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Is 'Criteria' Singular or Plural?
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Should I write "criteria is" or "criteria are"?
"Criteria" can be singular or plural nowadays, but treating it as singular might irk some of your readers. The safest option is to use "criterion" for the singular and "criteria" for the plural.
(This image from Google's Ngram Viewer shows that, while most authors still treat "criteria" as plural, "criteria" has adopted a singular status, much like "agenda" and "data.")
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More about "Criteria"
The word "criteria" is the Latin plural of "criterion." However, it does not follow that "criteria" is always treated as a plural word in modern English. "Criteria" is sometimes treated as a singular word because its meaning is morphing into a singular version of itself. Here is the most commonly understood meaning of "criteria":- "The principles or standards against which something is evaluated" (In this meaning, "criteria" is plural.)
- The principle or standard against which something is evaluated. (In this meaning, "criteria" is singular.)
Here's the dynamic:
- Her criteria is clear. It has to be black. (This is acceptable, but it might annoy some of your readers. For this reason, we haven't given it a tick.)
- Her criterion is clear. It has to be black.
(This is correct, but it also runs a slight risk of sounding pretentious.)
- Her criteria is clear. It has to be black, and it must be cheap.
- Her criterion is clear. It has to be black, and it must be cheap.
(This is also wrong because there is more than one criterion.) - Her criteria are clear. It has to be black, and it must be cheap.
(This is the only version possible when there is more than one criterion.)
- Are the criteria available to read? What is the main criterion?
- Do you disagree with something on this page?
- Did you spot a typo?
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