However, it is increasingly common to use data as a singular uncountable noun, as follows. Guestwriter bonnie trenga writes, there are around 200 collective nouns in the english language 1. The only case where its acceptable is with certain abbreviations and numbers. Grammar girl s quick and dirty tips for better writing is data singular or plural. However, in more specific contexts, the plural form can also be grammars e. The data received as responses to a survey, for example. Information is informations are is information plural.
When a noun means more than one, it is said to be plural. Noun phrases that cannot be counted are also singular in english e. However, nowadays, it is treated as a singular noun. I will still get a bit cranky when i receive complaints from those with a lack of knowledge about this grammar point. If youre sticking with that history, it should be your data are now safe. The book i am using had a question where data as a plural count noun was used with no context clues as to which was being used. Scientists use data as plural, but is that correct. If you want to emphasize that something is plural, rewrite to use a term such as facts or numbers. The connection between data the plural and datum the singular has been almost completely broken, so that while datum survives in such compounds as datum. For example, linda asks, is everyone and, likewise, everybody singular or plural. In a sentence starting with a singular principal subject wed choose singular verbs. Find out what grammar expert, grammar girl, has to say about it.
Plural nouns take plural verbs, so data should be followed by a plural verb. In formal scientific and scholarly writing, however, data is generally used as a plural, with datum as the singular form. In swahili,nouns are divided into 11 classes mainly following the syntax rules. Data is most often used as a singular mass noun in everyday usage. Choose from 500 different sets of plural singular plural book series flashcards on quizlet. Does a collective noun take a singular or plural verb form.
In rhetorical question, referring back to your july 10, 2009 posting. These nouns present singular problems lets talk about nouns with split personalities. Plural nouns can take either a definite article or no article at all. The noun can be singular, plural or an uncountable noun. Subjects are a slippery topic to grasp, but understanding when a word is singular or plural is one of the most important grammar concepts. While in english, the plural is formed byadding s to the singular. In a technical book, i have stumbled upon the following sentence. We, therefore, consulted an individual whom many consider to be an authority in the use of the english language, namely grammar girl. If you want to read more about using data as a singular and plural noun and how to ensure that either way you also use the consistent modifiers eg. It can also refer in general to all the members of a class or a group. That is, always use the data is or another appropriate verb whether you mean a collection of facts plural or information singular.
This happens when we are referring to all as a totality of items under consideration. This usage is practical for scientific or academic writing because it allows for the use of the singular datum. The noun reading can be countable or uncountable in more general, commonly used, contexts, the plural form will also be reading however, in more specific contexts, the plural form can also be readings e. In technical or formal british english, data is sometimes a plural noun, but at other times, it is an uncount noun, as in the data highlights some interesting trends. In more general, commonly used, contexts, the plural form will also be grammar. The problem with this view is that data is an english word when english speakers use it, and were not required to continue following latin rules with words that have been in english for centuries. Nouns ending with s, ss, z, zz, x, ch, sh, and tch are made plural by adding es to the singular form. In this video, scott thornbury talks about the word data. Be careful, some writers form plurals by adding apostrophe. If the substitution of some for one or more is taken as binding, by analogy, we require plural concord.
In a wellwritten column entitled is data singular or plural. In much informal writing, data is considered a collective singular noun. Learn plural singular plural book series with free interactive flashcards. Theres nothing wrong with saying informationen in german or informations in french, both being the plural form of information. This is what comes from looking in dictionaries and usage books for grammar information. We also have some nouns that remain the same in singular and. In your case, it is plural and you should use option b. Todays topic is collective nouns, nouns that describe a group, such as family, orchestra, and board.
Singular simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The singular of data is and always has been datum, from the latin past participle. As grammar girl one of the articulate engineers favorite modernday resources explains, it comes down to whether you consider data to be a count noun or a mass noun. Indefinite pronouns can take a singular or plural verb number follows the same ruling used with the indefinite pronouns all, any, more, most, and some. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. The indefinite articles a and an are used to modify singular nouns. Punctuation is not grammar and doesnt follow grammatical rules. I chose the plural verbs watch and spend because i felt that we were using youth in a plural manner here. Mignon fogarty is the founder of quick and dirty tips and the author of seven books on language, including the new york times bestseller grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing. To help clear up any confusion regarding the proper use of these terms.
Is data singular or plural the word data is the latin plural form of datum. For example, some bacteria flourish in several types of media. Seminar leader, personal coach, and television talk show guest, jane straus has a gift for combining inspiration, entertainment, and education. Also, if an antecedent is singular, then any pronoun referring to it must be singular. Today, she estimates that her podcasts have been downloaded some 70 million times by audiences in saudi arabia, russia, india, south korea, japan, and elsewhere. The word data comes to english from latin, in which datum is the singular and data is the plural. Good information from thefreedictionary quoting american heritage dictionary as its source. Headquarters is plural noun, but depending on the context, or better say construct, it can be used with singular or plural verb as per the dictionary. Its arbitrary, and especially in the case of apostrophes, chaotic. It can modify either plural count nouns or singular mass nouns, which means that any singular noun modified by any is automatically interpreted as a mass noun. She is an inductee in the podcasting hall of fame, and the show is a fivetime. Many of the mba entrances including cat test students on the questions 10 must know rules for subject verb agreement grammar read more. You can now learn all about who and whom, affect and effect, subjects and verbs, adjectives and adverbs, commas, semicolons, quotation marks, and much more by just sitting back and enjoying these short, easytofollow videos on usage. These daysto avoid the heshe problemwriters will use a singular antecedent and then refer to it with the plural pronouns they, their, or them.
Their form third person singular assumes that they are linked to a singular. Before photocopiers and computer printers, to make one or more copies of a document, carbon paper was placed between sheets of typewriter paper. With one or more is are, the first thing to consider is whether one or more is a unit or analysable. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing. Here, resourcespecification is a statement or statements that declares and initializes a resource. Writers using the singular take their cue from one, whereas the pluralusers are responding to those people or the things. Several listeners have recently asked about this conundrum. Onethird of the population of subsaharan africa is undernourished. Data is a latin plural with a singular datum though datum is seldom used on its own any more. So both the singular possessive and plural possessive of deer is deers.
The concept of each singular noun contrasted with all plural nouns is not relevant here any can refer to one or to all, to several or to some part of. As noted in the sixth edition of the publication manual p. You find more about the collective noun by reading the following excellent explanations. The associated press stylebook classifies data as a plural noun, normally taking plural verbs and pronouns. We use singular or plural depending on where we live.
Although most noun plurals are formed this way, only verbs with a thirdperson singular noun or pronoun he, she, boat, courage as a subject ever have an added s on the end. Singular and plural subjects and verbs must correspond, so get your kid started on this grammar lesson with a fun worksheet. Every book in the course must be read before the end of the semester. When it comes to indefinite pronouns, grammarians disagree about whether words such as everyone and somebody are singular or plural when you use a pronoun to refer to them. Grammar girls 101 troublesome words youll master in. All is more often used with plural verb forms, though sometimes it is used with singular verbs. Nouns that look like plurals, because they end in s, but whose meaning is collective or composite, are known as pluralia tantum. Be careful with the a team grammar and punctuation. Jul 20, 2015 use as either singular or plural in meaning but always with a singular verb. Most people today treat it as a mass noun, and therefore use its singular form. Here, even if you think data can be singular, or that it really is singular and the plural is archaic, pedantic or plain wrong, you still might use the plural, or advise people to do so, in order not to risk offending some professor who thinks the singular is wrong.
Count nouns can be singular or plural, and when you use them as the subject of a sentence, the verb must correctly reflect that number, as in the last apple is on the bottom shelf or the eggs are fresh. For example, if were talking about a decade, its commonly accepted to write them as the 1980s or 1990s although its still generally recommended to write 1980s and. I was wondering if you could go over the usage of the word data, as in the data are correct or the da. The simplest and most likely solution is to omit all apostrophes which dont convey any information, or questions like this wouldnt be asked and rely on syntax to distinguish the girls teams, and the boys teams, from the girls and boys team. She is an inductee in the podcasting hall of fame, and the show is a fivetime winner of best education podcast in the podcast awards. Apr 05, 2008 when youth is used as a collective noun, you may follow it with either a singular or plural verb. An additional note indicates that some words, such as data, that are plural in form become collective nouns and take singular verbs when the group or quantity is regarded as a unit. Now, dont get worried and dont be like why do i need to learn this.
In american english, data can be a singular or a plural noun. The only difference is that the plural of woman doesnt end in an s. As we wrote in 2012, the word what can be construed as either singular or plural. Is the usage of the word data different in us english. On the other hand, if provided with some context, who can address to a plural word as well. Some major newspapers, such as the new york times, use it either in the singular or plural. Martins griffin volume, grammar girl s quick and dirty tips for better writing. For a detailed explanation of how to show the plural of names ending in s, ch, or z, please see apostrophes with names ending in s, ch, or z. Any followed by singular or plural countable nouns. Data is the latin plural of datum, so why does it sometimes sound weird.
Headquarters is one such, and premises, surroundings and outskirts are others. In scientific contexts and in reference to mass communications, the plural of medium is media. The truth is that none can be singular or plural, but many people. Our data suggest or our data suggests english biology. Data is often treated as a plural noun in writing related to science, mathematics, finance, and computing. They are not used in the singular, or they have a different meaning in the singular. The latest, the throne of caesar in bookstores on the ides of march, incidentally, is a thriller centered on. As you say, the speaker is not thinking of a particular problem, but of one or another, or perhaps more than one. Mar 09, 20 well, it depends on whether youre a prescriptivist or a descriptivist. Some nouns have a fixed plural form and take a plural verb.
Elsewhere, most english speakers treat it as a singular mass noun. If the grammatical subject of a sentence is singular, then the verb must be singular. Having said that, who on its own seems singular, but provided with context, can serve to a plural word as well. If you feel confident about forming plurals in english by adding an s or es at the end of the word, were about to make you feel a little wobbly. Rereading the jacket copy for the umpteenth time, i suddenly noticed that ides occurred in two different placesand was treated as plural in one and singular in the other. Mass nouns, on the other hand, are used for things that dont have a natural boundary and cant be counted. The connection between data the plural and datum the singular has been almost completely broken, so that while datum survives in such compounds as datum point, it does not have the frequency of use that data has. Jan 18, 2018 mignon fogarty is the founder of quick and dirty tips and the author of seven books on language, including the new york times bestseller grammar girl s quick and dirty tips for better writing. Plurals of nouns are used to indicate when there is more than one person, place, animal, or thing. Slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to. Whether you are a grammar phobe seeking guidance, a parent looking for a tutorial that your kids will enjoy and therefore use or a writer seeking a fun reference manual for frustrating recurring questions, grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing will likely satisfy. Charles carson in a guest post for grammar girl describes count nouns and mass nouns. However, there has been a growing tendency to use it as an equivalent to the uncountable noun information followed by a singular verb. I dont know about the british, but americans, all too often, cannot be bothered with correct grammar.
Headquarters is unusual in that it can be followed either by a singular or by a plural verb quarters alone can mean almost any place of residence, including the place where troops. Videos on usage jane straus the blue book of grammar. Usually a plural noun taking plural verbs and pronouns. Strictly speaking, data is the plural of datum and should be used with a plural verb like facts. Aug 12, 2015 when we have received the data we can start to analyse them. Sometimes they take a singular verb, but other times they take a plural verb. When it has the singular sense of one set, it takes a singular verb, even when series is followed by of and a plural noun.
These are singular when they refer to something singular i. Data word the word data has generated considerable controversy on whether it is an uncountable noun used with verbs conjugated in the singular, or should be treated as the plural of the nowrarelyused datum. The reason some people believe the singular data to be incorrect is that data is a plural word in latin, its singular being datum, meaning a thing given. Phenomenon or phenomena grammar girl quick and dirty tips. The singular form already expresses the same idea as informations in other languages. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing quick. You should use the apostrophe only when theres no other way to form the plural, as in dot your is and cross your ts. Sometimes the rules change over time, and sometimes the concepts just get a little hazy. With plural nouns but also the singular pronouns i and you there is. Subject and verb agreement with collective nouns grammar.
Im a bit confused about how the verbs declares and initializes are used here. When using a plural noun, these two articles are unnecessary. Any english grammar today a reference to written and spoken english grammar and usage cambridge dictionary. When a plural noun is implied or explicitly present, as in your case you should use a plural verb e. When a noun means one only, it is said to be singular. The plural form of a verb other than the verb to be is the base infinitive form i write and they write, i am and we are. However its most commonly used as a collective noun when referring to news media, and in that context using singular pronouns for it look ok. Grammar girl quick and dirty tips says that data is accepted as both in standard usage. In the new york times the phrases the survey data are still being analyzed and the first year for which data is available have appeared within one day. A singular noun phrase usually refers to something that you would count as one only e. In the past and still in the occasional scientific institution, data was treated as plural. Base your decision on whether your readers should consider the data as a single collection or as a group of individual facts. In swahili, to form the plural of nouns and adjectives depends on the noun class.
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