Timeline for Is it okay to say "I wrote this article after reading many data"?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
15 events
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| May 29, 2016 at 7:56 | comment | added | Ben Kovitz | @TRomano and Rathony: OK, you guys talked me into it. I posted an answer. Ngram away… | |
| May 29, 2016 at 7:12 | comment | added | user24743 | @TRomano Would you care to explain books.google.com/ngrams/… ? It shows "too much data" got much traction after 1950 or 1960, but doesn't show us "too many data" is not being used. | |
| May 29, 2016 at 6:31 | comment | added | Ben Kovitz | @TRomano Here's an example. You might object that the author is not fluent in English. The point, though, is that he is using plural data to communicate something real, as we normally use plurals, not putting on airs. BTW, in most settings where datum is common today, people don't use it as the singular of data. They use it for new meanings, which they pluralize as datums. I find this kind of observation much more helpful than the usual frequency-of-use arguments. Singular data and plural datums are useful for communicating, not just flock-following. | |
| May 29, 2016 at 6:24 | comment | added | Ben Kovitz | @TRomano That's interesting! One possible explanation is that there are very few hits. But I think a more likely explanation is that the momentum to treat "data" as singular started long ago, because even when it was clearly plural, there were many fewer occasions to say "datum". Compare this and this. I don't think we disagree about the phony and pedantic sound that "many data" usually has today. But I do think that plural "data" has legitimate, non-pretentious currency in some (unusual) settings. | |
| May 29, 2016 at 3:42 | comment | added | AGamePlayer |
Thanks for all of the comments, but I'm still confused. I read your comments . So I guess the conclusion is many is ok but much is more recently used? Thanks again!
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| May 28, 2016 at 19:21 | comment | added | TimR | Would either of you care to explain books.google.com/ngrams/… | |
| May 28, 2016 at 16:42 | comment | added | Ben Kovitz | @TRomano We might read different books or we might be different ages, but I have encountered "many data" in real life, even in speech. It's been declining in usage, but it has a long-standing pedigree and is found in many books that are still read. See, for example, this Ngram. That said, I share your disgust with "many data" and also find it pedantic. If you'd like to pass a harsh law against its use by anyone who doesn't know the singular, I'm in. | |
| May 28, 2016 at 16:21 | comment | added | user24743 | @TRomano I said, " It would not be incorrect to use "many data."" and "it would be better to use "much" than "many" based on this definition." What do you think is wrong with my statements? Don't you agree that we need to show learners as many cases as possible so that they can understand what they are? They will know what you are talking about now when their English is improved. I don't think my answer is wrong | |
| May 28, 2016 at 16:18 | comment | added | TimR | I would explain that as the likely result of editorial intervention. One rarely hears "these data" in natural conversation. One hears "this data shows" far more often than "these data show" even by speakers who would write "these data show". In formal contexts, they will treat "data" as plural because they know it's "correct" to do so, but in informal contexts they will often do as the average speaker does. | |
| May 28, 2016 at 16:06 | comment | added | user24743 | @TRomano How can you explain this Ngram Viewer? books.google.com/ngrams/…. I don't understand why it has to be something wrong just because you have never heard or read it.books.google.com/ngrams/… | |
| May 28, 2016 at 16:04 | comment | added | TimR | I'm saying that "many data" is a pedanticism. I can find only a handful of times when it is used. | |
| May 28, 2016 at 15:43 | history | edited | user24743 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
deleted 229 characters in body
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| May 28, 2016 at 15:43 | comment | added | user24743 | @TRomano Are you saying that the sentence in the book written by two British scholars is incorrect? It might not be more broadly used than "collected much data", but I don't see the problem with the sentence. Do you? I deleted the first Ngram as "many data" are used as an attributive phrase in some cases. | |
| May 28, 2016 at 15:29 | comment | added | TimR |
-1 it would not be incorrect to use "many data" I must disagree. I have never heard or read "many data", and "correct" is what people say, not what they "can say" according to some abstract rule. Even "these data" is rare compared to "this data". The plural is perceived as pedantry, even by the well-educated.
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| May 28, 2016 at 9:41 | history | answered | user24743 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |