Nope. “Datum” is singular, “data” is plural.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/datum
In common usage people often say “the data is”, but that’s wrong. “The data are…”.
But you’re correct about “sand”.
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“Data” is not plural. Data is a word like rice and sand. A word for the collective.
I think that is correct and recognizes that words evolve over time just as hominids have, only a lot faster it seems. Data may have roots in Latin that would make it a plural form of the word, but for many decades we’ve been treating ‘data’ in standard American English as a singular word and so that is what it has become. It is rare to see the original singular form, ‘datum’, except in scientific journals these days.
This reminded me of the plural form of octopus: is it octopi or octopuses? (We all know what James Bond would prefer.) If we only looked at the origins of the word, the correct plural usage would be octopodes, since it would take the form of the Greek plural from whence it came. Few use that 3rd option.
https://www.grammarly.com/blog/octopi-octopuses/
Pete
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This reminded me of the plural form of octopus: is it octopi or octopuses?
A guy went to buy two animals for his aquarium, but then he panicked: is it octopuses or octopi? His OCD was making him crazy as he drove to the fish store. Octopus or octopi? What to do?? And then he figured out his plan.
The buyer got to the fish store and told the clerk he wanted an octopus. The clerk sighed, but got the net. The octopus was wily, avoiding the net, crawling out of the net into another aquarium, scuttling under the furniture… The clerk chased that octopus all all over the store, but finally got it into the bag and the lid on the aquarium locked down so the other octopus couldn’t get out.
The clerk was soaked to the skin, his hair was a mess, and he was now craving a shot of vodka and a cigarette. He handed the pet to his customer.
“That’s great!” the buyer said. “And now I want another one!”
And “I’ve got brilliance in my pants” was not an option?
JLC
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I think that is correct and recognizes that words evolve over time just as hominids have, only a lot faster it seems. Data may have roots in Latin that would make it a plural form of the word, but for many decades we’ve been treating ‘data’ in standard American English as a singular word and so that is what it has become. It is rare to see the original singular form, ‘datum’, except in scientific journals these days.
“Data” is definitely singular in common usage. But it is definitely plural in technical writing. I’m with you, if people use it as singular in normal discourse then that makes it singular.
But as with IP’s example, if the boss wants it to be plural, then it is plural. I think there might be a certain snobbiness about it. “Hah! You uneducated Cretan! Only an unwashed stooge such as yourself doesn’t understand about subject verb agreement! Cower before the red lashings of my pen!”
But I live in a world where I read and write about data all the time, so it seems off to my ear to hear it used in the singular. To everybody else it sounds off to hear it used in the plural.
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But you’re correct about “sand”.
OTOH, have you ever had A sand?
CNC
But I live in a world where I read and write about data all the time, so it seems off to my ear to hear it used in the singular.
Typically we do talk about multiple data points, but we might talk about a single outlier.
But as with IP’s example, if the boss wants it to be plural, then it is plural. I think there might be a certain snobbiness about it. “Hah! You uneducated Cretan! Only an unwashed stooge such as yourself doesn’t understand about subject verb agreement! Cower before the red lashings of my pen!”
LOL. For sure. New grad had to be put in her place! He couldn’t argue with my research, just my vocabulary.
This was a company where for my first annual review my supervisor told me I deserved a promotion but because I had only been there a year they would never give me one, so he wasn’t using political capital to put me up for one. That company is no longer in business, btw.
IP,
bizarrely grateful for that employer incessantly throwing me in over my head and making me swim, even though I never got the pay for working way over my pay grade
But I live in a world where I read and write about data all the time, so it seems off to my ear to hear it used in the singular. To everybody else it sounds off to hear it used in the plural.
We do speak of a single data point.
CNC
But as with IP’s example, if the boss wants it to be plural, then it is plural.
I comfort myself by remembering that the language came first, and people only imposed the idea of parts of speech and such long after.
I comfort myself by remembering that the language came first, and people only imposed the idea of parts of speech and such long after.
LOL. I’m still getting upset at the improper use of the subjunctive tense in the media.
IP,
whose path to science started with foreign languages and has been known to yell at the TV when the improper lack of the subjunctive tense is used
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whose path to science started with foreign languages and has been known to yell at the TV when the improper lack of the subjunctive tense is used
If I were to become upset by that, I would be even more obnoxious than I am.
CNC
whose path to science started with foreign languages and has been known to yell at the TV when the improper lack of the subjunctive tense is used
…
If I were to become upset by that, I would be even more obnoxious than I am.
I’m fortunate. It seems to amuse DH, unless of course that is simply a defense mechanism.
IP
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I’m still getting upset at the improper use of the subjunctive tense in the media.
IP,
whose path to science started with foreign languages and has been known to yell at the TV when the improper lack of the subjunctive tense is used
My parents both spoke what I think of as proper English, and dad in particular did not hesitate to correct any of us. I also read voraciously, so my use of the language was fed by lots and lots examples. However I am also lazy, so when they tried to teach me about parts of speech and diagramming sentences I paid no attention because they didn’t provide me anything useful. Net result, while I had to look up subjunctive tense just now*, I suspect I don’t screw it up.
*(It appears that they decided to call it Subjunctive Mood now. Or enough of them have to confuse the issue. And having briefly looked at what Google offered me, I still can’t be bothered to make sense if it all.)
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…still getting upset at the improper use of the subjunctive tense…
It’s not as much the subjunctive that bothers me since it is not as frequently used in regular conversation as another grammatical “faux pas”, as it were. [mini ha-ha there suggesting it might not be a faux pas]
What bothered me the most, and to some extent still does, is the “object of the preposition” issue. For years now, we constantly hear phrases such as “for him and I” or “to Jane and I” in sentences, even in supposedly well-written dialogue in movies. This really bothered me at first, but I am almost reconciled to its usage becoming standard now.
Almost.
Pete
Me too. I have heard the word “subjunctive”, but never bothered to find out what it meant. Yeah, it’s a part of speech. Fine. I also found diagramming sentences and such an utter waste of my time.
I did have to pay a bit more attention when I was in Spanish class in high school. Though I no longer remember what “pluperfect” is, and I don’t really care. If I immerse myself in a Spanish-speaking environment, I start to “get it back” even if I don’t remember what “pluperfect” is. Or subjunctive. Or whatever.
I don’t remember what “pluperfect” is. Or subjunctive.
If I had remembered even a tiny portion of grammar from my four years of HS Latin, I would be a lot more conversant in grammatical nuance. Were I to have remembered this, though, I would be even more insufferable than I am now.
Pete
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It’s not as much the subjunctive that bothers me since it is not as frequently used in regular conversation…
The one I remember hearing the most is “I wish it was…,” instead of the proper “I wish it were…”
Absolutely grates on me.
On the other hand, thank goodness for spell check. Learning so many languages as a kid left me pretty confused on how to spell in any of them.
IP
If I had remembered even a tiny portion of grammar from my four years of HS Latin, I would be a lot more conversant in grammatical nuance. Were I to have remembered this, though, I would be even more insufferable than I am now.
Bravo.
IP
The one I remember hearing the most is “I wish it was…,” instead of the proper “I wish it were…”
Absolutely grates on me.
On the other hand, thank goodness for spell check. Learning so many languages as a kid left me pretty confused on how to spell in any of them.
You are such a pendant!
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I yell at the TV for a lot stupider stuff than botching the subjunctive tense - whatever that is 
so if you can limit yourself to that high bar, I congratulate you.
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