[Tanialoves]

Hello,

I know that "data" is the plural form of "datum". So, logically, we have to say "data are". But there are lots and lots of example with "data is/was/has been". My students are confused and so am I. Are both variants correct?

Thank you in advance.

[susan53]

Both are used. What's happening here is that data is a Latin word which has been taken into English. But while in Latin it's plural, in English it's usually treated as grammatically identical to information, which of course is uncountable. So data too is seen as uncountable and therefore singular: The data on this is confusing. Some people though, who know it's a Latin plural, will use it with a plural verb : The data on this are confusing. The plural is much rarer though - if you feed both data is and data are into the Cobuild concordancer, you get just over 407 thousand occurrences of data is and just under 199 thousand occurrences of data are.

So whichever. And if someone tells you they "must" be plural because the original language was, ask them why they don't do the same with words referring to pasta. In Italian spaghetti, tagliatelle etc are plural, and so you say (in Italian): the spaghetti are ready. But in English they're treated as grammatically equivalent to pasta - uncountable and therefore taking a singular verb : the spaghetti is ready.

As languages adopt words from other languages they frequently (almost always?) adapt them, whether in terms of meaning, in pronunciation or grammatically. You can probably think of various examples in languages you know which have adopted English words and distorted them. Or other foreign words used in English which have been distorted.

[susan53]

Postscript

I just found this in Wikipedia :

Some British and UN academic, scientific, and professional style guides (e.g., see page 43 of the World Health Organization Style Guide) request that authors treat data as a plural noun. Other international organization, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Computer Society, allow its usage as either a mass noun or plural based on author preference. It is now usually treated as a singular mass noun in informal usage, but usage in scientific publications shows a strong divide between the United States and United Kingdom. In the United States the word data is often used in the singular, though scientists and science writers more often maintain the traditional plural usage. Some major newspapers such as the New York Times use it alternately in the singular or plural. 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 on the same day. Scientists often use data as plural, as in These data do not support the conclusions, but most people now think of data as a singular mass entity like information and use the singular in general usage." UK usage now widely accepts treating data as singular in standard English, including everyday newspaper usage at least in non-scientific use. UK scientific publishing usually still prefers treating it as a plural. Some UK university style guides recommend using data for both singular and plural use and some recommend treating it only as a singular in connection with computers.

The original gives references to the style guides etc mentioned.

[Tanialoves]

Thank you very much. You are as always helpful