Re: Is vs. Are

["Susan W Gallagher" <susanwg -at- gmail -dot- com>]

The "data" confusion isn't so much a localization issue as a language in
transition issue. Officially and historically, the word is taken directly
from the Latin; the singular is "datum" and the plural is "data" - so, "the
datum is" and "the data are". Generally speaking, the scientific community
still respects the Latin origins of this word, but the general populace, at
least here in the Western US, and many who work in the software industry,
began quite some time ago to treat "data" as a collective noun - "the data
is" - and "datum" has been replaced by the phrase "a single point of data".
I blame the advent of the database ... "where all the data is stored". <g>
HTH
-Sue Gallagher


On 3/18/08, Lauren <lauren -at- writeco -dot- net> wrote:
>
>
> There could be a localization issue here because I've seen British-English
> docs treat terms that are treated as singular in US-English as plural,
> such
> as the term "data."  British docs state "data are" where American docs
> state
> "data is."  Although, "data" can still be perceived as the plural of
> something, but "information" is singular, as in "a collection" of
> something.
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