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Subject:Re: *Data* question From:Beverly Parks <bparks -at- HUACHUCA-EMH1 -dot- ARMY -dot- MIL> Date:Thu, 31 Aug 1995 07:29:08 MST
Deborah Wood <DWood -at- DMCWAVE -dot- COM> asked-->
> Which phrase do y*all prefer? Are any grammatically incorrect?
> 1) This data helps the analyst.
> 2) These data help the analyst.
> 3) The data helps the analyst.
> 4) The data help the analyst.
=============
This is from _The New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style
and Usage_, copyright 1994:
data. The plural verb is always appropriate with the word
*data*, which is the plural of *datum*. This usage is in
transition, however, and technical writers increasingly use a
singular verb with *data* to indicate a body of statistics. "The
data proves" may be correct someday, but careful writers have
not yet adopted it.
I'm withholding personal opinion, which is in transition. :)
=*= Beverly Parks -- bparks -at- huachuca-emh1 -dot- army -dot- mil =*=
=*= Huachuca : That's pronounced "wah-CHEW-ka" =*=
=*= "Unless otherwise stated, all comments are my own. =*=
=*= I am not representing my employer in any way." =*=
