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Subject:Re: Data From:Bill Burns <WBURNS -at- VAX -dot- MICRON -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 21 Mar 1995 10:28:08 MDT
Renee asks:
>>Is there a consensus regarding using a singular verb with the word Data?
I don't know about a consensus among tech writers, but the Gregg Reference
Manual indicates that in technical and scientific usage, "data" should appear
with a plural verb form. In general use, it's used as a noncount or collective
noun rather than a plural noun form. In this environment, it's used with a
singular verb form. This usage would probably be restricted by dialect, though.
British English, I believe, uses plural verbs for collective nouns (at least
some of them).
Bill Burns * "It takes a big man to cry,
Assm. Technical Writer/Editor * but it takes a bigger man
Micron Technology, Inc. * to laugh at that man."
Boise, ID *
WBURNS -at- VAX -dot- MICRON -dot- COM * JH
