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在线翻译:
szdaily -> Speak Shenzhen
Data and news
     2015-January-26  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

    James Baquet

    Mark is chatting with his classmate Ming in the common room of their dorm.

    Ming: Hi, Mark. I’ve got a question.

    Mark: Shoot!

    Ming: Today, my teacher said “the data is,” like it was singular. But it’s plural, isn’t it? One datum, two data?

    Mark: Technically, you’re right. But we often use it more like an uncountable.

    Ming: I don’t follow.

    Mark: If you take any sentence that uses the word “information” and substitute “data” instead, it would be acceptable.

    Ming: Oh! So when my teacher says “the data is,” it’s like saying “the information is.”

    Mark: That’s right. But in formal speech and writing, you’ll still hear “data” used as a plural: “These data show that...” and so on.

    Ming: Got it! Sometimes plurals are weird.

    Mark: Yes, they are. There are all the usual irregular plurals — men for man, children for child, and so on — but there are others that can really get crazy.

    Ming: Can you give me another example?

    Mark: Take the words ending in -us, like “cactus” or “octopus.”

    Ming: I learned that, because those are Latin words, the plurals would be “cacti” and “octopi.”

    Mark: Technically true. But you said it like “KAKT-eye.” Some purists use “KAKT-ee.”

    Ming: Purists?

    Mark: People who want to follow the rules strictly, in this case the rules of Latin pronunciation. But a lot of people use “cactuses,” and even just “cactus.”

    Ming: “I saw some cactus?”

    Mark: Right, like deer or fish.

    Ming: I see. And the same with octopus?

    Mark: Uh-huh. There’s another word, “alumnus.”

    Ming: A person who has graduated for a school?

    Mark: Right. And that one gets messed up all over the place. It’s so bad that some people have started using “alum” for the singular and “alums” for the plural.

    Ming: Wow!

    Mark: I know. Here’s another weird group: words where the plural “s” goes in the middle.

    Ming: For instance?

    Mark: One passerby, two passersby.

    Ming: Aha! I knew about hyphenated words, like one son-in-law, two sons-in-law.

    Mark: But there’s an explanation. The word is made up of a noun plus a preposition.

    Ming: “They passed by the door.”

    Mark: Yes. So they are passers, and the “by” comes after.

    Ming: I guess that makes sense. Got one more word?

    Mark: Sure! Did you know that “news” — which is now uncountable, like “data” and “information” — used to be a plural?

    Ming: You’re kidding!

    Mark: Yup. In fact, it originally referred to new things, not just information.

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

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