Data are or Data is

[Bodarc]

This is not really a blackjack topic but every time I see "data are", it bothers me even though I believe that is considered correct since data is plural and datum is singular.

However, I was taught (many many years ago) that if you are talking about a collection (which data is(are)) you are talking about the collection itself which is singular and not the individual elements. To me it is like saying, "the collection are."

So Don or any of you other English professionals, set me straight......How it bees?

[Three]

So Don or any of you other English professionals, set me straight.

I learned how to spell basically from Don this week. Since basical is a word it is not basicly but basically.

Just messing with you Don. The lesson was actually quite useful and I had no problem spelling basically before it. The English language is a b*tch because of all the exceptions to the rules. I got a new computer and now it fixes things without permission. It often guesses wrong as to what the word was or when you use a word that is very specialized it may not get it is a word and change it.

[Dieter]

You really want to get annoyed, start thinking about the whole "data is the plural of datum" thing, and then hear people talking about "datums".

http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/datum.html

[DSchles]

You really want to get annoyed, start thinking about the whole "data is the plural of datum" thing, and then hear people talking about "datums".

http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/datum.html

And then there is the reverse problem, which drives me crazy: since some form the plural of "index" by using the Latin "indices," rather than "indexes," they then do a back-formation and conclude that one of them must be an "indice"! Sad. (By the way, you have to use "indexes" when you're referring to those alphabetical lists that come at the book of a book.)

As for data's being singular or plural, there are hundreds of articles online, so have a look. Bottom line: strictly speaking, and using the Latin, data is the plural of datum. But damned if you don't sound horribly pedantic by writing, "the data are convincing." And yes, if you think of that as meaning, "the collection of facts IS convincing," you have some grounds for using the singular. I have so many such pet peeves on my list of linguistic problems that it would take me a day to list them all.

Don

[Norm]

I use data is. I can justify it by saying it's a mass noun. But, I just like the sound better. In formal writing, I just avoid it altogether.

[Stealth]

This is not really a blackjack topic but every time I see "data are", it bothers me even though I believe that is considered correct since data is plural and datum is singular.

Having come from "Data Processing" in the age of dinosaurs, this came up all the time in tech docs and I never got it straight. But with the guidance provided herein, I hereby swear to use "data is" in order to avoid further admonishment and to sound somewhat normal.

[Bodarc]

I hereby swear to use "data is" in order to avoid further admonishment and to sound somewhat normal.

LOL funny Stealth

[UK-21]

I think this falls into the murky overlap between latin base and how words are applied in modern English. In Italian, "information" is a plural word (informazzioni) and I don't believe there is a singular version I've never seen "il informazziono" used?

[Freightman]

And then there is the reverse problem, which drives me crazy: since some form the plural of "index" by using the Latin "indices," rather than "indexes," they then do a back-formation and conclude that one of them must be an "indice"! Sad. (By the way, you have to use "indexes" when you're referring to those alphabetical lists that come at the book of a book.)

As for data's being singular or plural, there are hundreds of articles online, so have a look. Bottom line: strictly speaking, and using the Latin, data is the plural of datum. But damned if you don't sound horribly pedantic by writing, "the data are convincing." And yes, if you think of that as meaning, "the collection of facts IS convincing," you have some grounds for using the singular. I have so many such pet peeves on my list of linguistic problems that it would take me a day to list them all.

Don

Radius - radii
Penis - penii
Ball - is that balls, ballsi, or ballses

[Dieter]

I think this falls into the murky overlap

I'm willing to accept either, so long as it's consistent.

"These data are" is just as valid as "This data is", but scrambling the other words makes it invalid.

I prefer to think of the singular form as referring to a particular set or collection of data, and omitting a word or two.

[Aslan]

I once reviewed reports before they went public. I kept five books close at hand-- The Chicago Manual of Style, The Associated Press Stylebook, The Elements of Style, Writing in Plain English, and an old grammar book from my early school days.

[Three]

Yeah, Collective nouns are tricky and I am no expert. If there is no plural of the collective noun I think it falls to one set of rules but if there is a plural it falls to another. I am very sketchy on this so take it with a shaker of salt. What the hell along with a margarita and and Jimmy Buffet album. Like tribe is a collective noun but you also can talk about tribes. Oh crap, I am having trouble coming up with an example for the other side. Just enjoy that margarita. Cheers.

[mofungoo]

What is most important is the data itself.