should you say data indicate or data indicates?

Answer 1

Oh, excellent question.

Data is the plural form of datum and therefore should take the plural form of the verb. Thus, you would say "data indicate;" however, common convention is to treat "data" as singular as in "data shows" or "data indicates." It all depends on your audience and whether you want to be technically correct or not.

Answer 2

In the US data indicates.

In Great Britain: data indicate.

Answer 3

data indicates according to common sense yet data is a plural of datum therefore data indicate i use indicates

Answer 4

The word 'data' is a plural of the singular 'datum' (Latin, meaning 'fact') but is 'generally used as a singular in English' (Collins Concise Dictionary) so 'data indicates' would be correct, unless you are using the word as a plural.

Answer 5

data is plural so it would be "data indicate", the singular form would be "datum" so it would be "the datum indicates" , although I usually am grammatically incorrect when I use the word, as are most people, and say "data indicates" =P

Answer 6

It should say "data indicate", being you are referring to a single piece of data taken. And if you have more then one data, it would be "data's indicate" that...........

Answer 7

"Data" is a plural noun, yet it can be used with both the singular and the plural verb. Both are correct.