Editing English plurals (section)

==== Plural words becoming singular ====

=====Plural in form but singular in construction=====
Certain words which were originally plural in form have come to be used almost exclusively as singulars (usually uncountable); for example ''billiards'', ''measles'', ''news'', ''mathematics'', ''physics'', etc. Some of these words, such as ''news'', are strongly and consistently felt as singular by fluent speakers. These words are usually marked in dictionaries with the phrase "plural in form but singular in construction" (or similar wording). Others, such as ''aesthetics'', are less strongly or consistently felt as singular; for the latter type, the dictionary phrase "plural in form but singular or plural in construction" recognizes variable [[usage]].

=====Plural form became a singular form=====
Some words of foreign origin are much better known in their (foreign-[[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]]) plural form, and are often not even recognized by English speakers as having plural form; [[linguistic description|descriptively]], in English morphology many of these simply are not in plural form, because English has naturalized the foreign plural as the English singular. Usage of the original singular may be considered pedantic, [[hypercorrection|hypercorrective]], or incorrect.<ref>"The word agenda, for example, was originally plural (from ''agendum'': 'something to be acted on') but is nowadays used only as a singular, and nobody in their right mind would insist that it should be used as a plural." {{cite web|url=http://www.eisu2.bham.ac.uk/johnstf/revis006.htm |author=Tim Johns |title=Data: singular or plural? |website=Tim Johns EAP Page |access-date=2014-06-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211165815/http://eisu2.bham.ac.uk/johnstf/revis006.htm |archive-date=11 February 2009 }}</ref> In the examples below, the original plural is now commonly used as a singular, and in some cases a regular English plural (effectively a [[double plural]]) has been formed from it.
{{block indent|{{wikitable
|-
!Original singular||Original plural/<br>common singular||Common plural
|-
|agendum||agenda<ref group="f">''An agenda'' commonly is used to mean ''a list of agenda''.</ref>||agendas
|-
|alga||algae||algae
|-
|biscotto||biscotti||biscotti
|-
|candelabrum||candelabra||candelabras
|-
|datum<ref group="f">A single piece of data is sometimes referred to as a ''data point''. In engineering, drafting, surveying, and geodesy, and in [[weight and balance#Terms|weight and balance]] calculations for aircraft, a [[datum (geodesy)|datum]] (plural datums or data) is a reference point, surface, or axis on an object or the Earth's surface against which measurements are made.</ref>||data||data (mass noun)
|-
|graffito||graffiti||graffiti (mass noun)
|-
|insigne||insignia||insignias
|-
|opus<ref group="f">Retained in ''magnum opus'' and for the [[opus number]]ing system for systematically naming musical works by the same composer</ref>||opera||operas
|-
|panino||panini||paninis (currently gaining use)
|-
|paparazzo||paparazzi||paparazzi
|-
|spaghetto||spaghetti||spaghetti (mass noun)
|-
|talib||[[Taliban#Etymology|taliban]]||taliban (collective noun)
|-
|zucchino||zucchini (''U.S. English'')||zucchinis
}}}}

''Magazine'' was derived from Arabic via French. It was originally plural, but in French and English it is always regarded as singular.

Other words whose plurals are sometimes used as singulars include:
{{block indent|{{wikitable
|-
|criterion||criteria
|-
|phenomenon||phenomena
}}}}

'''Notes:'''
{{reflist| group="f"|close}}