Every morning I receive an email message from the New York Times with a list and summary of their top stories. This one struck me, not for its content but for its questionable grammar:
Police Killings Rise Slightly, Though Increased Focus May Suggest Otherwise
By MICHAEL WINES and SARAH COHEN
The use of police force against minorities and whites alike is poorly tracked, but what data does exist suggests the number of law-enforcement homicides have risen only slowly, if at all.
There are two things that bug me a bit about this brief quotation.
- I realize I'm fighting a losing battle here, but "data" is plural. The singular form of the word is "datum", which is a single item of information. I would prefer that the phrase read, "... but what data do exist suggest....". In this instance the NYTimes is probably following common usage, treating "data" as a singular collective noun referring to uncountable or uncounted items; but it still sounds off to me, likely because of my having studied Latin for three years in high school.
- More strongly, "number" is singular as it is used in this sentence [see this]. The last clause of the sentence should read, "... the number of law-enforcement homicides has risen only slowly, if at all."
I note with approval that the NYTimes does place the word "only" in the proper location. Too many writers these days would have mistakenly written, "... homicides has only risen slowly, if at all."