Forum newsfeeds 
|  | | Notices | You are welcome to answer questions posted in the Ask a Teacher forum as long as your suggestions, help, and advice reflect a good understanding of the English language. If you are not a teacher, you will need to state that clearly at the top of your post. Please note, all posts are moderated by our in-house language experts, so make sure your suggestions, help, and advice house the kind of information an international language teacher would offer. If not, and your posts do not contribute to the topic in a positive way, they will be subject to deletion. | 
24-Oct-2007, 16:48
| | Newbie | | Join Date: Oct 2007 Country: USA
Posts: 6
Current Location: NV First Language: English Thanks: 1
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
| |  The word "information."
I am a doctoral learner. I submitted a paper and was corrected on the point that the word "information" is ALWAYS plural. I have never heard anyone say "information are." Is this plural usage only in scholarly writing  , or has the whole of America been saying "information is" incorrectly. 
Thank you. |
25-Oct-2007, 11:54
| | Junior Member | | Join Date: Oct 2007 Country: philippines
Posts: 77
Current Location: cavite city First Language: english Thanks: 3
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
| |  Re: The word "information."
information is. . . .
informations are. . . . .
is-singular
are-plural |
25-Oct-2007, 12:04
| | Key Member | | Join Date: Aug 2006 Country: Romania
Posts: 1,670
Current Location: Romania First Language: Romanian Thanks: 0
Thanked 25 Times in 24 Posts
| |  Re: The word "information."
Quote:
Originally Posted by cls1992  I am a doctoral learner. I submitted a paper and was corrected on the point that the word "information" is ALWAYS plural. I have never heard anyone say "information are." Is this plural usage only in scholarly writing , or has the whole of America been saying "information is" incorrectly.
Thank you. | Yeng :
Information s is incorrect. Information is [not are!]
Cls 1992 :
The noun information is always followed by verbs or determinatives in the singular. Information is an uncountable noun
e.g.
The information [ that] he got was important. It [the information] was important.
If you want to change information into a countable noun, you have to use a quantifier : a piece of Those / These pieces of information were important , but That / This information was / is important.
Note : information has a plural meaning but , as I have already said, it is an uncountable noun followed by a singular verb or determiner.
Last edited by Teia; 25-Oct-2007 at 12:18.
|
26-Oct-2007, 07:31
| | Editor, UsingEnglish.com | | Join Date: Nov 2002 Country: UK
Posts: 25,137
Current Location: Phnom Penh First Language: English Thanks: 2
Thanked 246 Times in 235 Posts
| | Re: The word "information."
I agree with Teia; I use 'information' uncountably. 'Data' is often used uncountably in everyday English, but in academic English datum/data are used as singular and plural. |
26-Oct-2007, 08:34
|  | VIP Member | | Join Date: Oct 2007 Country: USA
Posts: 6,724
Current Location: Tucson, Arizona First Language: North American English Thanks: 354
Thanked 376 Times in 339 Posts
| | Re: The word "information."
Quote:
Originally Posted by cls1992 I am a doctoral learner. I submitted a paper and was corrected on the point that the word "information" is ALWAYS plural. I have never heard anyone say "information are." Is this plural usage only in scholarly writing , or has the whole of America been saying "information is" incorrectly.
Thank you. | Can you give us the specific sentence that caught the attention of your professor? |
27-Oct-2007, 00:03
| | Newbie | | Join Date: Oct 2007 Country: USA
Posts: 6
Current Location: NV First Language: English Thanks: 1
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
| | Re: The word "information."
Quote:
Originally Posted by amigos4 Can you give us the specific sentence that caught the attention of your professor? | The sentence read: "Knowing how to obtain knowledge and knowing how to use that information is being recognized as a very important issue."
Although the professor said that "information" is always plural, I think the situation is different than that. Perhaps you can help clarify. |
27-Oct-2007, 23:13
| | VIP Member | | Join Date: Oct 2007 Country: USA
Posts: 6,724
Current Location: Tucson, Arizona First Language: North American English Thanks: 354
Thanked 376 Times in 339 Posts
| | Re: The word "information."
Quote:
Originally Posted by cls1992 The sentence read: "Knowing how to obtain knowledge and knowing how to use that information is being recognized as a very important issue."
Although the professor said that "information" is always plural, I think the situation is different than that. Perhaps you can help clarify. | cls1992,
I am still having difficulty understanding your professor's position. So, let me throw out this thought : Would the following sentence satisfy his concept of 'plural'? "Knowing how to obtain knowledge and knowing how to use that information are recognized as very important issues." (Knowing how to fish and knowing how to properly clean that fish are two important components of your camping adventure.) Any thoughts? Cheers, Amigos4 |
27-Oct-2007, 23:24
| | Moderator | | Join Date: Oct 2006 Country: UK
Posts: 12,812
Current Location: UK First Language: English Thanks: 2
Thanked 1,837 Times in 1,734 Posts
| | Re: The word "information."
Quote:
Originally Posted by cls1992 The sentence read: "Knowing how to obtain knowledge and knowing how to use that information is being recognized as a very important issue."
Although the professor said that "information" is always plural, I think the situation is different than that. Perhaps you can help clarify. | An interesting problem in its own right.
You have two actions - [knowing how to obtain knowledge] and [knowing how to use the information obtained] - which are being seen as a single important issue. The question is whether it is the two actions separately that govern the verb, or the two actions as a joint action?
Information in itself is always singular, but in fact it is not "information" that is relevant, but "knowing how to use the information". I cannot see why the professor is hung up on the word. |
28-Oct-2007, 03:21
| | Newbie | | Join Date: Oct 2007 Country: USA
Posts: 6
Current Location: NV First Language: English Thanks: 1
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
| | Re: The word "information."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anglika An interesting problem in its own right.
You have two actions - [knowing how to obtain knowledge] and [knowing how to use the information obtained] - which are being seen as a single important issue. The question is whether it is the two actions separately that govern the verb, or the two actions as a joint action?
Information in itself is always singular, but in fact it is not "information" that is relevant, but "knowing how to use the information". I cannot see why the professor is hung up on the word. | I thank you for your comments. This was an online class, which I am no longer taking. The professor was not from America, so he may have considered "information" and "data" to be the same. I will not be using "information are." Thanks again for your responses. This includes you Amigos4.  |
28-Oct-2007, 03:36
| | Member | | Join Date: Oct 2007 Country: USA
Posts: 123
Current Location: Washington State First Language: American English Thanks: 0
Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts
| | Re: The word "information."
Isn't the 'Information Age' a wonderful thing? 
Wholeman
The twisted TG-Fiction Author | | Thread Tools | | | | Display Modes |  Linear Mode | 
Posting Rules
| You may post new threads You may not post replies You may not post attachments You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off | | | All times are GMT. The time now is 06:41. | |
