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1

Which one is considered correct? I say "math", however I believe I heard somewhere that "maths" is correct. Also, should it (and "mathematics") be capitalized or not?

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2 Answers

up vote 35 down vote accepted

This is simple:

  • Math is American English.
  • Maths is British English.

It is a common noun and should only be capitalized at the beginning of a sentence.

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7  
Conversely, Americans say "sports" while British people say "sport". The different forms are arbitrary. – Kosmonaut Aug 16 '10 at 0:59
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Unless it's a name of a subject/course, in which case it should be capitalised. – Noldorin Aug 16 '10 at 8:11
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@Kosmonaut Actually the difference there is more subtle than that. "Sport" in BrE can be used as an abstract noun relating to the concept, as well as as a count noun. In AmE, it can only be a count noun, so if you want to refer to "all sports" (that plural is correct in both dialects), then you have to talk about "sports" in AmE, but you can say "sport" in BrE. But if you want to say "I was the captain of the school team in two sports", then that's a count noun plural in both dialects. Many Americans get it wrong and think that sport can't take a plural in BrE. – Richard Gadsden Sep 1 '11 at 13:14
You can say sports in BrE. How did you enjoy the school sports day? – Dominic Cronin Sep 17 '12 at 19:44
up vote 8 down vote

This is meant to be added to nohat's response but I can't seem to add comments (yet).

The words "math" and "maths" are both abbreviations of "mathematics" and are dictated by your local variation of English.

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