Linked Questions

36 votes
7 answers
6k views

When a word has both English and 'Latin' plurals, which style should I use?

Many 'Latin' words in English have both Latin-style plurals and English-style plurals: referendum – referendums, referenda. minimum – minimums, minima. gymnasium – gymnasiums, gymnasia. ...
Sid's user avatar
  • 2,772
29 votes
5 answers
127k views

"Criteria" versus "criterion"

I came across several forums and articles saying that criteria is plural and criterion is singular. Some gave me the impression that criterion is used to denote a set of rules. What is the correct ...
Niroshan's user avatar
  • 395
16 votes
6 answers
6k views

Should nouns borrowed from Japanese be pluralized?

As someone who has watched a lot of subtitled Japanese animation, it seems odd to hear a word such as ninja (used in the plural) in the dialogue and see it transliterated as ninjas. It somehow seems ...
Gary's user avatar
  • 2,597
12 votes
5 answers
4k views

Plurals of loanwords of obviously foreign form

What rules of thumb govern when to pluralise a foreign word as it should be in the original language and when it should be pluralised as an English word? For example, you'd get some funny looks using ...
Seamus's user avatar
  • 2,805
4 votes
2 answers
708 views

Should I follow English conventions, or write what sounds better?

How a sentence sounds when read aloud or in your head can often "sound" different for each individual doing so; however, I was reading details regarding the usage of "data" and "datum" and was ...
Freesnöw's user avatar
  • 819
5 votes
2 answers
863 views

Preceding article in foreign words [closed]

For articles on GL&U it is usual to use German words in English texts. While writing an answer, I was unsure how to use articles in a right way. Finally, after I had read my answer again, I became ...
Em1's user avatar
  • 5,153
2 votes
2 answers
1k views

Use of plural pronoun to avoid mentioning of gender

I'm aware that (at least today's) English allows the use of a plural pronoun to avoid mentioning a gender of the subject. Example: _"Everybody can do what they want to" instead of "Everybody can do ...
Alfe's user avatar
  • 147
10 votes
2 answers
245 views

Declined Latin nouns in English prose

In German it was customary to decline Latin words used in German prose. One might, for instance, speak of performing a reductionem ad absurdum, using the the accusative form of the word reductio when ...
Toothrot's user avatar
  • 1,062
-3 votes
4 answers
314 views

Number that should be used here

Ok, this question came from another question, in which my answer has a "problem". In this question, three conditions were given. In my answer to this question, I stated: You have listed a very ...
Thursagen's user avatar
  • 42.1k
2 votes
1 answer
741 views

Anglicized plural and zero plural

What is the difference between "anglicized plural" and "zero plural"? I found those terms used in http://www.onlinegrammar.com.au/plural-of-status/ which says, What is the correct ...
Vishnu G S's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
308 views

Pluralisation of Latin Words [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: Which style of Latin plurals should I use? Is “data” considered singular or plural? Where are the "data"? I only have one "datum". Listening to Radio 4's Today programme ...
immutabl's user avatar
  • 3,129
4 votes
1 answer
223 views

Use definite article or not in conjunction with a German institution's name which contains a strongly declined article?

Picture some German university's arthistory department, and its official title would be "Kunsthistorisches Institut". "Kunsthistorisch" is an adjective, and "kunsthistorisches" is its nominative case. ...
Turtle's user avatar
  • 41