singular and plural for thesis

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What’s the Plural of Thesis? (Thesises? Theses?)

November 13, 2022

What’s the plural of “thesis”?

Thesis , (and its plural theses ) is an example of one of the many common English words that has roots elsewhere. In this case, thesis is a word that has roots all the way back to Ancient Greek. Like other similarly structured words: diagnosis , synthesis , analysis , oasis , crisis , nemesis and the like, thesis is by no means the only frequently used Greek word that’s made it to Modern English.

What’s the singular of thesis?

Thesis is a singular noun and refers to one thing (or one thesis ).

What’s a thesis?

Merriam-Webster defines the noun thesis (plural theses ) as follows, “a dissertation embodying results of original research and especially substantiating a specific view especially : one written by a candidate for an academic degree.”

Nouns that end in -sis/ses

Thesis is an irregular plural noun that does not end in the typical -s / -es that regular plural noun forms take. This is so despite that theses plural does in fact end in the conventional -s/-es suffix. Why is it still considered irregular; then, given that it follows the regular plural form? Notice the following regular plural noun forms:

Thesis / theses operates differently. With these Greek words, the -ses does not simply add onto the end of the singular form of the noun; instead, -ses replaces the singular noun’s suffixes, and effectively changes the entire spelling of the word (and arguably the word itself.)


	crises

Examples of “thesis” (singular) in sentences

His master thesis was on modal neural networks.

She wrote her thesis on Renaissance Nativity scenes.

We disagreed with the basic thesis of the report.

I’ve made a first draft of my thesis .

The student’s experiments helped her formulate a thesis to share with her professor and classmates.

Examples of “theses” (plural) in sentences

It must not be assumed that Luther’s ninety-five theses produced any considerable direct results.

The collection of theses are ready for publication.

Twenty years after Savonarola’s death Martin Luther made public his theses against indulgences.

Theses are generally examined by two or more specialists.

Theses is the plural form of the singular noun thesis.

Origin of the word “thesis”

Thesis / theses are of Greek origin.

Read about other irregular nouns

What’s the plural of bison?
What’s the plural of moose?
What’s the plural of sheep?
What’s the plural of ox?
What’s the plural of cactus?
What’s the plural of crisis?
What’s the plural of hypothesis?

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Merriam-Webster, thesis/theses.

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English Teacher Site

Whats the Plural of Thesis: Understanding Singular and Plural Forms

The plural of “thesis” adheres to the Greek-rooted pattern, changing the singular -is to a plural -es.
Accurate use of “thesis” and “theses” reflects scholarly precision in both written and oral communication.
Awareness of correct pluralization extends to other similar nouns ending in -sis, emphasizing the importance of understanding language origins.

It is crucial to use the word correctly in both singular and plural contexts to maintain the integrity of written and spoken communication. In the realm of academics, precision in language reflects the rigor of one’s research and argumentation. As such, understanding the transformation from “thesis” to its plural counterpart is more than a trivial detail; it reflects a deeper appreciation for the structure and history of the English language.

What’s the Plural of Thesis?

The proper plural of thesis is “theses.” This transformation is part of a broader pattern in the English language where certain nouns change their ending to reflect a plural state.

Below, a comparison is made to illustrate the standard singular to plural transformation for nouns ending in -is:

Singular	Plural
thesis	theses
crisis	crises
oasis	oases

Key Points about the pluralization of “thesis”:

The plural follows a specific rule of changing the ‘-is’ ending to ‘-es’.
This pattern is consistent with other Greek-derived words.
The pronunciation changes with the plural form, ending in “-eez.”

To clarify usage, consider these examples:

Singular: The student’s thesis was commended for its clarity.
Plural: The professor read all the submitted theses before the conference.

Singular Form of Thesis

The singular form of ‘thesis’ is of notable interest due to its origins and distinct pluralization.

Origination and Definition:

Etymology : Derived from the ancient Greek word τίθημι (tithēmi), which means “to put” or “to place.”
Meaning : It is a statement or theory put forward to be maintained or proved.

Usage in Academia:

A significant piece of writing prepared by a student to obtain a university degree or diploma.
Often involves original research and substantiates a particular view or argument.

Table 1: Notable Features of ‘Thesis’

Features	Description
Pronunciation	/ˈθiːsɪs/
Syllable Structure	Two
Grammatical Number	Singular

Table 2: Contextual Examples

Context	Example Sentence
In a Proposal	“Her proposal was accepted by the advisory committee.”
During Defense	“He defended his rigorously to earn his master’s degree.”
In Academic Writing	“The central of the book is well-supported with evidence.”

Definition of Thesis

A thesis is a substantial piece of scholarly writing that is typically required to obtain a master’s or doctoral degree. It represents the author’s research and findings in their chosen field of study. A thesis serves as evidence that the student has acquired the knowledge necessary to be considered a scholar in the field. Here, two key aspects of a thesis will be described through tables:

Purpose and Composition of a Thesis:


To present original research	Introduction
To showcase the author’s understanding and proficiency	Literature Review
To contribute to the academic community	Methodology
To fulfill a requirement for a graduate degree	Results/Discussion
	Conclusion

Characteristics of a Thesis:

Focused : It should have a clear, concise premise or central argument.
Researched : Employs rigorous methodologies to gather and analyze data.
Structured : Contains defined sections that present information logically.
Cited : Includes proper citations of sources that support or contrast the thesis.
Reviewed : Undergoes scrutiny by academic peers or supervisors.

Other Irregular Plural Nouns Ending in -sis/ses

Below you will find two tables categorized by common and less common irregular plurals that follow this pattern.

Common Irregular Plurals:

Singular	Plural
analysis	analyses
hypothesis	hypotheses
parenthesis	parentheses
thesis	theses

This pattern is often observed with words that have Greek origins.

Less Common Irregular Plurals:

Singular	Plural
basis	bases
crisis	crises
oasis	oases

It is important to recognize these forms to maintain grammatical accuracy in writing and speech. Below is a list of examples used in sentences:

When multiple scientific hypotheses are tested, the results can lead to important discoveries.
During the editing process, Jane had to review all the parentheses to ensure clarity in her writing.
Geographers study multiple oases in the desert to understand these unique ecosystems.
His thesis on renewable energy was well-received, and many theses on the subject reference his work.

Examples of Thesis (Singular) in Sentences

Here are examples that demonstrate its usage in various sentences.

In Academic Context

Subject Area	Sentence
Literature	His thesis explores the symbolism in Victorian poetry.
Science	The thesis provides a groundbreaking approach to climate change mitigation.

In Everyday Discourse

Informal setting : During the debate, his thesis was that space exploration is no longer just a dream but a necessity.

Discussing beliefs : Her thesis is that all public spaces should offer free Wi-Fi.
Opinion : They argued the thesis that high taxes discourage spending.

Examples of Theses (Plural) in Sentences

Here are some examples of how “theses” can be used in sentences:


The library’s collection includes theses from graduates over the decades.	Indicates possession of multiple papers by the library.
She compared multiple theses to ensure her research was comprehensive.	Shows the act of reviewing several papers.


The committee requested summaries of the proposed theses before approval.	Used as the subject of the committee’s requests.
Theses covering revolutionary medical findings were presented at the conference.	Theses acting as the main topic at a professional event.

Education Setting : Graduate students often struggle to find unique topics for their theses as most ideas have been extensively explored.

Evaluating the structure and arguments of different theses can help one build a stronger dissertation.

Origin of the Word Thesis

The term thesis originates from the ancient Greek word θέσις (thésis), which means “a proposition” . Historically, this term has played a crucial role in both rhetorical and academic contexts. It denotes a statement that a writer intends to support and prove. In academic circles, thesis often refers to a document that presents the author’s research and findings and is submitted in support of candidature for a degree or professional qualification.

Etymological Background

The journey of the word from its Greek roots to the modern English language reflects the changing dynamics of educational and scholarly practices over the centuries.

Greek Origin	Modern English Equivalent
θέσις (thésis)	Thesis

As a carryover from Greek to Latin, the word made its way into English, maintaining its original Greek plural form:

Singular	Plural
Thesis	Theses

Usage in Academia

In academia, the word has been used since the late Middle Ages to denote a scholarly work written by students aiming to obtain a university degree. Over time, the use of thesis expanded from merely referring to a proposition to a lengthy document providing evidence of comprehensive research.

Historical Evolution:

Middle Ages : Referred to propositions for a degree.
Renaissance : Emphasized individual research.
Modern Usage : Extensive research documents for higher education degrees.

Areas of Impact:

Rhetoric : Considered as a premise to be argued.
Academic Research : Reflects comprehensive study in a field.

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Definition of thesis

Did you know.

In high school, college, or graduate school, students often have to write a thesis on a topic in their major field of study. In many fields, a final thesis is the biggest challenge involved in getting a master's degree, and the same is true for students studying for a Ph.D. (a Ph.D. thesis is often called a dissertation ). But a thesis may also be an idea; so in the course of the paper the student may put forth several theses (notice the plural form) and attempt to prove them.

Examples of thesis in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'thesis.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

in sense 3, Middle English, lowering of the voice, from Late Latin & Greek; Late Latin, from Greek, downbeat, more important part of a foot, literally, act of laying down; in other senses, Latin, from Greek, literally, act of laying down, from tithenai to put, lay down — more at do

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3a(1)

Dictionary Entries Near thesis

the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children

thesis novel

Cite this Entry

“Thesis.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thesis. Accessed 28 Jun. 2024.

Kids Definition

Kids definition of thesis, more from merriam-webster on thesis.

Nglish: Translation of thesis for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of thesis for Arabic Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about thesis

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Plural of Thesis: A Quick Guide for English Learners

By: Author ESLBUZZ

Posted on Last updated: October 11, 2023

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Do you know the plural of thesis? Understanding the correct plural of thesis is important not only for academic writing, but for general communication as well. Whether you’re discussing multiple research papers or simply trying to sound knowledgeable in a conversation, using the correct plural form can help you make a good impression and avoid any confusion or misunderstandings.

Plural of Thesis

Definition and Plural of Thesis

When writing a research paper or dissertation, the central argument or main point is known as a thesis. A thesis is a statement or proposition that is put forward as a premise to be maintained or proved. It is a crucial element of academic writing and is often required for a degree or certification.

The plural of thesis is “theses.” In English, most nouns form the plural by adding an “s” at the end. However, “thesis” is one of the few exceptions to this rule. The word “thesis” has a Greek root, and “theses” is how it is pluralized in that original language.

Singular	Plural
Thesis	Theses

It is important to note that “theses” is the only way to make the noun “thesis” plural. There is no alternative form of the plural for this word.

In academic writing, the plural form “theses” is commonly used when referring to multiple research papers or dissertations. For example, “I have read several theses on this topic, and they all have different viewpoints.”

When to Use Thesis and Its Plural Form

When writing academic papers or conducting research, it is important to understand when to use the word “thesis” and its plural form, “theses.” Here are some guidelines to help you use these words correctly:

Use “thesis” when referring to a single research paper or dissertation that presents a specific argument or viewpoint.
Use “theses” when referring to multiple research papers or dissertations.
Remember that “thesis” is a singular noun and “theses” is its plural form.
Be aware that “thesis” has a Greek root and follows the same pluralization rule as other Greek words ending in “-is,” such as “crisis” and “analysis.” They become “crises” and “analyses,” respectively.
Keep in mind that “thesis” can also refer to a statement or proposition that is put forward for consideration or discussion. In this case, the plural form would be “theses.”
When citing multiple theses in a paper, use “theses” to indicate the plurality. For example, “The theses presented in this paper all support the idea that…”

Examples of Thesis and Its Plural Form in Sentences

If you are wondering how to use the word “thesis” in a sentence, here are a few examples:

Your thesis statement should be clear and concise.
The professor asked us to submit our theses by the end of the semester.
The thesis of the article is that climate change is caused by human activity.
She spent months researching and writing her thesis on the history of feminism .
The committee was impressed by the depth and originality of his thesis.

As you can see, “thesis” is used to refer to a statement or argument put forth by a writer or speaker, as well as a research paper written by a student to earn a degree.

Now, let’s take a look at the plural form of “thesis.” According to Grammar Monster, the only correct way to form the plural of “thesis” is “theses.” Here are some examples of how to use “theses” in a sentence:

The library has a collection of theses written by graduate students.
The professor asked us to read several theses on the topic before starting our own research.
The theses presented at the conference covered a wide range of topics.
The committee was impressed by the quality and originality of the theses submitted.

Plural Noun Rules for Regular Nouns

When forming the plural of regular nouns, there are some standard rules to follow. These rules apply to most English nouns, including “thesis.” Here are the basic guidelines:

For most singular nouns, simply add an “-s” to the end to form the plural. For example, “book” becomes “books,” “car” becomes “cars,” and “house” becomes “houses.”
If the singular noun ends in “-s,” “-x,” “-z,” “-ch,” or “-sh,” add “-es” to form the plural. For example, “bus” becomes “buses,” “box” becomes “boxes,” “buzz” becomes “buzzes,” “church” becomes “churches,” and “dish” becomes “dishes.”
If the singular noun ends in a consonant followed by “-y,” change the “-y” to “-ies” to form the plural. For example, “city” becomes “cities,” “baby” becomes “babies,” and “story” becomes “stories.”
If the singular noun ends in a vowel followed by “-y,” simply add an “-s” to form the plural. For example, “boy” becomes “boys,” “key” becomes “keys,” and “day” becomes “days.”

It’s important to note that there are some irregular nouns that don’t follow these rules. For example, “child” becomes “children,” “foot” becomes “feet,” and “tooth” becomes “teeth.” However, “thesis” is a regular noun, so it follows the standard rules for forming the plural.

Plural Noun Rules for Irregular Nouns

When it comes to forming the plural of nouns in English, there are some general rules that apply to most words. However, there are also many irregular nouns that don’t follow these rules and have unique plural forms. In this section, we’ll go over some common irregular plural nouns and the rules for forming their plurals.

List of Common Irregular Plural Nouns

Here are some examples of irregular plural nouns that you may come across:

Singular	Plural
Child	Children
Foot	Feet
Goose	Geese
Man	Men
Mouse	Mice
Tooth	Teeth
Woman	Women

Nouns that End in Us

Nouns that end in “us” often have a plural form that ends in “i”. For example:

Singular	Plural
Cactus	Cacti
Focus	Foci
Radius	Radii

Nouns that End in Is

Nouns that end in “is” may have a plural form that ends in “es”. For example:

Singular	Plural
Analysis	Analyses
Basis	Bases
Crisis	Crises

Nouns that End in On

Nouns that end in “on” may have a plural form that ends in “a”. For example:

Singular	Plural
Criterion	Criteria
Phenomenon	Phenomena
Vertex	Vertices

Plurals That Are the Same as Singulars

Some nouns have the same form for both the singular and plural. For example:

Singular	Plural
Deer	Deer
Fish	Fish
Sheep	Sheep

Words That Look Like Plural Nouns but Are Singular Nouns

Some words may look like plural nouns but are actually singular nouns. For example:

Singular	Plural
News	–
Mathematics	–
Physics	–

Collective Nouns and List

When it comes to forming the plural of nouns, collective nouns can be a bit tricky. A collective noun refers to a group of people or things as a single entity. For example, “team” is a collective noun because it refers to a group of individuals working together towards a common goal.

The challenge with collective nouns is deciding whether to treat them as singular or plural. In American English, collective nouns are usually treated as singular, while in British English, they can be treated as either singular or plural depending on the context.

Here are some examples of collective nouns and how they can be treated in different contexts:

Collective Noun	Singular Example	Plural Example
audience	The audience is enjoying the show.	The audience are clapping their hands.
family	My family is going on vacation.	My family are all different ages.
staff	The staff is working hard.	The staff are taking their lunch breaks.

As you can see, the choice of whether to use a singular or plural verb depends on whether you are referring to the group as a single entity or as individuals within the group.

When it comes to forming the plural of collective nouns, the same rules apply as for regular nouns. For example, the plural of “team” is “teams”, and the plural of “family” is “families”.

Plural Nouns vs. Possessive Nouns

When it comes to forming the plural of nouns, there are standard rules that apply to most words in the English language. However, there are some exceptions, such as the word “thesis.” The plural of “thesis” is “theses,” and this is the only correct way to form the plural of this word.

On the other hand, when it comes to forming possessive nouns, there are a few rules to keep in mind. Here are some key points to remember:

For singular nouns, add an apostrophe and an “s” to show possession. For example, “the thesis’s conclusion” means the conclusion belonging to the thesis.
For plural nouns that end in “s,” add only an apostrophe to show possession. For example, “the theses’ conclusions” means the conclusions belonging to the theses.
For plural nouns that do not end in “s,” add an apostrophe and an “s” to show possession. For example, “women’s rights” means the rights belonging to women.

It’s important to note that possessive nouns should not be confused with plural nouns. While they may look similar, they serve different grammatical functions. Possessive nouns show ownership or possession, while plural nouns simply refer to more than one of something.

Common Mistakes with Plural Nouns

When it comes to forming the plural of nouns, there are some common mistakes that are made. Here are a few things to keep in mind when forming the plural of the word “thesis” and other nouns:

Adding an Apostrophe

One common mistake is adding an apostrophe to a noun to make it plural. For example, “the thesis’s” instead of “the theses.” This is incorrect and should be avoided.

Irregular Plurals

Some nouns have irregular plurals that do not follow the standard rules. For example, “child” becomes “children” and “goose” becomes “geese.” It is important to learn these irregular plurals to avoid mistakes.

Confusion over Plurals

Some nouns, like “thesis,” can cause confusion over their plural form. “Theses” is the only correct way to make “thesis” plural. Other words that end in “-is” may also have irregular plurals, such as “crisis” becoming “crises.”

Using Incorrect Count Nouns

It is important to use the correct count nouns when referring to multiple instances of something. For example, “studies” instead of “researches,” and “pieces of evidence” instead of “evidences.” Using the incorrect count noun can make your writing sound awkward or confusing.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the correct plural form of ‘thesis’?

The correct plural form of ‘thesis’ is ‘theses.’ It is an irregular plural noun that does not follow the typical -s/-es suffix used for regular plural nouns.

How is ‘thesis’ used in a sentence?

‘Thesis’ refers to a statement or theory that is put forward as a premise to be maintained or proved. An example sentence would be: “Her thesis on the effects of climate change was well-researched and presented.”

What is the origin of the word ‘thesis’?

The word ‘thesis’ comes from the Greek word ‘tithenai,’ which means ‘to place’ or ‘to put.’ In academia, it refers to a statement or theory that is put forward as a premise to be maintained or proved.

What is the difference between ‘thesis’ and ‘theses’?

‘Thesis’ is the singular form of the word, while ‘theses’ is the plural form. ‘Thesis’ refers to a single statement or theory, while ‘theses’ refers to multiple statements or theories.

The plural of thesis is the word 'theses'.

"}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How do you pluralize thesis?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"

To pluralize 'thesis', you simply add 'es' to the end of the word. This is because 'thesis' ends in 'is', which is a singular noun ending.

"}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Is the plural of thesis 'theses'?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"

Yes, the plural of thesis is 'theses'.

"}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What is the irregular plural form of thesis?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"

'Theses' is not an irregular plural form of thesis. It is a regular plural form.

"}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What are some examples of irregular plural nouns?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"

Some examples of irregular plural nouns include 'child' (children), 'tooth' (teeth), and 'foot' (feet).

"}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How do you correctly pluralize nouns ending in -is?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"

To correctly pluralize nouns ending in -is, you simply change the 'is' to 'es'. For example, the plural of 'thesis' is 'theses', and the plural of 'analysis' is 'analyses'.

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1.1 Etymology
1.2 Pronunciation
1.3.1 Derived terms
1.3.2 Related terms
1.3.3 Translations
1.4 References
1.5 Further reading
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2.1 Etymology
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3.1 Etymology
3.2 Pronunciation
3.3.1 Declension
3.3.2 Descendants
3.4 References

From Late Middle English thesis ( “ lowering of the voice ” ) [1] and also borrowed directly from its etymon Latin thesis ( “ proposition, thesis; lowering of the voice ” ) , from Ancient Greek θέσῐς ( thésis , “ arrangement, placement, setting; conclusion, position, thesis; lowering of the voice ” ) , from τῐ́θημῐ ( títhēmi , “ to place, put, set; to put down in writing; to consider as, regard ” ) [2] [3] (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ( “ to do; to place, put ” ) ) + -σῐς ( -sis , suffix forming abstract nouns or nouns of action, process, or result ) . The English word is a doublet of deed .

Sense 1.1 (“proposition or statement supported by arguments”) is adopted from antithesis . [2] Sense 1.4 (“initial stage of reasoning”) was first used by the German philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762–1814), and later applied to the dialectical method of his countryman, the philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831).

The plural form theses is borrowed from Latin thesēs , from Ancient Greek θέσεις ( théseis ) .

Pronunciation

( Received Pronunciation ) IPA ( key ) : /ˈθiːsɪs/ , ( archaic ) /ˈθɛsɪs/

Audio ( ):

( )

( General American ) IPA ( key ) : /ˈθisɪs/
Rhymes: -iːsɪs
Hyphenation: the‧sis
( Received Pronunciation ) IPA ( key ) : /ˈθiːsiːz/
( General American ) IPA ( key ) : /ˈθisiz/
Rhymes: -iːsiːz
Hyphenation: the‧ses

thesis ( plural theses )

( rhetoric ) A proposition or statement supported by arguments .
1766 , [ Oliver Goldsmith ], “The Conclusion”, in The Vicar of Wakefield: [ … ] , volume II, Salisbury, Wiltshire: [ … ] B. Collins, for F [ rancis ] Newbery , [ … ] , →OCLC ; reprinted London: Elliot Stock , 1885 , →OCLC , pages 218–219 : I told them of the grave, becoming, and ſublime deportment they ſhould aſſume upon this myſtical occaſion, and read them two homilies and a theſis of my own compoſing, in order to prepare them.
( mathematics , computer science ) A conjecture , especially one too vague to be formally stated or verified but useful as a working convention.
( logic ) An affirmation , or distinction from a supposition or hypothesis .
( philosophy ) In the dialectical method of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel : the initial stage of reasoning where a formal statement of a point is developed ; this is followed by antithesis and synthesis .
( music , prosody , originally ) The action of lowering the hand or bringing down the foot when indicating a rhythm ; hence, an accented part of a measure of music or verse indicated by this action; an ictus , a stress . Antonym: arsis
( music , prosody , with a reversal of meaning ) A depression of the voice when pronouncing a syllables of a word ; hence, the unstressed part of the metrical foot of a verse upon which such a depression falls , or an unaccented musical note .

Derived terms

all but thesis
bachelor's thesis
Church-Turing thesis
conflict thesis
doctoral thesis
graduate thesis
Habakkuk thesis
master's thesis
Merton thesis
private language thesis
thesis defense
thesis film
thesis statement

Related terms

Translations.

(tʻez) , (tézis), (palažénnje), (téza) (téza), (tézis) ／ (leon dim ), ／ (leon tai ) ／ (lùndiǎn), ／ (lùntí) , , (tezisi) (thésis) , (tēze), (ろんだい, rondai), (しゅちょう, shuchō), (ていりつ, teiritsu) (teje), (nonje), (ronje) (North Korea) (teza) (tɛ́zis), (položénije) , , , , (téza), (tézys), (polóžennja)

(ʔuṭrūḥa) (atenaxosutʻyun), (disertacʻia), (diplomayin ašxatankʻ) (dysjertácyja), (dysertácyja), (dyplómnaja rabóta) (disertácija) , ／ (leon man ) ／ (lùnwén) , , , , ; ; , (diserṭacia) , , , , , (only a doctoral thesis) (mahāśodh nibandh) (téza) , (postgraduate), (ろんぶん, ronbun) (dissertasiä), (diplomdyq jūmys) (nɨkkheepaʼbɑt) (nonmun), (ronmun) (North Korea) (dissertatsiya) (wi tha nyā ni phon) (disertacija) or , (pâyân-nâme), , , (dissertácija), (diplómnaja rabóta) , , , (dissertatsiya) (wít-tá-yaa-ní-pon), (bpà-rin-yaa-ní-pon), (ní-pon) , , (dysertácija), (dyplómna robóta) , ,

(thésis)

^ “ thē̆sis, n. ”, in MED Online , Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan , 2007 .
^ “ thesis, n. ”, in Lexico , Dictionary.com ; Oxford University Press , 2019–2022 .

Descendants

→ Dutch: thesis
→ Armenian: թեզ ( tʻez )
→ Dutch: these
→ Persian: تز ( tez )
→ Romanian: teză
→ Turkish: tez
Galician: tese
Italian: tesi
English: thesis
Portuguese: tese
Spanish: tesis
“ thesis ”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short ( 1879 ) A Latin Dictionary , Oxford: Clarendon Press
thesis in Gaffiot, Félix ( 1934 ) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français , Hachette.

English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
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Dutch nouns with plural in -en
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Dutch dated forms
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Why is it important to understand singular and plural word forms?

Singular and plural word forms are important because they distinguish one thing from many. The use of correct singular and plural word forms means that the grammatical structure of sentences will be correct. The use of singular and plural forms is linked to:

Variation in formation of regular plural noun forms

Spelling rules	Singular	Plural
Simply add an ‘s’ to a singular form	boy	boys
If ‘y’ is preceded by a consonant, change ‘y’ to ‘ie’ before adding ‘s’	university	universities
If a singular form ends in ch, sh, s, x, or z, add ‘es’

In English, there are many nouns which do not follow the regular pattern of forming singular or plural. Some words such as university subjects or activities may look plural but are used as a singular nouns. For example:

The news about university rankings was in all Australian newspapers. Maths (=mathematics) is a challenging subject.

Exceptions in formation of plural noun forms: plural-looking nouns

Rules	Singular	Plural
The word is the same but is used as singular or plural depending on a context.	a study of information about various populations. the science of collecting, analyzing and interpreting numbers and numerical data.	representative of universities across Australia. The a gradual increase in international student enrolments.

Exceptions in formation of plural noun forms: Latin and other foreign origins

Rule	Singular	Plural
Remember irregular singular and plural forms for Latin words	appendix crisis criterion curriculum datum thesis	appendices crises criteria curricula data theses

Examples: Based on this specific criterion , researchers differentiate between native and non-native speakers of English. Success criteria for such programs vary across the sector.

Exceptions in formation of singular and plural noun forms: always plural

‘Plural only’ nouns are always used in a plural form. However, sometimes you need to talk about one, or more than one, of these nouns.

Rule	1	More than 1
or for ‘plural only’ nouns such as glasses, headphones, jeans, scissors, sunglasses	on the table = are on the table. My new not working = My new working.	brought to the lab. not working last time.

Exceptions in formation of singular and plural noun forms: uncountable nouns

It is important to know which nouns are countable and uncountable in English. The rules may be different from other languages so it is important to check this information in a dictionary when you are using a word you are not very familiar with.

Uncountable nouns cannot be counted and are always considered singular but sometimes you need to talk about one or more than one of these nouns. We use ‘a something of’ phrase (for example, etc.) as well as and .

Examples of uncountable nouns	1 or little	More than 1 or much
Advice, electricity, equipment, furniture, information, knowledge, luggage, money, music, news, research.	always welcome. of grammar rules to be applied in real-life settings.	this about university study extremely valuable. about student expectations acquired during the research process.

Avoiding common mistakes with plural and singular forms: subject-verb agreement

Rule	Singular	Plural
A singular subject takes a singular verb; a plural subject takes a plural verb. Pay attention to phrases between subjects and verbs as they may cause confusion.	with resources on your Moodle site. , as well as all the other students, going to the seminar.	with resources on your Moodle site. All the , including Sam, going to the seminar.
When two or more subjects are joined by the conjunction , a plural verb is used.		in Tasmania.
When or are used in a sentence, the verb should agree with the noun (or pronoun) closest to the verb.	to help me. Neither the students, nor the what to do.	to help me. Neither the lecturer, nor the what to do.

Avoiding mistakes with plural and singular forms: subject-verb agreement (continued)

Rule	Singular	Plural
The words mean more than one thing or person but are treated as singular nouns.	happy to be at a university. ready.
The words each and every are used with singular nouns and singular verbs.	primary, secondary and tertiary student to study consistently. boy and girl going to the orientation.
Collective nouns (for example, etc.) can be used with plural or singular verbs depending on their function	= a group as a whole quickly if you press this button.	= a collection of individuals extremely helpful and responded to all our questions very politely.

Example from a student assignment – read through this paragraph looking for mistakes with plural and singular forms

For hundreds of years people have attempted to invent a perfect language. Recently, there have been a discussion on the nature and significances of such attempts. Inventors of such languages pursue different purposes: some want to produce an inherently logical language systems, others seek to develop neutral languages, free of ideology and culture, to be used in world communication (Lo Bianco, 2004). Out of hundreds of invented languages just a few are well-known. The most prominent of them all is, perhaps, Esperanto.

Reference: Lo Bianco, J. (2004). Resources for cultural language learning . Melbourne: CAE Press, Language Australia.

For explanation, click on the underlined text

For hundreds of years people have attempted to invent a perfect language. Recently, there have been a discussion on the nature and significances of such attempts. Inventors of such languages pursue different purposes: some want to produce an inherently logical language systems , others seek to develop neutral languages, free of ideology and culture, to be used in world communication (Lo Bianco, 2004). Out of hundreds of invented languages just a few are well-known. The most prominent of them all is, perhaps, Esperanto.

Suggested revision

For hundreds of years people have attempted to invent a perfect language. Recently, there has been a discussion on the nature and significance of such attempts. Inventors of such languages pursue different purposes: some want to produce an inherently logical language system , others seek to develop neutral languages, free of ideology and culture, to be used in world communication (Lo Bianco, 2004). Out of hundreds of invented languages just a few are well-known. The most prominent of them all is, perhaps, Esperanto.

Apply what you have learnt in this module and click on the correct option(s) below

is uncountable and always singular. Suggested revision:

Correct

The subject of this sentence is a singular noun lecture so the verb must be singular as well. Appropriate punctuation would make this clear. Suggested revision:

Useful links on plural and singular forms

Module 5: Subject/Verb agreement, ASCENT, Monash University Count and uncount nouns, Purdue Online Writing Lab Making subjects and verbs agree, Purdue Online Writing Lab Nouns, singular and plural, from English Grammar Today, Cambridge University Press Uncountable nouns, English Club

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Who can help with English at Monash? LearnHQ consultations - support from a SAS learning advisor English Connect - improving conversational English and presentation skills

Resources – grammar books

Azar, B. S. & Hagen, S.A. (2009). Understanding and using English grammar (4th ed.). USA: Pearson Longman. Borjars, K. & Burridge, K. Introducing English grammar (2nd ed.). London: Hodder Education. Foley, M. & Hall, D. (2012). MyGrammarLab (Advanced) . England: Pearson. Hewings, M. (2012). Advanced grammar in use: a reference and practice book for advanced students of English (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Murphy, R. (2011). English Grammar in Use (Intermediate) (3 ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

is Plural

is Plural Dictionary
Plural Rules

Is thesis plural

Thesis is plural singular singular both plural and singular both plural and singular both plural and singular plural plural singular .

The singular singular plural plural plural singular plural plural singular of thesis is theses .

How to say thesis: How to pronounce thesis

How to say theses: How to pronounce theses

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Not sure why thesis is plural singular singular both both both plural plural singular ? Contact Us ! We'll explain.

1. What makes words plural? 2. What makes a word singular? 3. How to make acronyms plural.

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Singular and Plural Nouns

Ai generator.

Singular and plural nouns refer to the number of entities being described. A singular noun names one person, place, thing, or idea, such as “dog,” “city,” or “idea.” In contrast, a plural noun indicates more than one entity, often by adding “s” or “es” to the end of the singular form, as in “dogs,” “cities,” or “ideas.” Some plural nouns have irregular forms, like “children” (from “child”) or “mice” (from “mouse”). Understanding the difference between singular and plural nouns helps in constructing grammatically correct sentences.

What are Singular and plural nouns?

Singular and plural nouns describe the number of entities being referred to. A singular noun names one person, place, thing, or idea, such as “cat,” “house,” or “thought.” A plural noun refers to more than one entity and usually forms by adding “s” or “es” to the singular, like “cats,” “houses,” or “thoughts.” Some plural nouns have irregular forms, such as “children” (from “child”) or “geese” (from “goose”). Understanding these forms is essential for correct grammar usage.

Examples of Singular and Plural nouns

The cat is sleeping. The cats are playing.
I have one apple . She has three apples .
The book is on the table. The books are on the shelf.
He bought a new car . They have two cars .
The child is happy. The children are laughing.
There is one tree in the yard. There are several trees in the park.
The bird is singing. The birds are chirping.
She has a red balloon . The balloons are floating.
The flower is blooming. The flowers are colorful.
I saw a mouse . The mice are running.
The house is big. The houses are beautiful.
He caught a fish . The fish are swimming.
The baby is crying. The babies are sleeping.
She has a blue dress . The dresses are hanging.
The man is working. The men are talking.
I found a penny . The pennies are on the ground.
The toy is broken. The toys are scattered.
The horse is fast. The horses are grazing.
The tree is tall. The trees are swaying.
He has a new watch . The watches are expensive.
The dog is barking. The dogs are friendly.
She bought a cupcake . The cupcakes are delicious.
The goose is honking. The geese are flying.
The knife is sharp. The knives are in the drawer.
The leaf is green. The leaves are falling.
The woman is singing. The women are dancing.
I see a star . The stars are shining.
The box is heavy. The boxes are stacked.
The baby is cute. The babies are giggling.
The pencil is on the desk. The pencils are in the drawer.

These examples illustrate how singular nouns refer to one entity, while plural nouns refer to more than one. Regular plural forms typically add “s” or “es,” whereas irregular plural forms have unique changes.

Singular and Plural nouns List

Certainly! Here’s the list organized into a table with four columns: Singular, Plural, Singular, Plural.

Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
apple	apples	baby	babies
ball	balls	bench	benches
box	boxes	boy	boys
bus	buses	bush	bushes
butterfly	butterflies	car	cars
cat	cats	child	children
city	cities	class	classes
company	companies	computer	computers
country	countries	day	days
dog	dogs	dress	dresses
elf	elves	eye	eyes
family	families	foot	feet
fox	foxes	glass	glasses
hero	heroes	horse	horses
house	houses	knife	knives
lady	ladies	leaf	leaves
life	lives	loaf	loaves
man	men	mango	mangoes
mouse	mice	party	parties
peach	peaches	person	people
potato	potatoes	quiz	quizzes
roof	roofs	school	schools
sheep	sheep	shoe	shoes
story	stories	strawberry	strawberries
table	tables	tomato	tomatoes
tooth	teeth	toy	toys
street	streets	truck	trucks
video	videos	watch	watches
wife	wives	wolf	wolves
woman	women	cherry	cherries
church	churches	fly	flies
reply	replies	sky	skies
tray	trays	watch	watches

Singular and Plural nouns for Kids

Singular nouns refer to just one person, place, thing, or idea, while plural nouns refer to more than one. Here are some fun examples to help you learn:

Apple becomes apples when there’s more than one.
Ball turns into balls when you have many.
Car changes to cars if there are several.
Dog becomes dogs when you see a bunch.
Elephant turns into elephants if you visit a zoo with many.
Flower changes to flowers in a garden.
Giraffe becomes giraffes if there are lots.
Hat turns into hats if you have a collection.
Ice cream becomes ice creams when you want multiple flavors.
Juice turns into juices when you have different kinds.

Singular and Plural nouns Rules

Understanding the rules for singular and plural nouns is essential for proper grammar. Here are the basic rules:


Regular Nouns	Add -s	cats, dogs	cat → cats, dog → dogs
Nouns ending in -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, -z	Add -es	buses, boxes, brushes	bus → buses, box → boxes, brush → brushes
Nouns ending in a consonant + y	Change -y to -ies	babies, cities	baby → babies, city → cities
Nouns ending in a vowel + y	Add -s	toys, keys	toy → toys, key → keys
Nouns ending in -f or -fe	Change -f/-fe to -ves	wolves, knives	wolf → wolves, knife → knives
Nouns ending in -o	Add -es	potatoes, heroes	potato → potatoes, hero → heroes
Irregular nouns	Unique forms	men, children, mice	man → men, child → children, mouse → mice
Nouns that remain the same	No change	sheep, deer, species	sheep → sheep, deer → deer, species → species
Nouns ending in -us	Change -us to -i	cacti, foci	cactus → cacti, focus → foci
Nouns ending in -is	Change -is to -es	analyses, theses	analysis → analyses, thesis → theses
Nouns ending in -on	Change -on to -a	criteria, phenomena	criterion → criteria, phenomenon → phenomena

Irregular Singular and Plural nouns

Irregular nouns do not follow the standard rules of pluralization by simply adding “s” or “es.” Here are some common examples:


Child	Children
Man	Men
Woman	Women
Mouse	Mice
Goose	Geese
Tooth	Teeth
Foot	Feet
Person	People
Leaf	Leaves
Cactus	Cacti
Ox	Oxen
Die	Dice
Fungus	Fungi
Nucleus	Nuclei
Crisis	Crises
Analysis	Analyses
Thief	Thieves
Sheep	Sheep
Fish	Fish
Deer	Deer
Aircraft	Aircraft
Species	Species
Radius	Radii
Stimulus	Stimuli
Datum	Data
Curriculum	Curricula
Appendix	Appendices
Medium	Media
Phenomenon	Phenomena
Syllabus	Syllabi

Singular and Plural nouns Exercises

Exercise 1: convert singular to plural.

Convert the following singular nouns to their plural forms:

Exercise 2: Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the noun in parentheses.

The ____ (dog) are barking loudly.
She has two ____ (child).
There are many ____ (city) in the world.
I saw a nest with three ____ (mouse).
The park has several ____ (goose).
I lost one of my ____ (tooth).
The autumn wind blew the ____ (leaf) away.
Several ____ (person) attended the meeting.
We caught several ____ (fish) in the lake.
The garden has many ____ (cactus).

Exercise 3: Match the Singular with the Plural

Match the singular nouns on the left with their correct plural forms on the right.

Man a. Geese
Foot b. Men
Mouse c. Teeth
Goose d. Feet
Tooth e. Mice
Man – b. Men
Foot – d. Feet
Mouse – e. Mice
Goose – a. Geese
Tooth – c. Teeth

Exercise 4: Identify Singular or Plural

Identify whether the underlined noun is singular or plural.

The trees in the park are tall.
A child is playing in the sandbox.
Three women are shopping together.
The dog is chasing its tail.
The leaves are falling from the trees.

How do you form the plural of most nouns?

For most nouns, add “s” to the end, such as “dog” becomes “dogs” and “car” becomes “cars.”

What is the plural form of a noun ending in “s,” “x,” “z,” “ch,” or “sh”?

Add “es” to the end of the noun, such as “bus” becomes “buses” and “box” becomes “boxes.”

How do you form the plural of nouns ending in “y”?

If a noun ends in a consonant + “y,” change “y” to “ies,” like “baby” to “babies.” If a vowel precedes “y,” add “s.”

What are irregular plural nouns?

Irregular plural nouns do not follow standard rules, such as “child” becomes “children” and “mouse” becomes “mice.”

How do you form the plural of nouns ending in “f” or “fe”?

Change “f” or “fe” to “ves,” like “wolf” to “wolves” and “knife” to “knives.”

Are there nouns that have the same singular and plural form?

Yes, some nouns like “sheep,” “deer,” and “series” are the same in both singular and plural forms.

How do you pluralize compound nouns?

Pluralize the principal word in the compound noun, such as “brother-in-law” becomes “brothers-in-law.”

How do you form the plural of nouns ending in “o”?

For most nouns ending in “o,” add “es,” like “tomato” to “tomatoes.” However, some simply add “s,” like “piano” to “pianos.”

What are uncountable nouns?

Uncountable nouns cannot be pluralized and refer to substances or concepts, like “water,” “information,” and “furniture.”

How do you know when to use singular or plural nouns?

Use singular nouns for one item and plural nouns for more than one. Context and quantity indicators help determine usage.

Text prompt

Instructive
Professional

10 Examples of Public speaking

20 Examples of Gas lighting

Is thesis singular or plural

Add your answer:

Plural form of hypothesis?

it's theses: pronounced (thee-sees)

Can you give 100 examples of plural pronoun?

No, because there are not 100 plural pronouns.The plural pronouns are:weusyou (can be singular or plural)theythemthesethoseouroursyour (can be singular or plural)yours (can be singular or plural)theirtheirsourselvesyourselvesthemselvesbothfewfewermanyothersseveralall (can be singular or plural)any (can be singular or plural)more (can be singular or plural)most (can be singular or plural)none (can be singular or plural)some (can be singular or plural)such (can be singular or plural)

Is are plural or singular?

Are is plural. "Is" is singular. For example, "There is a glove on the chair". That is singular. "There are gloves on the chair". That is plural.

Is coat singular or plural?

singular Singular: plural is coats

Is dues singular or plural?

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The Plural Forms of Words

What are the plural forms of words.

Word Type	Example in the Singular Form	Example in the Plural Form
Noun
Determiner
Pronoun
Verb	trying	trying

Forming the Plurals of Nouns

1 dog > 2 dogs
1 house > 2 houses
1 video > 2 videos
How to form the plurals of nouns (spelling rules)
How to form the plurals of compound nouns (e.g., mothers-in-law, Knights Templar)
How to form the plurals of abbreviations (e.g., MOTs, L.R.S.s)

What Are the Plural Pronouns?

Pronoun	Name
I	first person singular
You	second person singular
He / She / It	third person singular
We	first person plural
You	second person plural
They	third person plural

What Is the Plural Form of a Verb?

Pronoun	Name	Example Verb	Example Verb	Example Verb
I	first person singular	I ate	I eat	I will eat
You	second person singular	You ate	You eat	You will eat
He / She / It	third person singular	He ate	He eats	He will eat
We	first person plural	We ate	We eat	We will eat
You	second person plural	You ate	You eat	You will eat
They	third person plural	They ate	They eat	They will eat

What Are Plural Demonstrative Determiners?

Forming the Plurals of Foreign Words

stadium > stadia or stadiums
datum > data
radius > radii or radiuses
agendum > agenda

"Plural" Also Applies to Zero

0 dogs (plural)
1 dog (singular)
2 dogs (plural)
3 dogs (plural)
There are no alligators in the lake.

This page was written by Craig Shrives .

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Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Making Subjects and Verbs Agree

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This handout gives you several guidelines to help your subjects and verbs agree.

1. When the subject of a sentence is composed of two or more nouns or pronouns connected by and , use a plural verb.

2. When two or more singular nouns or pronouns are connected by or or nor , use a singular verb.

3. When a compound subject contains both a singular and a plural noun or pronoun joined by or or nor , the verb should agree with the part of the subject that is nearer the verb.

4. Doesn't is a contraction of does not and should be used only with a singular subject. Don't is a contraction of do not and should be used only with a plural subject. The exception to this rule appears in the case of the first person and second person pronouns I and you . With these pronouns, the contraction don't should be used.

5. Do not be misled by a phrase that comes between the subject and the verb. The verb agrees with the subject, not with a noun or pronoun in the phrase.

6. The words each, each one, either, neither, everyone, everybody, anybody, anyone, nobody, somebody, someone, and no one are singular and require a singular verb.

7. Nouns such as civics, mathematics, dollars, measles, and news require singular verbs.

Note: The word dollars is a special case. When talking about an amount of money, it requires a singular verb, but when referring to the dollars themselves, a plural verb is required.

8. Nouns such as scissors, tweezers, trousers, and shears require plural verbs. (There are two parts to these things.)

9. In sentences beginning with "there is" or "there are," the subject follows the verb. Since "there" is not the subject, the verb agrees with what follows.

10. Collective nouns are words that imply more than one person but that are considered singular and take a singular verb, such as group, team, committee, class, and family.

This sentence is referring to the individual efforts of each crew member. The Gregg Reference Manual provides excellent explanations of subject-verb agreement (section 10: 1001).

11. Expressions such as with, together with, including, accompanied by, in addition to, or as well do not change the number of the subject. If the subject is singular, the verb is too.

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What is the correct shortened form for "Goals of the Theses"

What is the correct shortening for "Goals of the Theses"?

Theses Goals
Theses' Goals

I am confused, because Theses ends with an 's', but using the apostrophe makes it plural.

possessives

It is common practice to omit the possessive -- and is permitted. "Theses Goals" = "Theses' Goals" where required. – Kris Commented Dec 2, 2016 at 8:33

4 Answers 4

Thesis is singular, theses is plural. Thesis' is singular genitive, theses' is plural genitive. As a general rule for genitives of words ending in s , you use s' , the Saxon genitive.

So, assuming you want to talk about the multiple goals in multiple theses, then you would use "theses' goals". If you want to talk about multiple goals on a single thesis, you would use "thesis' goals."

As a general rule you can translate "x of the y" into "y's x", these being the two forms of genitive in English. However, beware, there are many instances where the two are not interchangeable.

2 In the case of singular nouns ending in -s, often just the apostrophe is added, but this is generally discouraged - see owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/621/01 or many other references for that. So thesis's is the correct version for the singular form. – Arsen Y.M. Commented Oct 21, 2014 at 22:36
I'm afraid that's not the question, though. – Kris Commented Dec 2, 2016 at 8:29

Thesis is the singular form, and theses is the plural. If you have one thesis, you can say thesis's goals , but goals of the thesis would sound and look better. If you have more than one thesis, then you can say theses' goals , but again goals of the theses would probably be the better choice.

We can use comments to provide helpful information such as this. See also my comment above at Fraser Orr. – Kris Commented Dec 2, 2016 at 8:30

Either choice could be suitable. "Theses goals" could be perfectly acceptable as a compound.

Strictly speaking, inanimate objects don't have 'goals'. They are the writer's goals, so you should phrase it differently, such as 'my goals in this thesis' or something along those lines.

So, the answer is: 'none of the above'.

This makes the incorrect assumption that ‘the goal of the thesis’ implies that the goal belongs to the thesis in an actively possessing way. There is nothing wrong with saying that a thesis (or a football pitch for that matter) has a goal. – Janus Bahs Jacquet Commented Dec 2, 2016 at 8:43

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged possessives apostrophe or ask your own question .

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Nouns: singular and plural

Nouns used only in the singular.

Some nouns are used only in the singular, even though they end in -s . These include: the names of academic subjects such as classics, economics, mathematics/maths, physics ; the physical activities gymnastics and aerobics ; the diseases measles and mumps; and the word news :

Maths was never my best subject at school.

Aerobics is great fun – you should try it!

Nouns used only in the plural

Some nouns only have a plural form. They cannot be used with numbers. They include the names of certain tools, instruments and articles of clothing which have two parts.

Tools and instruments

I’ve got new sunglasses . Do you like them?

He always wears shorts , even in the winter.

We can use pair of to refer to one example of these nouns:

I bought a new pair of binoculars last week.

That old pair of trousers will be useful for doing jobs in the garden.

We use pairs of to refer to more than one example of this type of noun:

They’re advertising two pairs of glasses for the price of one.

I bought three pairs of shorts for the summer.

Other nouns which are always plural in form


	(buildings)
	(money)

Please ensure that you take all your belongings with you as you leave the aircraft.

They live on the outskirts of Frankfurt, almost in the countryside.

My clothes are wet. I’ll have to go upstairs and change.

She spent all her savings on a trip to South America.

Collective nouns (group words)

Some nouns refer to groups of people (e.g. audience, committee, government, team ). These are sometimes called collective nouns. Some collective nouns can take a singular or plural verb, depending on whether they are considered as a single unit or as a collection of individuals:

seen as a single unit	seen as individuals
larger than average and the concert was a success.	all cheering wildly.
hoping that online voting will attract more young people to vote.	all very nervous about the report, which will be published tomorrow.
the world’s most famous football club.	looking forward to meeting Valencia in the final next week.

In general, a plural verb is more common with these nouns in informal situations.

Piece words and group words

Word of the Day

at the coalface

doing the work involved in a job, in real working conditions, rather than planning or talking about it

Fakes and forgeries (Things that are not what they seem to be)

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PhD Theses Grammar – Nouns & Words Both, Either, Neither, Nor & Only

Posted by Rene Tetzner | Oct 30, 2021 | PhD Success | 0 |

5.4.3 Nouns and Agreement

The use of most English nouns is relatively straightforward, but spelling and word choice can sometimes be an issue if English is not your native language. It is usually quite easy to deal with such problems through careful and critical proofreading, especially with the assistance of the spell-checking function of your word-processing program, which in most cases will highlight obvious errors (though it should not be trusted to discover them all). If a word is underlined or otherwise highlighted by the program, check the spelling and correct it if necessary; if spelling is not the problem, it is likely that you have chosen the wrong or an inappropriate word (perhaps you used ‘content’ for ‘context,’ for example, ‘implementation’ for ‘intervention’ and so on), in which case you will need to use a dictionary or perhaps a thesaurus to find the correct or a more appropriate word. Watch for nouns that are too vague to express your exact meaning to all readers: ‘in this context,’ ‘in our area’ and ‘in local universities’ are classic examples of instances in which you and your thesis committee will know what you are talking about, but other readers (especially those from other contexts and areas) cannot unless the context or area you are working in or the location of those universities is specified wherever necessary for absolute clarity (specific language is also best for dates: see Section 6.4.4). Conversely, your language should not be so specific to one country or region that its meaning will not be fully understood by international readers: currency and educational systems are good examples of topics for which you should provide not only specific information relevant to the original locality, but also careful enough explanations of the specifics to make them clear to readers who are not familiar with that locality and its culture.

Agreement should always be maintained between nouns and the verbs used with them, which in most cases is easily established: singular nouns should be used with the singular forms of verbs (‘the doctoral candidate investigates,’ ‘the brush untangles’ and ‘the child plays’) and plural nouns with the plural forms of verbs (‘the doctoral candidates investigate,’ ‘the brushes untangle’ and ‘the children play’). If you want your language to suggest the possibility of both singular and plural situations simultaneously, for most nouns you can enclose the ‘s’ or ‘es’ of the plural form in parentheses – ‘the methodology chapter(s)’ – in which case the verb form should be governed by the singular noun because the plural is technically parenthetical: for example, ‘the methodology chapter(s) describes the research methods used in the thesis.’ Another (and often preferable) solution is to word the text in such a way that the verb works for both the singular and plural forms of the noun: ‘the methodology chapter(s) should describe the research methods used in the thesis.’ With plural nouns formed through the addition of endings other that ‘s’ or ‘es,’ the same strategy can be used – ‘the child(ren) will be going to a party this afternoon’ – but with nouns that change their stems to form the plural (such as ‘man’ that becomes ‘men’ and ‘woman’ that becomes ‘women’), effective constructions can be complicated and confusing for readers, and are generally best avoided.

There are certain nouns in the English language that present special challenges when it comes to agreement. Plural nouns that seem like singular nouns (‘data,’ ‘media,’ ‘criteria’ etc.), for instance, should take a plural verb (‘the criteria required were,’ not ‘the criteria required was’), although ‘data’ can, alternatively, be used as a singular noun (‘the data were’ or ‘the data was’). This is to say that ‘data’ can be treated as a collective or group noun instead of as a normal plural noun, in which case the important point is to ensure that the noun is treated as a singular whenever it is used in a document. With collective nouns in general, it is essential that each noun is consistently treated as either a singular or a plural, ideally throughout a thesis and certainly within a single sentence, but this can be rather tricky because such nouns tend to be used as both singular and plural in casual conversation, so there is a tendency to be inconsistent: for example, in ‘The society was founded in 1995; since then, they have grown rapidly,’ ‘they have’ in the second part of the sentence should actually be ‘it has’ to agree with the singular ‘society’ and its verb ‘was’ in the first part. Also complicated is the fact that the decision to use a singular or plural verb with a collective noun can depend on whether the noun refers to the group as a unit (singular) or to its members as individuals (plural), and also on whether British or American English is used: in American English, when the group is considered as a unit, a singular verb is usually used (our hockey team is playing very poorly this year), but in British English, collective nouns tend to use plural verbs (our hockey team are playing very poorly this year). The collective nouns ‘couple’ and ‘pair’ are usually used as plurals when they refer to people – ‘The couple ride their bicycles to work’ – but collective nouns of quantity such as ‘number,’ ‘percentage’ and ‘proportion’ tend to take a singular verb when a definite article precedes the noun and a plural verb when an indefinite article precedes the noun (‘The proportion of customers with home phones is decreasing,’ but ‘A large proportion of customers are giving up their home phones in favour of mobile phones’).

5.4.4 Both, Either, Neither, Nor and Only

Certain other words, phrases and constructions can cause particular problems when constructing sentences, especially for authors whose native language is not English. ‘Both’ takes a plural verb (e.g., ‘both a pool and a water slide were added to the playground’), whereas ‘either’ and ‘neither’ take a singular verb (either a pool or a water slide is being added to the playground), and so does a ‘neither . . . nor’ construction (neither a pool nor a waterslide was added to the playground). Please note that ‘or’ should not be used instead of ‘nor’ in a ‘neither . . . nor’ construction.’ ‘Neither,’ ‘either’ and ‘both’ should be correctly positioned in a sentence to achieve balance and avoid repetition, so the phrasing should be ‘that affect neither him nor her,’ not ‘that neither affect him nor her,’ and ‘that affect both him and her,’ not ‘that both affect him and her.’ ‘Only’ can be placed where it sounds best in a sentence unless there is a possibility of ambiguity or confusion, in which case it should be carefully positioned to clarify the meaning: for example, ‘vegetable gardens only watered on Sundays’ could mean ‘only vegetable gardens are watered on Sundays’ or ‘vegetable gardens are watered on Sundays only’ or ‘vegetable gardens are watered, but not weeded, on Sundays’ (examples adapted from Butcher et al., 2006, p.164). It is therefore wise to consider all the placement and semantic options as you are writing such sentences and choose the one that most effectively expresses your intentions. ‘Only’ can also be problematic when used not to mean ‘exclusively,’ but to refer to a small number or percentage: ‘just 39%’ or ‘as small as 39%’ is more accurate than and preferable to ‘only 39%.’

5.4.5 Beginning Sentences Correctly and Avoiding Dangling Participles

The wording at the beginning of sentences should be both precise and complete in formal scholarly prose, and certain elements should not be used in that position. Numerals, for instance, should be avoided, so any number at the beginning of a sentence should be written out in words unless writing it out would be cumbersome (e.g., ‘237,482’ would be very unwieldy if written as words), in which case the sentence should be reworded to avoid using the number at its beginning (for information on formatting numbers, see Section 6.4 below). Certain abbreviations should also be avoided at the beginning of sentences, although acronyms and initialisms are usually acceptable (see Section 6.3.8 below). As a general rule, sentences should not begin with conjunctions such as ‘and,’ ‘or,’ ‘but’ and ‘so,’ although the occasional lapse in this regard, even in formal writing, is tolerated in most cases as long as the sentence does not begin a paragraph, the meaning is clear and the rhythm of the prose is effective. A sentence and especially a paragraph should not normally start with a pronoun such as ‘this,’ ‘that’ or ‘they’ even if the antecedent is clear from what has gone before, but particularly if the antecedent is at all ambiguous. Instead, the subject should be clearly stated as a noun or noun phrase to avoid confusion, but the pronoun ‘I’ (as well as ‘we’ in texts with more than one author) is acceptable at the beginning of a sentence or paragraph because there can be no doubt, if the pronoun is used only when it should be, about the meaning. Keep in mind that when a descriptive phrase is used at the beginning of a sentence, it applies to everything that follows until the subject changes or is restated: in the sentence ‘In 1879 he painted his first watercolour and began to work with oils in 1886,’ for instance, the date 1879 applies incorrectly to ‘began’ as well as correctly to ‘painted,’ so rewording is necessary: either ‘He painted his first watercolour in 1879 and began to work with oils in 1886’ or ‘In 1879 he painted his first watercolour, and in 1886 he began to work with oils’ would work.

Dangling participles are often problematic at the beginning of sentences, though they can turn up anywhere in a sentence. A dangling participle occurs when a participle or participial phrase is followed by a word other than the subject it modifies, as it is in ‘Plunging to enormous depths, we marvelled at the canyon’ and ‘Having found the right food at last, the diabetic dog was fed.’ It is clear to a thinking reader familiar with English that the ‘canyon’ plunges ‘to enormous depths’ and the person feeding the dog is the one who ‘found the right food,’ but the sentences do not actually say these things: they say that ‘we’ plunge ‘to enormous depths’ and ‘the diabetic dog’ was the one who ‘found the right food’ because those are the subjects that appear immediately after the participial phrases. Such sentences should be reworded so that their syntax reflects the realities reported: ‘We marvelled at the canyon that plunged to enormous depths’ and ‘Having found the right food at last, he fed the diabetic dog.’ Other kinds of dependent clauses that frequently appear at the beginning of sentences can present problems as well, particularly when they are mistakenly used as independent clauses or full sentences. Although a dependent clause contains a subject and a verb (as the opening clause of this sentence does), it does not express a complete thought; instead, it often begins with a dependent marker word (such as ‘after,’ ‘when,’ ‘if,’ ‘because’ and ‘although’) that leaves the reader waiting for the rest of the thought: ‘After he had drafted his thesis’ and ‘Because she is afraid of fireworks’ are good examples. For this reason, a dependent clause cannot be a complete sentence, but should be either followed by a comma and an independent clause that does complete the thought, or preceded by an independent clause and (if necessary) a comma: ‘After he had drafted his thesis, he had it checked by a professional proofreader’ or ‘We left our dog at home because she is afraid of fireworks.’

Why PhD Success?

To Graduate Successfully

This article is part of a book called "PhD Success" which focuses on the writing process of a phd thesis, with its aim being to provide sound practices and principles for reporting and formatting in text the methods, results and discussion of even the most innovative and unique research in ways that are clear, correct, professional and persuasive.

The assumption of the book is that the doctoral candidate reading it is both eager to write and more than capable of doing so, but nonetheless requires information and guidance on exactly what he or she should be writing and how best to approach the task. The basic components of a doctoral thesis are outlined and described, as are the elements of complete and accurate scholarly references, and detailed descriptions of writing practices are clarified through the use of numerous examples.

The basic components of a doctoral thesis are outlined and described, as are the elements of complete and accurate scholarly references, and detailed descriptions of writing practices are clarified through the use of numerous examples. PhD Success provides guidance for students familiar with English and the procedures of English universities, but it also acknowledges that many theses in the English language are now written by candidates whose first language is not English, so it carefully explains the scholarly styles, conventions and standards expected of a successful doctoral thesis in the English language.

Individual chapters of this book address reflective and critical writing early in the thesis process; working successfully with thesis supervisors and benefiting from commentary and criticism; drafting and revising effective thesis chapters and developing an academic or scientific argument; writing and formatting a thesis in clear and correct scholarly English; citing, quoting and documenting sources thoroughly and accurately; and preparing for and excelling in thesis meetings and examinations.

Completing a doctoral thesis successfully requires long and penetrating thought, intellectual rigour and creativity, original research and sound methods (whether established or innovative), precision in recording detail and a wide-ranging thoroughness, as much perseverance and mental toughness as insight and brilliance, and, no matter how many helpful writing guides are consulted, a great deal of hard work over a significant period of time. Writing a thesis can be an enjoyable as well as a challenging experience, however, and even if it is not always so, the personal and professional rewards of achieving such an enormous goal are considerable, as all doctoral candidates no doubt realise, and will last a great deal longer than any problems that may be encountered during the process.

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Rene Tetzner

Rene Tetzner's blog posts dedicated to academic writing. Although the focus is on How To Write a Doctoral Thesis, many other important aspects of research-based writing, editing and publishing are addressed in helpful detail.

PhD Success – How To Write a Doctoral Thesis

October 1, 2021

Table of Contents – PhD Success

October 2, 2021

The Essential – Preliminary Matter

October 3, 2021

The Main Body of the Thesis

October 4, 2021

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First-Person Pronouns | List, Examples & Explanation

First-Person Pronouns | List, Examples & Explanation

Published on October 17, 2022 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 4, 2023.

First-person pronouns are words such as “I” and “us” that refer either to the person who said or wrote them (singular), or to a group including the speaker or writer (plural). Like second- and third-person pronouns , they are a type of personal pronoun .

They’re used without any issue in everyday speech and writing, but there’s an ongoing debate about whether they should be used in academic writing .

There are four types of first-person pronouns—subject, object, possessive, and reflexive—each of which has a singular and a plural form. They’re shown in the table below and explained in more detail in the following sections.

English first-person pronouns

	I	me	mine	myself
	we	us	ours	ourselves

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First-person subject pronouns (“i” and “we”), first-person object pronouns (“me” and “us”), first-person possessive pronouns (“mine” and “ours”), first-person reflexive pronouns (“myself” and “ourselves”), first-person pronouns in academic writing, other interesting language articles, frequently asked questions.

Used as the subject of a verb , the first-person subject pronoun takes the form I (singular) or we (plural). Note that unlike all other pronouns, “I” is invariably capitalized .

A subject is the person or thing that performs the action described by the verb. In most sentences, it appears at the start or after an introductory phrase, just before the verb it is the subject of.

To be honest, we haven’t made much progress.

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Used as the object of a verb or preposition , the first-person object pronoun takes the form me (singular) or us (plural). Objects can be direct or indirect, but the object pronoun should be used in both cases.

A direct object is the person or thing that is acted upon (e.g., “she threatened us ”).
An indirect object is the person or thing that benefits from that action (e.g., “Jane gave me a gift”).
An object pronoun should also be used after a preposition (e.g., “come with me ”).

It makes no difference to me .

Will they tell us where to go?

First-person possessive pronouns are used to represent something that belongs to you. They are mine (singular) and ours (plural).

They are closely related to the first-person possessive determiners my (singular) and our (plural). The difference is that determiners must modify a noun (e.g., “ my book”), while pronouns stand on their own (e.g., “that one is mine ”).

It was a close game, but in the end, victory was ours .

A reflexive pronoun is used instead of an object pronoun when the object of the sentence is the same as the subject. The first-person reflexive pronouns are myself (singular) and ourselves (plural). They occur with reflexive verbs, which describe someone acting upon themselves (e.g., “I wash myself ”).

The same words can also be used as intensive pronouns , in which case they place greater emphasis on the person carrying out the action (e.g., “I’ll do it myself ”).

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While first-person pronouns are used without any problem in most contexts, there’s an ongoing debate about their use in academic writing . They have traditionally been avoided in many academic disciplines for two main reasons:

To maintain an objective tone
To keep the focus on the material and not the author

However, the first person is increasingly standard in many types of academic writing. Some style guides, such as APA , require the use of first-person pronouns (and determiners) when referring to your own actions and opinions. The tendency varies based on your field of study:

The natural sciences and other STEM fields (e.g., medicine, biology, engineering) tend to avoid first-person pronouns, although they accept them more than they used to.
The social sciences and humanities fields (e.g., sociology, philosophy, literary studies) tend to allow first-person pronouns.

Avoiding first-person pronouns

If you do need to avoid using first-person pronouns (and determiners ) in your writing, there are three main techniques for doing so.

First-person sentence	Technique	Revised sentence
We 12 participants.	Use the third person	The researchers interviewed 12 participants.
I argue that the theory needs to be refined further.	Use a different subject	This paper argues that the theory needs to be refined further.
I checked the dataset for and .	Use the	The dataset was checked for missing data and outliers.

Each technique has different advantages and disadvantages. For example, the passive voice can sometimes result in dangling modifiers that make your text less clear. If you are allowed to use first-person pronouns, retaining them is the best choice.

Using first-person pronouns appropriately

If you’re allowed to use the first person, you still shouldn’t overuse it. First-person pronouns (and determiners ) are used for specific purposes in academic writing.

Use the first person …	Examples
To organize the text and guide the reader through your argument	argue that … outline the development of … conclude that …
To report methods, procedures, and steps undertaken	analyzed … interviewed …
To signal your position in a debate or contrast your claims with another source	findings suggest that … contend that …

Avoid arbitrarily inserting your own thoughts and feelings in a way that seems overly subjective and adds nothing to your argument:

In my opinion, …
I think that …
I dislike …

Pronoun consistency

Whether you may or may not refer to yourself in the first person, it’s important to maintain a consistent point of view throughout your text. Don’t shift between the first person (“I,” “we”) and the third person (“the author,” “the researchers”) within your text.

The researchers interviewed 12 participants, and our results show that all were in agreement.
We interviewed 12 participants, and our results show that all were in agreement.
The researchers interviewed 12 participants, and the results show that all were in agreement.

The editorial “we”

Regardless of whether you’re allowed to use the first person in your writing, you should avoid the editorial “we.” This is the use of plural first-person pronouns (or determiners) such as “we” to make a generalization about people. This usage is regarded as overly vague and informal.

Broad generalizations should be avoided, and any generalizations you do need to make should be expressed in a different way, usually with third-person plural pronouns (or occasionally the impersonal pronoun “one”). You also shouldn’t use the second-person pronoun “you” for generalizations.

When we are given more freedom, we can work more effectively.
When employees are given more freedom, they can work more effectively.
As we age, we tend to become less concerned with others’ opinions of us .
As people age, they tend to become less concerned with others’ opinions of them .

If you want to know more about nouns , pronouns , verbs , and other parts of speech , make sure to check out some of our other language articles with explanations and examples.

Nouns & pronouns

Common nouns
Collective nouns
Personal pronouns
Proper nouns
Second-person pronouns
Verb tenses
Phrasal verbs
Types of verbs
Active vs passive voice
Subject-verb agreement
Interjections
Conjunctions
Prepositions

Yes, the personal pronoun we and the related pronouns us , ours , and ourselves are all first-person. These are the first-person plural pronouns (and our is the first-person plural possessive determiner ).

If you’ve been told not to refer to yourself in the first person in your academic writing , this means you should also avoid the first-person plural terms above . Switching from “I” to “we” is not a way of avoiding the first person, and it’s illogical if you’re writing alone.

If you need to avoid first-person pronouns , you can instead use the passive voice or refer to yourself in the third person as “the author” or “the researcher.”

Personal pronouns are words like “he,” “me,” and “yourselves” that refer to the person you’re addressing, to other people or things, or to yourself. Like other pronouns, they usually stand in for previously mentioned nouns (antecedents).

They are called “personal” not because they always refer to people (e.g., “it” doesn’t) but because they indicate grammatical person ( first , second , or third person). Personal pronouns also change their forms based on number, gender, and grammatical role in a sentence.

In grammar, person is how we distinguish between the speaker or writer (first person), the person being addressed (second person), and any other people, objects, ideas, etc. referred to (third person).

Person is expressed through the different personal pronouns , such as “I” ( first-person pronoun ), “you” ( second-person pronoun ), and “they” (third-person pronoun). It also affects how verbs are conjugated, due to subject-verb agreement (e.g., “I am” vs. “you are”).

In fiction, a first-person narrative is one written directly from the perspective of the protagonist . A third-person narrative describes the protagonist from the perspective of a separate narrator. A second-person narrative (very rare) addresses the reader as if they were the protagonist.

Sources in this article

We strongly encourage students to use sources in their work. You can cite our article (APA Style) or take a deep dive into the articles below.

Caulfield, J. (2023, July 04). First-Person Pronouns | List, Examples & Explanation. Scribbr. Retrieved June 24, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/academic-writing/first-person-pronouns/

Aarts, B. (2011). Oxford modern English grammar . Oxford University Press.

Butterfield, J. (Ed.). (2015). Fowler’s dictionary of modern English usage (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.

Garner, B. A. (2016). Garner’s modern English usage (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.

Is this article helpful?

Jack Caulfield

Other students also liked, what is a pronoun | definition, types & examples, active vs. passive constructions | when to use the passive voice, second-person pronouns | list, examples & explanation, what is your plagiarism score.

Singular and Plural Forms in Scientific Writing

Peer Review

Although plurals can sometimes be relatively simple, there are situations that cause confusion, including mass nouns. Learn more about how to avoid mistakes in scientific writing.

Updated on June 19, 2012

In most cases, forming the plural in English is relatively simple (just add an 's'). However, authors frequently make a few mistakes when forming plurals, especially with mass nouns.

Count nouns are discrete, individual entities -- items that you can count. Mass nouns , sometimes called uncountable or non-count nouns, refer to an undifferentiated mass or collection of material. For example, you would not say, “I'm all out of a water.” It is correct to say “I need a little water” or “I need a few bottles of water.” In this example, water is a mass noun, and bottle is a count noun. Likewise, when describing an experiment, you would quantify a mass noun by adding a specific measurement (e.g., “2 ml of water”); in fact, whether you choose bottles or milliliters, the mass noun requires some unit of measurement to be quantified. Note that the unit is plural and the mass noun ('water') remains unchanged.

Data and research are two nouns that are frequently used in the sciences and are much more tricky than they appear.

It is often taught that data (like media or spectra) is a plural word (the singular is 'datum'). In most contexts, the word data refers to specific numerical results and should therefore be treated as a plural count noun, with a corresponding plural verb form.

The patient data are sorted in Table 1.
Data were collected retrospectively from patient medical records.

However, this rule is not strict; it depends on the scientific context. Data can sometimes be used in the singular as a mass noun. For example, in Ars Technica, Chris Foresman examines how securely “user data is stored” by Apple's iCloud service. Likewise, the following PLOS ONE article uses the singular form of data in its title: “ Clickstream Data Yields High-Resolution Maps of Science. ” In computer science, data is often used in the singular form as an mass noun; that is, computer scientists use the word data to describe a mass of information to be accessed, stored, or processed ( information is another great example of a mass noun).

Unlike data , research should always be used as a mass noun, and its verb must be singular. Some writers attempt to force research to take a plural form (researches); however, this usage is incredibly rare, and it will almost certainly trouble a reviewer. Because research is a mass noun, it can refer to a wide body of literature (e.g., “current research in the field”) or the work involved in a specific project (e.g., “our research focused on the following objectives”). If you need to quantify the research in question, try using study/studies (e.g., “In total, 28 studies were included in this review”). Consider the following examples, also from PLOS ONE :

A Comparison of rpoB and 16S rRNA as Markers in Pyrosequencing Studies of Bacterial Diversity
Aggregating, Tagging and Integrating Biodiversity Research (not researches)

We hope these tips and examples help avoid the grammatical confusion that often surrounds data and research . Are there other singular or plural forms that cause you trouble in your scientific writing? Write to [email protected] , and we will work with you to find the answer. Best of luck!

Brandon Jernigan, PhD

Strategic Communications Partner and Operations UX

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First-person pronoun for things other than mathematical steps - singular or plural?

The question Choice of personal pronoun in single-author papers has a good discussion of the motivation for using first-person plural pronouns ("we") instead of first-person singular (“I”), especially in math-type papers.

But here are three edge cases where the first-person plural seems a little funny for a single-author paper (but not as flagrantly wrong as thanking "our wife" in the acknowledgments):

To (our/my/the author's) knowledge, this result is new.
(We/I/the author) performed a careful review of the previous literature, but did not find any examples of X.
(We/I/the author) believe(s) that this method is easier to employ and more illuminating than the method outlined in the previous section.

Any thoughts on which is the best option for these three constructions?

publications
writing-style

2 Wow, unexpectedly controversial question! We’ve got answers in all camps. – tparker Commented Mar 17, 2023 at 17:09
2 I absolutely loath "we did" in single-author papers, it makes no sense whatsoever. If it was us doing it, then it should be all of us as authors on that paper. crisluengo.net/archives/421 – Cris Luengo Commented Mar 17, 2023 at 17:20
22 Um... I think of the "we" as "you the reader and me the author, we are going on this adventure because we are both the coolest and smartest for being interested in this stuff." – Boba Fit Commented Mar 17, 2023 at 18:53
@BobaFit Sure, “we see that” includes the reader. “We ran this experiment” does not. – Cris Luengo Commented Mar 20, 2023 at 0:09
@CrisLuengo language in general doesn't make sense . Sense is established by conventions. Use of "we" to express the authors' (or author's) standpoint is quite conventional. Now, that's not to say every convention is good, however we should have good reasons for going against them. I'd say: for the most part, "we" works alright, and the alternatively have rather worse problems. – leftaroundabout Commented Mar 20, 2023 at 11:59

7 Answers 7

I usually remove the speaker entirely in these cases. Certainly I would not use 'we' in any of those situations. 'We' is used in proofs because the author and the reader are (hopefully) both proving the result together, it isn't just the author. Indeed, if the author wrote "and then I see that (1) implies that the lemma is true" it sounds very much as if the reader won't see it!

"The author(s) believe(s) this result is new" is absolutely fine, but I normally solve it by using "This result appears to be new". So your three examples in your question become:

This result appears to be new.

A careful search of the literature did not find any examples of X.

This method seems to be easier to employ and more illuminating than the method outlined in the previous section.

3 I like these rewritings, but none of them are in the passive voice as your first two words suggest. Also, in #2, I think that “did not return X” would be better, since the search itself does not find things, but the searcher does. (That sounds like a Zen proverb.) – tparker Commented Mar 17, 2023 at 12:39
2 Half a million hits on Google for "a search found" as an exact phrase. All top hits are news reports. "A careful search found" top hit is an academic article. – David A. Craven Commented Mar 17, 2023 at 12:51
8 I don't agree with this. Scientific papers have become incredibly dry and boring to read over the last some decades. Earlier scientific reports used "I" much more often, and were much more pleasant to read. – Cris Luengo Commented Mar 17, 2023 at 17:23
2 It depends on the language, but writing in the passive tense sounds a bit weak in English. It is especially criticised in many books on writing by professional fiction writers, where it is criticised as being dry and weak-sounding. – Tom Commented Mar 17, 2023 at 21:26
2 @Tom: The passive voice is used all the time in academia, especially when describing the methodology of an experiment, but probably in other contexts as well. – Kevin Commented Mar 18, 2023 at 3:12

To be honest, unlike the other answers, I wouldn't bat an eye if "we" were used in any of these three examples in a math paper (they seem more jarring out of context, but in context it's just a convention of the discipline). That being said, if one wanted to avoid both "we" and passive constructions, I think "the author" works just fine.

1 The act of writing "we" in a single author paper is uncomfortable, the act of reading "we" in such a paper is entirely natural. That's how a large majority of academic papers are written. – David Commented Mar 19, 2023 at 0:50
Didn't the use of passive in scientific literature come about because 19th-century gentlemen-scientists often had their servants do the manual work? "the apparatus was assembled." – benwiggy Commented Mar 19, 2023 at 16:55

For pure math: to counter most of the other answers here (except Greg Martin's), I still find the use of first-person singular in research papers strange (excluding perhaps some special acknowledgements), simply because it's not the norm. To check this, I just browsed the new arXiv posts in my area (Number Theory), and all of the single-authored papers there use "we" including in situations like yours where it doesn't make traditional grammatical sense (e.g., abstract starts with "We describe...").

My thoughts are:

first-person plural is perfectly fine in your examples; to me it's also a little more direct and less stiff than "the author", so preferable

in general don't mix first-person singular and plural forms to refer to yourself

try not to mix first-person pronoun usage and "the author" in nearby areas of text

it's of course a matter of personal style, and as far as I know, there are no pure math research journals which would prohibit any of the options you give based on their style guidelines

I may be a bit of a hypocrite (first sentence). I checked one of my recent preprints, and there are a few paragraphs in the intro where I use the first person singular, mainly to mention a suggestion somebody told me and say I personally don't have an explanation for phenomenon blah. I use "we" everywhere else in the intro, but at least don't mix any "we"'s in between. Anyway, I still stand by my answer as general guidelines, though I'll see if the copy editor says anything. – Kimball Commented Mar 18, 2023 at 21:43

Fashions change, and there is no hard and fast rule ... but I agree that to use "we" in any of the situations you have described would be odd.

The use of "we" seems reasonably well suited to cases where the pronoun is intended to include the author and the reader but the three situations that you describe are not like that. It is you who have done a literature search, you who are or are not aware of previous results, and you who found a particular method easier.

The use of the passive (as an alternative to any first-person pronoun) is still common but increasingly unfashionable ... and all round, "I" seems very well suited to the situations you've described.

Try using "the present author"

For academic writing, I also like using "we" instead of first-person singular, when discussing findings, proofs, etc. I have always thought of the "we" as referring to the reader and I, embarking on a journey of discovery together. We find that there is evidence for A, we find that the present method works well on problems of class B, we can see that the proof of Theorem D can be extended to deal with generalisation D, etc. r However, as you note, there are instances where one is making a statement that only applies to the singular author and which should not be attributed more broadly. For these cases a useful construction is to refer to yourself as "the present author" (see related answer here ). This leads to the following framing for the cases you note, all of which sound quite pleasing and maintain the formality of academic writing.

To the knowledge of the present author, this result is new. The present author performed a careful review of the previous literature, but did not find any examples of X. The present author is of the view that this method is easier to employ and more illuminating than the method outlined in the previous section.

4 The "present" or current author in contrast to some hypothetical future author? Or is there another sense of "present" in use here? – J W Commented Mar 17, 2023 at 6:40
2 @JW: The "present author" as in, the one whose work you're presently reading. – Ben Commented Mar 17, 2023 at 6:41
5 @JW while not always necessary, it can be useful if you mention some previous work in the same sentence, or sufficiently nearby that you might be misconstrued as referring to the author of some other paper. (Not that you should do that IMO - if another author is worth mentioning, they are worth mentioning by name.) – Especially Lime Commented Mar 17, 2023 at 10:34

I do not like "we" at all in single author papers. In my view, "we" implicitly says that the author expects all readers to agree and basically synchronise themselves with what the author is doing, and this in my view is patronising.

Personally I don't have much problems with "I" as I think that in this way the author takes personal responsibility for what they're writing, and I think this is appropriate. I do however accept that "I" can come over as arrogant and self-centered, so I'm very careful with it. I have no issues with "I" in the three cases provided in the question, however I'd probably say "this method seems easier" in case 3. In case 2 one could say "A careful review did not..." (your sentences there seem longer than needed and the "I/we" could be removed as a side effect of shortening).

I do think avoiding first personal personal pronouns as far as possible without becoming too awkward is a good thing. George Spencer-Brown wrote somewhere that a reader, in order to properly appreciate and understand a mathematical proof, needs to do the steps themselves and observe the consequences, and he stated that the imperative is the best form for this, which I found very convincing. So in proofs I'll write "Assume... set... get... observe..."

In a single author paper, it does not matter much if one uses the royal “we” or the singular “I”. I tend to go with what is more common in the journal.

What is important IMO is proper attribution.

It makes a difference in a thesis for instance, or in other situations where the author has to be clear on who did what. A thesis written entirely using “we” could be problematic as it becomes impossible to identify the contribution of the candidate, especially if the candidate has published with collaborators. An interview talk where the presenter only uses “we” could also be problematic if the person was part of a team.

In your specific examples I would probably use “I” as I can’t see using the royal “we”. You did the literature review, and it’s difficult to see how you can attribute this to someone else or draw the reader into thinking they are involved in this review.

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