Data or Datas? | WordReference Forums

When it first came into English, it was treated as plural: "the data are not sufficient to solve the problem." Nowadays, we treat it as an ... 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DataorDatas? Threadstarter aigle491 Startdate Jan16,2005 A aigle491 Member Philadelphia USAEnglish,Russian Isthepluraloftheworddata...datas?Oristhepluralofdata...data? Isitthesameordoesitchange?   M modgirl SeniorMember USAEnglish Dataisthepluralformofdatum.However,althoughcontroversial,dataisbecomingacceptableasbothsingularandplural.   A Artrella Banned BA Spanish-Argentina aigle491said: Isthepluraloftheworddata...datas?Oristhepluralofdata...data? Isitthesameordoesitchange? Clicktoexpand... HiAigle!!AccordingtothedictionaryitisDATAinpluralandDATUMinsingular.   A Artrella Banned BA Spanish-Argentina Data ORIGINmid17thcent.(asaterminphilosophy):fromLatin,pluralofDATUM. USAGE:InLatin,dataisthepluralofdatumand,historicallyandinspecializedscientificfields,itisalsotreatedasapluralinEnglish,takingapluralverb,asinthedatawerecollectedandclassified.Inmodernnon-scientificuse,however,despitethecomplaintsoftraditionalists,itisoftennottreatedasaplural.Instead,itistreatedasamassnoun,similartoawordlikeinformation,whichcannotnormallyhaveapluralandwhichtakesasingularverb.Sentencessuchasdatawas(aswellasdatawere)collectedoveranumberofyearsarenowwidelyacceptedinstandardEnglish. Source:OxfordDictionary   Rob625 SeniorMember Murlo(SI) English-England Originally,theword"data"isthepluraloftheLatinworddatum,whichmeans"thatwhichisgiven".WhenitfirstcameintoEnglish,itwastreatedasplural:"thedataarenotsufficienttosolvetheproblem."Nowadays,wetreatitasanuncountable.Thismeansthatitissingular,andcannothaveaplural.Sowecansay"thedataisreadbytheprogram." Ifyouhavesomedatainonefileandthensomemoreinanother,thatisnottwodataortwodatas;itisjustdata. Anotherexampleofanuncountablewordis"furniture".Thereisnoplural.   A Artrella Banned BA Spanish-Argentina Rob625said: Anotherexampleofanuncountablewordis"furniture".Thereisnoplural. Clicktoexpand... Rob,doesthesamehappento"media",doesn'tit?Orithastobealwaysintheplural?   M modgirl SeniorMember USAEnglish HiRob,insomescientificcircles,it'sstilldataanddatum,butIdothinkthatforthegeneralpopulation,you'reright:dataistreatedasanuncountable(singular)word. Artrella,I'vealwaysheardmediaisthesameway:singular.However,I'vealsonoticedthatmanyBritishpeopleuseitintheplural.Webster'sNewWorldCollegeDictionary(American),whichtheAssociatedPressuses,saysthatmediausuallytakesasingularverb.   O ofeliadimaano NewMember philippines aigle491said: Isthepluraloftheworddata...datas?Oristhepluralofdata...data? Isitthesameordoesitchange? Clicktoexpand... couldyouplsupdateme. ithinkihavereadabook,publishedbyreputablepublicationintheUSwherethey'vementionedtheword'datas' isthiscorrect.weusedto'data'asplural.   caballoschica SeniorMember buriedunderorganicchemtextbooks english/usa modgirlsaid: HiRob,insomescientificcircles,it'sstilldataanddatum,butIdothinkthatforthegeneralpopulation,you'reright:dataistreatedasanuncountable(singular)word. Artrella,I'vealwaysheardmediaisthesameway:singular.However,I'vealsonoticedthatmanyBritishpeopleuseitintheplural.Webster'sNewWorldCollegeDictionary(American),whichtheAssociatedPressuses,saysthatmediausuallytakesasingularverb. Clicktoexpand... Definitelystilldataanddatum.MyprofessorswouldkillmeifIsaiddatasorsaiddataforasingulardatum.Theyalwayssaybeforewritinglabreports,it'sdatumanddata,spectrumandspectraandalwayshavethatinbold. Andmediaisthepluralofmedium.Ithinkthat'smoreprevalentinart.Whatmediumareyouusingforthispicture?OrWhatmediadoyouhaveatyourdisposal? Dataistreatedassingularinthegeneralpopulationassingular,butittechnicallyisn'tcorrect.Butdatasisanevenworseerror.Inmyopinion   S SALGUERO Member OlivadelaFrontera(ESP) SPAIN hello Maybethepluralisdataandthesingularcouldbe"apieceofinformation",butIleavethelastwordforenglishnatives. Ithinkiscorrecttosay"lastword". Pleasecorrectmyenglishandthanksinadvance.   Victoria32 SeniorMember NewZealand English(UK)NewZealand aigle491said: Isthepluraloftheworddata...datas?Oristhepluralofdata...data? Isitthesameordoesitchange? Clicktoexpand... Thesingularistheword'datum',andsodataisalreadyapluralword... Vicky   Youmustloginorregistertoreplyhere. Share: Facebook Twitter Reddit WhatsApp Email Share Link Forums EnglishOnly EnglishOnly Top