Handbooks generally say that it depends on context. If the weeks are being
thought of as individual units, you might go with "are" (for example, say
you want to take as many one-week seminars as possible, in which case you'd
be looking at individual weeks). But if, as is more common, you're looking
at the five weeks as one long unit of time, "is" might be better.

Thus, you might say

Ten gallons is a lot of milk.
but
Ten gallons are left on the grocery store shelf.

and

Twenty dollars isn't that much money.
but
Twenty dollars are lined up in a row on the counter.


The distinction can be pretty subtle, and no matter which way you go,
someone will think you've erred, so, as Michael says, revising to avoid the
issue altogether is probably the most elegant option.

For those interested in reference sources (if you are not interested in
reference sources that contain prescriptions or if you object to such
references on principle, peace; I'm aware of the prescription/description
issue):

See the _Harbrace Handbook_ or the _Holt Handbook_, under "Agreement,
Collective" or "Agreement, Amount." House and Harman's _Descriptive English
Grammar_ also covers the issue, as it applies to sums.

Garner's _Dictionary of Modern American Usage_ (which is a fabulous
reference, BTW): "Plural Units Denoting Amounts: In American English, a
plural noun denoting a small unit by which a larger amount is measured
generally takes a singular verb--e.g., " Five hours is enough time";
"Fifteen minutes passes more quickly than you might think."

Cheers,
Kathryn










     ----------
     From:   Teresa M Francis
     Reply To:       Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
     Sent:   Tuesday, January 27, 2004 3:05 PM
     To:     [log in to unmask]
     Subject:        Five Weeks


     Which is better - "Five weeks is all we have" or "Five weeks are all
     we have?"

     Teresa
     To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web
     interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select
     "Join or leave the list"


     Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/


To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface
at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave
the list"


Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/






To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"

Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/