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It's Time to End the 'Data Is' vs 'Data Are' Debate (vice.com)
dmoberhaus writes: After receiving too many irate emails about using "data" in the singular, a reporter spoke to two lexicographers about how the language changes over time and why it's perfectly acceptable and perhaps even "standard" to use data as a singular noun, rather than a plural noun in an attempt to settle an old debate. Peter Sokolowski, a lexicographer for the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, told the reporter that data's transition between its historical roots and contemporary use is related to a lexical phenomenon called "semantic bleaching," where a word's original meaning is lost or diminished over time. An example of semantic bleaching include the contemporary use of the word "literally," whose Latin root, littera, means "letter." In the case of "data," it has transitioned from "things given" to mean something like "a collection of information in aggregate" when used in everyday speech.
How is this a debate? Look in a dictionary. The word has a literal dictionary definition. :-)
The two dictionaries I just checked say data is the plural of datum.
People who use it differently either knowingly choose to (which is fine with me) or they are ignorant.
...but then I read the summary and was too bored to figure out what the opposite case is supposed to be.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Are we sure it is?
We're pretty sure, but we need to wait until more data is available before we officially close the debate.
We're pretty sure, but we need to wait until more data are available before we officially close the debate.
Well, that settles it: The second form just feels weird and stilted, like a grammar rule from a musty out-of-date dictionary. Debate closed.
That one's easy. When you say "in the hospital", the use of the definitive article "the" implies that it is a *specific* hospital they are in (usually with some understanding that the reader/listener is already aware of which *specific* hospital is under discussion).
When you say someone is "in hospital" it is a more general statement, saying that they are in a hospital somewhere receiving medical treatment, but does not imply that the *specific* hospital in question is already shared knowledge with the listener.
USians tend to use "in the hospital" for the most part because their health care system sucks balls and in most places there is only ONE local hospital which you could be referring to.
In other countries with proper healthcare, there are multiple possible hospitals, and the specific hospital can't be assumed by context.
That's nice that you knew some Latin and are also familiar with the mass/count distinction, but I question whether you're a native English speaker, when you claim that a server asks if you want "mashed potato". It's always always always mashed potatoes.
As in " One million dollars was spent . . ." instead of "were spent".
We're pretty sure but we need to wait until we have more data before we officially close the debate.
When in doubt change the sentence so that you get around the tricky bit.
Are we sure it is?
We're pretty sure, but we need to wait until more data is available before we officially close the debate.
We're pretty sure, but we need to wait until more data are available before we officially close the debate.
Well, that settles it: The second form just feels weird and stilted, like a grammar rule from a musty out-of-date dictionary. Debate closed.
Debate close?
1) What data is you looking at?
2) What data are you looking at?
Nope. Nothing has been settled. The 1st form feels weird.