A lot of people get confused when the plural of a word doesn’t end in an “s.” What’s going on?
CRITERIA OR CRITERION?
“Criteria” is plural (like “phenomena”), while “criterion” is singular, like “phenomenon.” You have one criterion or many criteria. It’s easy to be confused, since some words (e.g., “data” and “media”) are the same whether singular or plural.
Examples: Angela Allen Parker detailed the six basic criteria for accepting a client…The restaurant has one criterion for entry: every customer must wear shoes or sandals.
Criteria: plural
Criterion: single
I think you’ll find data and media are the respective plurals of datum and medium.
Datum has fallen out of use to some degree. “Newspaper and television are two communication media”, but the use of media as a singular – as in “the mass media” – is now so widespread it could be considered correct.
However I think your post oversimplifies the situation.
Thank you, Tim. You’re right. My post does oversimplify the situation. I appreciate your taking time to point this out.