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Well, there's a certain logic to it: The long version of the word, Mathematics, is a regular plural. So is it so strange for the shortened version Maths to als
by davnicwil 9y ago
Well, there's a certain logic to it: The long version of the word, Mathematics, is a regular plural. So is it so strange for the shortened version Maths to also be a regular plural?
Edit: I was imprecise with my phrasing above, I really meant to say 'takes the form of (a regular plural)' instead of 'is' - I don't know if it is or is not technically a plural - the point was only that the shortened word 'Maths' follows the same form as the long version, which seems logically consistent.
- Houshalter 9y agoIs Mathematics plural? Would you say "Mathematics is cool", or "Mathematics are cool"?
- TheOtherHobbes 9y agoIt's a special case like physics, optics, dynamics, economics, and so on. The simple (linguistically obscure, but let's pretend) way to understand it is that there's an implied "the study of" before the word. So although you are studying multiple elements of a topic, the study itself is singular.
- awkwarddaturtle 9y agoIt isn't a regular plural. What is a mathematic? Mathematic is not a noun. Mathematics is a mass noun like software or equipment.