true of the individual components. 1 dollar is not a lot of money. 1 cookie is not a lot to eat in one sitting. But when considered together, 10 of X is a lot. Compare with: 10 dollars are being printed right now. 10 cookies are displayed in the case. In these sentences, the statement is true about each individual dollor/cookie, so we can use "are"

Another way to look at it is that when we treat amounts, distances, time periods, or sums of money as **a single unit**, they take a singular verb 'is'." For example; **Fifty miles** **is** a long drive. (the distance here is being treated as a single unit) **Fifty baht is** enough money for a snack **Two weeks is** enough time to prepare. (treated as a single period of time) **Five minutes is** all I need. **Two decades is** a long time to live in one place. *So they are acting like a singular idea.* I hope that helps a little.

Think of it like [the price] is a lot for one cup of coffee

Sums of money are singular. Ten dollars is a lot of money for a cup of coffee. The word "is" Is it connected with sum (sum=ten dollars). It's why used "is" because "Sum = singular". It's similar with weights and distances: "one hundred miles is a long way".

Whenever dollars is used as an amount of money, it is singular, as are most measurements, because they're describing a single thing, not 10 individual miles/pounds/grams. That being said, in colloquial speech, I know plenty of people who would say "are."

Honestly, $10 would be a lot of money for a cup of coffee

Cup of coffee 10 bucks now? I have been brewing mine for almost exclusively for almost the past 8 months but c'mon now, 16 oz coffee cant cost more than 4 bucks, perhaps 5 with a tip

because it can be replaced with "that"

Essentially a collective noun

It’s because “a lot” is singular. When we says “many things equals one thing” then we use is. - Five cats is a lot of cats. - Five cats are in the garden. - Ten dollars is my final offer. - Ten dollars are being withdrawn from your account.

You only use plurals when talking about the currency itself. Bills, coins, quarters, etc.

the word "are" is referring to the noun "a lot" rather than ten dollars. so its singular.

You're referring to a singular amount of (uncountable)money, not the number of (countable) dollars

It’s a singular price

Is a collective noun.

'A lot' is singular What is a lot of money? Ten dollars is a lot. We know it is singular because of the use of 'a', the singular indefinite article. Compare: What are dollars? Dollars are units of currency. What are lots? Lots are large amounts.

If the subjects are performing an action it’s plural 2 men **are** running 2 cats **are** meowing If the number of subjects is being referenced it is singular 2 men **is** not that many 2 cats **is** is a weird number of cats Generally if measurements are ever used they are singular, 12 liters **is** singular, but 12 friends are not. Also, if the subject can potentially do something, like a cat or a man, or some other animate object, it’s usually plural unless the number or count is referenced, but inanimate objects, oranges, chairs, liters, are singular. Theres also the example of what I just used, items in a list are plural. Mice, rats, chairs, stairs, **are** my favorite things

It's because we are talking about an amount. 1, 3, 10 or 10000 are all ***one*** amount of something. "10 cats **is** a lot of cats" because it's the amount itself which is a lot. It's not each cat individually which is a lot. However, "10 cats **are** eating" because it's each individual cat which is eating, and not the amount itself (if that means anything).

People have already answeee your primary question so I thought I’d add, “would be” could also be correct.

I would say that the best way to think of *is vs are is* is by thinking of which thing you are referencing. Those ten people *are* walking: You are referencing actions taken by multiple individuals, so "*are"* Ten people *is* a pretty small party: You are referencing the crowd as a whole as one single entity, so "*is*" *Will be* and *would be* can also be valid as well based on context. For example, if you were discussing the prospects of inflation, the sentence "ten dollars would be alot for a cup of coffee" would be valid.

The $10 is taken as a single unit. No one dollar is responsible for this excess. I could separate them into ten single dollar bills and any one of them is a bargain for that cup.

Big paragraphs here, I'm just here to say this is treated as a singular "amount".

This is called notional concord or notional agreement. Plurals can take the singular when there is a clear idea, sense, notion that they are being talked about as a singular concept. In the examples of ten dollars and the ten cats being a lot, the concept is the singular idea of the amount of ten dollars (or ten cats) it is referring to the singular collective idea of the ten dollars as an amount, a singular concept, (and a singular collective notion of ten cats) not ten individual dollars or ten individual cats. Notional agreement happens regularly when the intended meaning of the plural is a singular idea, then it overrides typical grammar. https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/notional-agreement-subject-verb-principle-proximity

'Ten dollars' is a measure of value, not a count of dollars, in the same way that 'ten litres' is a measure of volume, not a count of litres.

English considers money as uncountable. Similar to water.

Actually it is referring to the count not a tangible object. Ten is singular. If it were in refrence to judges' score cards in boxing, "Those tens are a lot." It would be plural.

Because ten dollars represents one entity

It's because in this example (or a distance in kilometres, or the number of cats you have) the subject is not dollars (or kilometres or cats), but a number. That is just one number. Now if you talk of the prices at this place overall, you might say, "The prices here are high." Now you're talking about multiple numbers, so it becomes plural.

You got a lot of great answers, but no one mentions that "would be" works in that sentence too.

Keep in mind that is/are is used differently in British vs US English. British English seems to use are in cases where US would use is. For example when speaking about a music group, Americans would say for example, U2 is coming her on tour, where British people would say U2 are coming here on tour.

Simply put, numbers (although could represent multiple things) that represent a sum, measurement or concept as a whole take a singular verb.

lol theyre both 100% correct, depending how you define the object.

"Ten dollars" in this case is not referring to multiple individual dollar bills but to the price as a unit which is grammatically singular.  "The cost is ten dollars. That [cost] is a lot."

Is standing for equal in English might also be why I’m not sure though.

Ten is a number. Five is a number. Ten and five are numbers

Because you're talking about the price, not the dollars themselves. I think this might be specific to American English, but I'm not sure. American and British English sometimes treat collections of things differently when it comes to singular vs. plural.

I don't know if anyone else answered this way yet, but I'll try to shed some light if I can. When saying "ten dollars" you aren't referring to ten individual bills. You can have a ten dollar bill for example. So it's not so much single items being the subject but rather a group. Like you wouldn't say the team are the best in the league. You would say the team is the best in the league. I see how it's confusing, but measurements are thought of as single groups grammatically. Like ten people walk around. Or ten people are people. Are both correct because the subject is each individual person, not them as a collective. But ten people are small amount, is incorrect. It would be ten people is a small amount. You could try thinking of it this way, if you can the sentence to be multiple sentences with singular subjects, then the word is plural. Like you can "ten people are happy" or you could also say "one person is happy" ten times over referring to someone else each time. Thus, the subject of people is plural. But you can't do that with your original sentence. Ten dollars is stuck as it's collective whole. That is what proves your point in the sentence. It wouldn't make sense to say "one dollar is a lot" ten times over. I don't know if you could follow that or it made sense, but I hope so. Either way, I wish you luck in mastering English.

Cus english is fucked thats why

But it would also be a lot to pay for a coffee

What app or website is this?

1: You are referring a singular set. "[A price of] ten dollars is [expensive] for a cup of coffee." 2: That question is bad. "A lot" is not considered proper. Whomsoever wrote that does not understand English well. 3: That question is still bad. "Would be" would be (pun intended) appropriate in just as many contexts as "is". In fact, I see both come up quite regularly. "Would be" can refer to a hypothetical situation, usually along the lines of presenting ideas or as a response to a question. For example: "If you saw a cup of coffee for ten dollars, would you purchase it?" "Ten dollars would be expensive for a cup of coffee. I wouldn't buy it unless I had no other choice."

Think of it like a pile of something. If you get 100 $1 bills, you have plural bills. But when you associate them all together, like a pile, that pile becomes a single entity. A pile of dollar bills *is* big. But the 100 bills *are* all worth 1 dollar

Quantities are always singular: 100 people is not that many. (The quantity is) 100 people are coming to the party. (Multiple people are doing the action)

From my understanding is because it is taken as a single thing in this case, a price. kinda like saying The price of 10 dollars is excesive for a coffee. which is not the same as saying "ten thousand dolars are scattered on this room" which actually takes them as individual stuff.

Yeah I could never be an English teacher cause wtf

There's 200 comments anyway so you won't see this, OP, but the sentence should be read more like the following: > [The price of] 10 dollars is a lot of money... *The price* is the actual subject of the sentence, although it's elided very often, and it's singular hence the verb.

I see it as you are referring to "A lot of money" which is singular

Just is, they are that way.

Other people have answered this question. I’d just like to add on; read things out when trying to figure out what works because the correct answer will usually be the thing that sounds best. “Ten dollars is a lot of money,” sounds a whole lot better than “Ten dollars are a lot of money.”

"**a** lot of money"

Currency is considered as a value, not as a number of coins or bills.

"(The price/amount of) 10 dollars is a lot of money". The reason is because it's an elided way of talking about pricing. You can use dollars as a subject; say "there are 10 dollars hidden in the room". Here, 'dollar' refers to a single dollar bill; there are 10 slips of paper money somewhere in the room. But it's not often you're referring to individual bills with "dollar". You tend to only use it to refer to prices, in which case that elided form is what you're using.

Why is ten dollars would be a lot of money for a cup of coffee not correct as well it sounds correct

Ten dollars... "is a lot". The subject is lot, not dollars.

Just think of "ten dollars" as the subject of the sentence. You can also replace it with 'that': That is a lot of money.

who let the cats in, anyway, the smell spoils the taste of the coffee ten cats is a lot of cats is ok to say ten cats are a lot of cats is ok to say too ten dollars is a lot of money, ok, but are doesn't work here

Isn’t “would be” also a perfectly correct answer? I’m curious where this quiz is from.

Whenever you talk about a single quantity, whatever it may be, use singular. 100kg is a lot of weight. If you talk about multiple quantities, then use plural. 

A measured plural object is a single quantity of that object, so the verb is in agreement with that singular quantity.

The number itself is singular, even though the number of things it references is plural.

because it’s treated as [price amount], as if you were talking about money itself and not particularly the number. (eg. it’s the same thing as saying “that’s a lot of money”)

Because currency and most measurements use singular forms. Another way to think of it: “An amount of money equal to ten dollars IS a lot of money for a cup of coffee.” It is referring to the amount as a unit and not the individual dollars.

No fucking clue mate

Think of it as counting the ten dollars all as one unit. It's a singular amount, a singular price. I've never even thought about this before, but I bet it's pretty confusing to a non-native speaker.

I would almost say that there is a hidden, invisible aspect of the phrase in there at the beginning that goes "*A price of* $10 is a lot of money for a cup of coffee." Grammatically, $10 is not treated as ten dollars, but as a singular price. The same is true for a phrase like "10 miles is a long way to walk;" the invisible qualifier is "*A distance of* 10 miles." *A temperature of* 10° is far too cold. *A weight of* 10 pounds is easy to lift. There's always the implication that the quantity is being treated as a singular noun, because while the number is relevant, it's the singular phenomenon that the number represents which is being described.

This is a bit like ser and estar in Spanish. Native speakers will tell you there is some sense to it, but really it's just a rule you have to remember.

Because it refers to an amount (always grammatically singular) of something.

Its a measurement. Techincally not an amount. English is wrird.

It's an amount, amounts are singular, generally. "It is 10 inches" "It is 10 dollars" "It is 10 minutes" "It is 10 goats"

Ten dollars = price. So this price is a lot of money for a cup of coffee.

It has nothing to do with it being money or units of measurement. You could do the same thing with a random noun like "mugs" in a similar sentence: "20 mugs is a lot of mugs to have brought into the bathroom with you". The verb agrees with "a lot" which is singular.

Think of it as “ten dollars is one singular quantity of money”.

It's more about the singular "a lot" in this context but dollar amounts are often treated this way, presumably because it is one sum of money as opposed to a count of bills.

10 dollars represents a single group of money in this instance.

for the same reason you didn't say "why are it singular?"

[Price] is a lot of money for a cup of coffee.

Ten is a singular unit

Think of it as, "The sum (singular) of 10 dollars is (singular) a lot of money (also singular - not moneys)."

The amount is a lot. The amount is ten dollars. Ten dollars is a lot.

The sentence refers to the ten dollars as a collective singular object rather than individual dollars. Like "This stack of books **is** heavy" despite books being plural

It's a single measurement.

"ten" is what is the verb here

I saw you already got good answers, but hopefully I can add on with this! (When talking about money specifically) Whether you use “are” or “is” also depends on if you’re describing it’s state of being, or if you’re talking about it’s value! If you’re talking about something like money scattered on a table or money being crumpled, you would use “are”. If you’re talking about something like the money being a lot or not enough, you would use “is”. It comes down to how you’re viewing the money when you’re saying these things—as one whole thing or as individual things!

There’s a lot of comments here, some of which aren’t fully explaining *why*. Units of measurement are always singular in English, which includes measuring currency. In this case “dollars” is singular because you are talking about the total amount of money present. This also applies to units of measurement that change tense in multiples beyond one (such as “One-hundred feet is not a long way to run.”) Other forms of word singularization include things like ideas (such as “Politics *is* boring.” or “The news *is* bad.”) or fractions and percentages that modify a singular noun (as in “Two-thirds of the cake is gone.”)

I'm not a language student / teacher - just a native speaker - but conceptually I guess I imagine the entire amount is a single unit. A similar example might be: I'd refer to a bunch of gravel as a "mound" or "pile" - which are singular, despite being made up of many smaller stones. One pile of gravel is made of many pieces of gravel. Kind of in the same way, I'd refer to an amount of money as a single entity. $12.50 is one single amount of multiple pieces of currency. While you do need multiple pieces of physical currency to achieve that amount, the actual entity being referred to (in this case $12.50) is a single entity. One amount of money is made of many pieces of money. If I had multiple amounts of money, for example: $12.50 for a burger, and $7.50 for a drink, then I would refer to those as multiples. \[Scenario 1, referring to just the $12.50 burger\]: "This price is expensive!" \[Scenario 2, referring to BOTH the $12.50 burger, AND the $7.50 drink\]: "Those prices are expensive!"

Funnily enough, "Would be" also makes perfect sense in the sentence they supplied. "Ten dollars would be a lot of money for a cup of coffee." is a perfectly valid sentence.

Because ten is singular, what are you confused about? The number modifies the noun to make it singular. If you dropped it then it would be plural. Example: Ten dollar is hard to come by Vs. Dollars are hard to come by You can also check this with just a number. Example: Ten is a lot

The last one would be correct as well! 😅 So is “will be”. Only “are” is incorrect.

I guess the best way to imagine is it to think of a $10 bill. That’s one object. It will help you remember.

Because "is" feels more natural while speaking than "are". /s

Because the verb is referring to the word "lot" in this case.

Because the dollars are already plural (as a english speaker idk)

As others have explained, when it comes to measurements, the singular form is normally used. Though I wanted to comment on the fact that without context or a specific instruction, I’m pretty sure the “would be” option is correct too. Like if I’m discussing prices with someone and they ask me “would 10 dollars be too expensive for a cup of coffee?” I’d likely be able to answer with the “yeah, 10 dollars would be a lot of money for a cup of coffee” so the exercise sucks as a multiple choice anyways (unless you had an instruction or context sentence we don’t know about ofc”

Because money is singular

Because youre talking about it as a singular unit vs the multiple bills. Example, "Ten dollars is not enough" vs "The ten dollars are enough"

Is here is refering to the money ad money is singular

The singular is the number, not the items - there is a single ten.

look at it more like this: "This sum of \[unit of measurement\] is a lot." That's how i was taught why it's singular.

Here, the object of the sentence is the amount (10, as in “ten is a lot”) rather than the dollars. You are describing the quantity being a lot, rather than the noun.

Ten dollars = it

Using grammatical terms does not help here. The best comparison is “family” “my family is very big” meaning it has several members, so you would never say “my family are” even though it contains potentially multiple members.

It is easier to see the distinction if you replace it with a synonym: there IS a bundle of money; there ARE two bundles of money. There is a lot of money.

I think it's because "money" is singular. So it becomes "is a lot of money" as it is about the money and not the plural dollars. Honestly though, it does look very confusing. English is my 2nd language and I've learned it naturally through exposure. So I know it sounds wrong to use "are" here. In my native language (Dutch) it is similar but slightly different. We would say "tien dollar is ...". We don't make money plural while keeping the rest of the sentence singular. I'm purely speculating here, but it might be that using the plural for "dollars" used to be wrong as well, but when enough people say things incorrectly it will become correct. Language always evolves. This often creates things that don't really make sense

It's singular because it is one quantity. "For a cup of coffee, one dollar is a low price, but one hundred dollars is a high price." But money can be plural if you are referring to the individual parts of the total amount. "The five dollar notes are flat but the one dollar notes are folded."

Maybe it is in the sense of "A quantity of...", it is a singular subject. I am guessing. That confuses me a lot. In Italian, my mother tongue, if the quantity is made of countable things (like money, objects, liters, or other units of measurement) you use the plural form. If it is not defined (like generic amount of things, using a lot, many, few, etc...) you have to use singular.

“Three darts is too much”. -Ace Ventura.. the important factor is the “Three” not “darts”

You are talking about the number 10, not about the dollars. 10 is a big number. The bills themselves are many, but the number 10 is a single number.

It's always funny when I read the comments on these posts, and there's actually a reason. Even as a native speaker, I don't think I was ever taught this. I only thought "Are a lot of money, just doesn't sound right."

Why is it singular? It just are

Every answer is correct except 'are'. 'Will be' and 'would be' are correct too in the right context.

I think it can be “are” in certain cases. Example: these ten euros are a collectors item.

The verb is referencing the group itself, which is still a singular group. It helps to ask yourself what the verb is doing in the sentence and which noun (often the subject of the sentence) is being affected.

It's a very subtle difference grammatically/semantically. Normally when you use numbers, the number is the adjective and the counted object is a noun. As in "Five dogs are sitting there". The dogs are the subject, five is just describing their quantity. But when you talk about a measurement, the number is itself the subject, and thus sort of "acts" as the noun. When you say "6 feet is tall" or "ten dollars is enough", you are talking about the number; the units are not what is tall or enough, but the quantity. The units are just elaborating on what the quantity is of, but it's the quantity that's the subject of your statement.

Only one plural is allowed in a subject-verb pair. Because "dollars" was plural, then the verb must be singular.

it's an exception to noun-verb agreement: money uses singular verbs.

you also wouldn't say "sand are"

You're not talking about the individual dollars here...you are talking about the situation. The Cost/price itself is a single item. now if you spoke about more costs/prices you would use 'are'. "These prices ARE high."

Usually, cardinal number+plural noun ( expect one) Eg - two boys , three men, one pen But when the whole phrase used as an adjective then we use Cardinal number+ sing.noun ( not plural noun) Eg I have ten dollars ✅ I have a ten dollars note❌ 👉 I have a ten dollar note ✅ More egs -a five year plan( not years) , a five star hotel ( not stars ), a two man committee ( not men ), a two kilometer walk (not kilometres) Shortcut to remember: When the number + noun is acting as a description, the noun stays singular. Extra point- mostly a hypen is used between them eg a ten - dollar note,a five - year plan . (P.s. I am not a native speaker but I think I read it somewhere)

Subject verb agreement. You're talking about the cost of one cup of coffee, hence the cost is what the verb is referring to, not the dollars as individual items. Also, both "lot of money" and "cup of coffee" are preceded by singular articles, this can help you identify the subject verb agreement in the future.

when you refer to the group as a whole, or the total as a whole, you are referring to one single unit, the group; therefore, singular.

This can get confusing, but even this situation follows a logical pattern. Consider the phrase: “Five cats is not a single unit—they are five individual cats acting independently in that neighborhood; therefore, we refer to them in the plural when describing their actions. These cats are a menace to the neighborhood. However, ‘Five cats is a big group of cats’ treats the group as a single entity or concept, which is why the singular form is used.” In short, we sometimes switch between singular and plural depending on whether we’re emphasizing the group as a whole or the individuals within it.

"Amount" is a lot of money

It represents a 'sum of money' and a sum is a singular item.

because "is" sounds better

The subject is -A lot- ten dollars is the description the same for “a cup”. A lot is singular which is beautiful because it’s subjective as even 1 dollar can be a lot. It’s also a hundred pennies that could also be a lot. And you are welcome by the way. So you can just say thanks a lot. ;)

Using this example, the subject of the sentence is the cup of coffee. “Ten dollars” just describes the price. There may be multible dollars, but there is only one price for that cup of coffee, which is 10 dollars, so that is why the singular is used instead of the plural.

Because "is" refers to money. Ten dollars is a lot of money. Ten million dollars are a lot of dollars. Are refers to dollars.

Maybe it's because dollars modifies ten like ten is a lot of money. Ten what? Ten dollars is a lot of money

BECAUSE.

its are you were right report it

pretty sure it is because you are referring to "ten dollars" as a single whole entity towards another singular entity.

Because are would mean that each individual dollar is a lot of money for a coffee.

I like to think of it as "Ten *is* a big number," not "Ten *are* a big number."

Because of the origins of the phrase "a lot of". Originally, it was referring to a "lot", like an auctioneer's lot. Because lot is a singular noun (as seen by the indefinite article "a"), it takes a singular verb.

I couldn't even answer this as well as others have. But I know I learned the difference as a kid, but I don't remember when. But when I try being helpful on Facebook or YouTube and try letting someone know they made a mistake, people get on my case and call me an a$$hole or some other name. If someone was trying to help me improve my written Spanish, French or Italian, or even my spoken Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Russian or Bulgarian, I'd be grateful someone is trying to help me reduce my amount of mistakes.

In this context the "is" is serving as an affirmation of truth. Ten dollars IS a lot of money for coffee. Just how: Two dollars ISN'T a lot of money for coffee.

Currency and measurements are treated as singular. It can also be used for other things like “A dozen of eggs isn’t expensive if you live outside America” because dozen is a measurement

Consider $10 as a concept. When you think of a million dollers you don't think of it as individual bills right? This goes all the way down to $2 too

The subject of the sentence is the coffee, which is written singularly

(The amount of) ten dollars is a lot of money

It's more about the amount than the number, if that makes sense. like, there may be multiple dollars, but the *amount* 'ten dollars' is a single concept. You aren't describing all of the dollars, you're describing the dollar amount, of which there is only one. It's similar to how a lot of plural terms like 'herd' or 'flock', which are groups of things, are still grammatically singular, even though they are technically plural. It's about the overarching concept rather than the items themselves.

Single price

Prices are always singular. It's the same way, no matter the currency or barter. "She wants 50 cows and a pig for my car, is that too much?" Now, when speaking about multiple physical bills or coins, then it is plural. "Forty 10 dollar bills are under my bed." or "Twenty loonies (slang for Canadian $1 coins) are in my pants."

Aside from the answers given, you can also think of it by replacing “ten dollars” with “that price” in the sentence. The price (singular) is the actual subject, and “ten dollars” is its description.

Would be is also grammatically correct.

Because the money is *a* lot. a = singular

“Would be” Could also acceptable.

D and A work tbh lol

Think of it as: "(The amount (price) of) ten dollars is..." (All of the possible answers shown would be OK in that sentence, except "are".)

The fun thing is, depending on the context "would be" can also work. Like if someone was asking about how much to price a coffee or as a sarcastic/joking reply.

Money, like drinks and other things, is "uncountable". Kind of the opposite of things like scissors or pants which are always plural even if you are talking about a single pair of scissors. Milk is Money is 100 dollars is Water is Scissors are Pants are Jeans are

"are" is the correct term, dollars is in plural.

Money is measurable but generally treated as grammatically uncountable. Similarly, $10 is too much for a coffee. Not $10 is too many for a coffee. Uncountable objects like this are treated as singular for conjugations verbs.

English is not my first language but it is is and I can't explain y

Isn't it rather because 'a lot' is singular and that's the understood subject of the sentence? Also the idea that some quantity is considered as singular happens in a lot of languages, it is called concordantia ad sensum

Well, now we’ve answered that question, can we move on to why 99% of native English speakers don’t know when to use “… and I” and when to use “… and me”? Cos that drives me nuts ;)

Because 'is' refers to money, and money is a collective noun ? I don't know really it's just my guess

It's like shorthand for 'the amount/sum of ten dollars’ in the same sort of way as 'a water' is shorthand for 'a glass/bottle of water' which is why we can say 'a water' despite water being an uncountable substance.

For nouns that have no singular form, "is" is used as in a singular from, e.g. sugar, money, soil, advice, coffee and so on.

I used to have a francophone girlfriend who would crack up whenever anyone said they got a haircut. "Which one?", guffaw.

Yeah

I guess we say "is" instead of "are" because the price of $10 is the price, which is the one thing. If I went to a bakery and saw all the prices on the menu board were higher than I am willing to pay, I would say "wow! These are some expensive coffees and pastries, for $10, $20, and $30!"

never thought about it much before but i think its because it refers to the (singular) price and not the individual dollars themselves

Money is uncountable, therefore you use singular.

Nobody knows

"Ten dollars" is a compound noun that's one amount. It applies to measurement too. 'Long version could be "an amount of ten dollars is a lot of money..." but that's a redundant noun phrase. You are thinking of "dollars" as the noun with the determiner "ten" which doesn't make sense in this context ("dollars are a lot of money for a cup of coffee") but works in other contexts ("there are ten dollars on the table." or "there are dollars on the table").

Because money is singular in the sentence. 10 dollars are a lot. 10 dollars is a lot of money.

I believe this is because the conjugation of "is" is based on "money", which is almost always singular because it represents a single concept rather than multiple things. As a native this is pretty enlightening haha. This is something that I’ve never personally noticed and just naturally say "is". If I weren’t paying attention I might’ve selected "are" as well. I’ve never consciously thought about the conjugation