On 03/01/14 21:54, j. van den hoff wrote: [...] > as a physicist I've never seen `data' used in its singluar form and I'm > sure you are not completely (although mostly) right here. but > as a non-native speaker I rather resort to the "Oxford Dictionary of > English" which says (citing it verbatim (modulo typos...)):
You're both right. 'Datum' is still the correct singular, and 'data' is
the plural of 'datum'... but 'data' is now *also* a singular collective
noun, and this meaning is vastly more prevalent. So 'data was collected'
is correct, as is 'single point of data', but you can also say 'the
datum at T=0'. That is, you *can*, but nobody does ('data point' has
largely replaced 'datum' except in the most formal scientific prose).
Disclaimer: I can only speak from the perspective of UK English, where
we have TV programmes about computer programs.
BTW, this one is easy. If you want to really hurt your head, consider
'fish' vs 'fishes'... both in the plural sense.
...it is *not true* that I'm a card-carrying member of the Pedant's
Society. (It's actually made of plastic.)
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