About the plural of forum

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Sep 12, 2003 3:53 pm

Is the plural of forum really forums, or is it fori? Just asking...

hearsedriver · Post by **hearsedriver** » Fri Sep 12, 2003 4:11 pm

Being German, I consult several online dictionaries from time to time. Webster.com told me about "forum":

Main Entry: fo·rum
Pronunciation: 'fOr-&m, 'for-
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural forums also fo·ra /-&/
Etymology: Latin; akin to Latin foris outside, fores door -- more at DOOR
Date: 15th century
...

Cheers.

niko · Post by **niko** » Fri Sep 12, 2003 4:18 pm

I'd say forum is neutrum, plural: fora.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Sep 12, 2003 4:36 pm

If you use fora as singular and in the more north-eastern dialects of Austrian german, it means more something like what you create when scratching a car with a knife, but not the sound this makes, but rather the result.

niko · Post by **niko** » Fri Sep 12, 2003 4:40 pm

I think my viennese skills are not sufficient for this.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Sep 12, 2003 4:41 pm

Perhaps it is it because there is something unenlightened in this dialect, because fora may also mean the person staying sober all night when getting drunk far from home because he's gonna be the one getting everybody home safe in his car.

niko · Post by **niko** » Fri Sep 12, 2003 4:45 pm

FleshCrawler · Post by **FleshCrawler** » Sat Sep 13, 2003 12:17 am

according to the dutch language, Forum is 1, and fora and forums are multiple

t · Post by t » Fri Sep 19, 2003 11:08 am

In latin you could say it's fora. 2nd declension neuter noun

In English as a native speaker I feel that forums is best.

Godfrey · Post by **Godfrey** » Mon Oct 13, 2003 3:16 am

t wrote:In latin you could say it's fora. 2nd declension neuter noun

In English as a native speaker I feel that forums is best.

So much of English is rooted in Latin. Plural of any noun ending in 'um' always ends in 'a', like flora and fauna.

IMO forums is bad English-GB.

Caecus · Post by **Caecus** » Wed Nov 05, 2003 10:40 pm

Given that there is no good english I don't see how that is possible

Robomaniac · Post by **Robomaniac** » Sat Nov 22, 2003 10:16 pm

t wrote:In latin you could say it's fora. 2nd declension neuter noun

In English as a native speaker I feel that forums is best.

I fully agree. To be grammatically correct, it would be fora in the plural for the reason stated above.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Dec 24, 2003 8:45 pm

It doesn't necessarily follow that the plural of forum is fora.
e.g. What is the plural of 'album'?

Boogle · Post by **Boogle** » Wed Dec 24, 2003 11:45 pm

alba!

madinitaly · Post by **madinitaly** » Thu Dec 25, 2003 2:17 am

Like Saussure said: "It is the use that makes the language". If 90% of the people says "forums", then forums becomes the correct form.

B.T.W.: "Fora" in the south dialect of the language of my island means "without".