3 ms·
Interesting fact is that mass nouns are not always the same in different languages. In German information is count noun and has plural case (Informationen). Eng
by ivan_gammel 4y ago
Interesting fact is that mass nouns are not always the same in different languages. In German information is count noun and has plural case (Informationen). English spoken in continental Europe often carries the traces of other languages, so you may encounter in local documents written in English by non-native speaker something like „informations“.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro_English https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro_English
- xbar 4y agoMy brother speaks seven languages and likes to talk about his challenges in teaching mass nouns to students in South Korea.
- Twisol 4y agoEven in English, depending on who you talk to, "data" might be either count or mass. (I am solidly in the mass camp.)
- gweinberg 4y agoIt's pretty clearly used as a mass noun. Nobody would ever say 3 data (as opposed to 3 data points). Maybe once data was the plural of datum, but today datum isn't even really a word. Nobody says "this datum", they say "this data point".
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- Twisol 4y agoUnfortunately, I have absolutely heard people say "this datum" and "these data" -- admittedly not "three data", but certainly in the style of a count noun, and not in the style of a mass noun. If they used it as a mass noun, they would say "this data", not "these data".
- travisjungroth 4y agoIf you need to take an interview to keep your unemployment checks coming, just treat it like a singular count. One mention of “datas” during a technical round and you’ll be on your way.