[net.nlang] Using data as a singular noun

rjs (02/25/83)

I was recently informed that a phrase I used in a document was incorrect.
I suspect this is true, but I'm not sure about the fix and am therefore
soliciting opinions from all you grammarians out there.

The phrase I used was "... gathering data as it becomes available from ...".
This sounds ok to me, but so do a lot of other grammatically incorrect
phrases.  The problem is that "data" is plural (of "datum"), so it was
suggested that the phrase should read "... gathering data as they become
available from ...".  But this doesn't really sound like what I wanted
to say, although it may well be.  Consider the following similar phrases:

	"... gathering sheep as they become available from ..."
	"... gathering wheat as it becomes available from ..."
	"... gathering money as it becomes available from ..."

(I'm using examples because I don't know the proper terminology for
this stuff).  I believe the first and third phrases are correct and
suspect the second is also.  Although "wheat" and "money" are plural,
it's hard to pin down a singular form for them.  Can "data" be
legitimately used in this form?  "Money" is apparently a "mass noun",
which is not quite singular or plural.  Is there a corresponding word
that can be used similarly for "data"?  Is "data" a "mass noun"?
"Look at all that data." sounds better than "Look at all those data.".

Looking forward to your opinions.

	Robert Snyder
	floyd!rjs

chris (02/25/83)

The term you want to use instead of "mass noun" is "non-count noun."
The opposite is obviously "count noun."  This is a reasonably well
established concept.  (I learned it in the fifth grade or so.) The term
is used to distinguish between nouns for which the plural form
indicates a discrete number of the item, and those for which the plural
indicates an undistinguished jumble of the item.  Other non-count nouns
are "water", "sugar", and "mail."

I think that "data" and "datums", (considered an acceptable plural form
by most dictionaries) should be treated as non-count nouns, and so your
usage was correct.