{"id":1568,"date":"2014-06-10T17:05:25","date_gmt":"2014-06-10T23:05:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/?p=1568"},"modified":"2020-11-25T10:32:49","modified_gmt":"2020-11-25T16:32:49","slug":"be-careful-with-the-a-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/definitions\/be-careful-with-the-a-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Be Careful with the -a<\/em> Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first letter of the alphabet is also a common English word that is virtually synonymous with one<\/em>. As a word, a<\/em> is the very antithesis of plurality.<\/p>\n

This might help explain why there\u2019s so much confusion about a group of words that I call \u201cthe -a<\/em> team.\u201d Here they are: bacteria, criteria, data, media, phenomena, Sierra<\/em>. As you can see, all end in the letter a<\/em>, which just sounds so darned singular that these words continue to confound even careful writers and speakers. Because the fact is, they\u2019re all plural.<\/p>\n

Bacteria<\/strong> Staphylococcus is a virulent form of bacteria<\/em>. No problem there, but Staphylococcus is a virulent bacteria<\/em>, well, now we have a problem. The singular is bacterium<\/em>. So a sentence like The bacteria in the cut was infecting it<\/em> is flawed\u2014the bacteria were<\/em> infecting it.<\/p>\n

Criteria<\/strong> It\u2019s the plural of criterion<\/em>, a standard used for judging, deciding, or acting. The sentence Honesty is our chief criteria<\/em> is ungrammatical; there can\u2019t be only one criteria. Make it Honesty is our chief criterion<\/em> or Honesty is one of our chief criteria<\/em>. Your criteria are<\/em> your standards, plural.<\/p>\n

Those who know that criteria<\/em> is plural aren\u2019t out of the woods yet either: many believe the singular is \u201ccriterium.\u201d And there are some who will reveal to you their \u201ccriterias.\u201d<\/p>\n

Data<\/strong> John B. Bremner, in Words on Words<\/em>, states unequivocally, \u201cThe word is plural.\u201d This one is thorny, because the singular, datum<\/em>, is virtually nonexistent in English. Many people see data<\/em> as a synonym for information<\/em>, and to them, These data are very interesting<\/em> sounds downright bizarre. Maybe, but it\u2019s also correct. English scholar Theodore M. Bernstein says, \u201cSome respected and learned writers have used data<\/em> as a singular. But a great many more have not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Media<\/strong> Among the language\u2019s most abused words is media<\/em>, a plural noun; medium<\/em> is the singular. A medium<\/em> is a system of mass communication: The medium<\/em> of television is a prominent component of the mass media<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Every day we hear and read statements like The media is irresponsible<\/em> or The media has a hidden agenda<\/em>. In those sentences, media<\/em> should be followed by are<\/em> and have<\/em>.<\/p>\n

There are some who prefer and defend the media is<\/em> and the media has<\/em>. To them, the various means of mass communication\u2014newspapers, radio, TV, magazines, blogs, etc.\u2014make up one \u201cmedia.\u201d<\/p>\n

But writers should insist on the media are<\/em>. It\u2019s important that people think of the media<\/em> as many voices, opinions, and perspectives rather than one monolithic entity.<\/p>\n

Phenomena<\/strong> This troublemaker baffles even articulate speakers. Phenomena<\/em> is plural; phenomenon<\/em> is singular.<\/p>\n

\u201cManagement is a universal phenomenon,\u201d declares a business website. But a commentator on national television had it exactly backward. He spoke of \u201cthe phenomena of climate change\u201d and later used phenomenon<\/em> as a plural. Others say \u201cphenomenas\u201d when they mean phenomena<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Sierra<\/strong> Avoid \u201cSierras\u201d when the topic is the vast California mountain range. An online camping guide says, \u201cTranslating from Spanish, sierra<\/em> is plural in itself.\u201d The Sierra Nevada Alliance, a conservation organization, elaborates: \u201cThe Sierra Nevada is a single, distinct unit, both geographically and topographically, and is well described by una sierra nevada<\/em>. Strictly speaking, therefore, we should never pluralize the name\u2014such as Sierras, or Sierra Nevadas, or even High Sierras \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStrictly speaking,\u201d you say? What a concept!<\/p>\n

\u2014Tom Stern<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first letter of the alphabet is also a common English word that is virtually synonymous with one. As a word, a is the very antithesis of plurality. This might help explain why there\u2019s so much confusion about a group of words that I call \u201cthe -a team.\u201d Here they are: bacteria, criteria, data, media, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,12,26,37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-definitions","category-effective-writing","category-singular-vs-plural","category-spelling"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1568"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1568\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}