A random grammar question for all y'all

NerdGirl · Post by **NerdGirl** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 12:15 pm

Do I say, "A complete compilation of this data is beyond the scope of this project" or, "A complete compilation of these data is beyond the scope of this project"?

Giovanni Schwartz · Post by **Giovanni Schwartz** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 1:25 pm

Either one is correct. If you are talking about the data as a single set, then you would use "is". If you were talking about the data, while maintaining that each of the members of your data is a datum that would need to be individually set apart, then "are" is correct. However, I think in most cases, "is" is ont only perfectly sufficient, but also commonly accepted.

NerdGirl · Post by **NerdGirl** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 5:44 am

Okay, thanks!