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Mon 25 Sep, 2006 02:09 am
Hi everybody,
I have problem with "information"; I wonder which of the following is correct:
1. this information
2. these informations
3. these pieces of information
Note that I mean a plural concept here. THANKS A LOT.
Akbar Khorrami
While you may mean to convey a plural concept, the word 'information' itself is almost always singlular in English. You may say 'these pieces of information' but not 'these informations.'
The term information means the result of organizing, manipulating or processing data in a way that adds to the knowledge of the person receiving it. In essence, the word "information" means "knowledge you shall receive."
When writing a sentence, you should be able to replace the word "information" with the phrase "knowledge you shall receive" and still have a sentence without grammatical errors. For example, you could write "the information in this pamplet shall improve your life" or you could write "the knowledge you shall receive in this pamplet shall improve your life."
Now, look up the definition of the word knowledge. Knowledge essentially means that you have an understanding. When you add the "s" to the word information, and consequently change the replacement phrase to "the knowledges you will receive," you are also adding the "s" to the word understanding so that it becomes "understandings"--more than one understanding. Well, what does it mean for someone to have several understandings?
Let's say, for the sake of argument, that I claimed to have two understandings about the creation of the pyramids in Egypt. My first understanding would be that the Egyptians built them by using a pully system to help push rocks up the side and they done this for an extremely long time. My second understanding would be that extraterrestrials used grappling beams to grab the rocks and then dropped them into place and they were built in a single day. Now, would you say I understood how they were built? Or, would you say that I understand nothing? Obviously, I understand nothing in this hypothetical scenario.
As you can see, it is impossible to have several understandings of something. As such, it is impossible to have several knowledges of something. Because the concept of several knowledges is impossible, the concept of several informations must also be impossible. As such, you should never add the letter "s" to the word information. Information is a singular concept and can never be anything more.
The phrase "pieces of information" is acceptable; however, since the word information by itself will suffice, the phrase "pieces of information" should be avoided because it creates unnecessary work for you and the reader.