Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
forums or fora?
English answer:
(lat. pl. fora) forums
Added to glossary by
Kim Metzger
Dec 13, 2002 18:32
21 yrs ago
1 viewer *
English term
Hungary
Nil satis nisi optimum
Native in: Hungarian
Works in: English to Hungarian, French to Hungarian, German to Hungarian, and 2 more.
forums or fora?
English
Other
Linguistics
grammar
I am looking for the proper plural: I saw both ways. The context is academic research + publications.
TIA, Eva
TIA, Eva
Responses
| 5 +1 | fora |
Antonella Andreella (X)
|
| 5 +4 | either, depending on register |
Fuad Yahya
|
| 4 +2 | forUMS |
Libero_Lang_Lab
|
| 4 | fora |
Spiros Doikas
|
Responses
+1
2 mins
Selected
fora
if it's academic, I'd go for fora which is the Latin plural
HTH
AA
HTH
AA
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks to all of you, fora will be excellent!"
+4
3 mins
either, depending on register
I prefer "forums" any day of the week. "Fora" would be appropriate in highly academic contexts.
Fuad
Fuad
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Kim Metzger
: In very highly academic texts.
3 hrs
|
| agree |
Chris Rowson (X)
: I used to say "fora" because of my Latin schooling, but in the business world I had to retrain myself. "Fora" was either not understood or found horrible (as by Dan). Highly to very highly academic. :-)
7 hrs
|
| agree |
Dolly Xu
20 hrs
|
| agree |
AhmedAMS
19 days
|
6 mins
Spiros Doikas
Works in field
Dip. Trans. IoL (En-Gr)
Native in: Greek 
Works in: English to Greek, Greek to English, Greek, and 7 more.
fora
Both are equally acceptable. Fora however is more formal as this is the proper Latin plural.
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Note added at 2002-12-13 18:46:23 (GMT) Post-grading
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A style guide disagreeing:
forums (not fora. Fora are public squares or marketplaces in ancient Roman cities)
[http://216.239.53.100/search?q=cache:xA2C8FkdolYC:www.ifrc.o...]
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2002-12-13 18:46:23 (GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------
A style guide disagreeing:
forums (not fora. Fora are public squares or marketplaces in ancient Roman cities)
[http://216.239.53.100/search?q=cache:xA2C8FkdolYC:www.ifrc.o...]
+2
12 mins
Libero_Lang_Lab
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in English
&
English
United Kingdom
The sports specialists
Native in: English
Works in: Russian to English, English, French to English
Related KudoZ points
:
4
forUMS
Even if the context is academic, in this instance I think the anglo-saxon plural a) is more common and b) sounds a WHOLE lot better.
Fora, to my plebiean ear at least, sounds simply awful.
Fora, to my plebiean ear at least, sounds simply awful.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Kim Metzger
: Hear, hear! or here, here?
1 hr
|
| agree |
Tony M
: Yes, OED gives both, but lists -ums first; but I reckon it sounds better anyway!
3 hrs
|
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