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
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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11Conversely, Americans say "sports" while British people say "sport". The different forms are arbitrary. Aug 16, 2010 at 0:59
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5Unless it's a name of a subject/course, in which case it should be capitalised.– NoldorinAug 16, 2010 at 8:11
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7@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. Sep 1, 2011 at 13:14
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1You can say sports in BrE.
How did you enjoy the school sports day?Sep 17, 2012 at 19:44 -
1@WS2 Merriam-Webster calls "mathematics" a "noun plural but usually singular in construction". You remove "ematics" from "mathematics" and you are left with "math". And FWIW, the shortened form for "economics" is "econ".– nohat ♦Aug 31, 2014 at 16:30
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.
