0

David would give it about 5 minutes even if it met every one of his criterion.

David would give it about 5 minutes even if it met his criteria.

Are both of the sentences grammatically correct and are they semantically equivalent?

Igglyboo
  • 101
  • 2
    Welcome to EL&U. While I have heard of criteria being used in the singular, I have never heard of criterion being used in the plural, and the plural is called for in this construction (compare every one of his requirements or every one of his prerequisites). Can you provide an example of its use, or explain why you think it would be acceptable? I encourage you to take the site [tour] and review the [help] for additional guidance. – choster Nov 18 '15 at 21:41
  • 3
    "Criterion" is never acceptable in the plural (nor is "criteria" acceptable in the singular). It is a word derived from Greek and thus the terminations for number have been brought over as well. – Languagemaven Nov 18 '15 at 21:58

1 Answers1

0

Sentence 1: The first,

David would give it about 5 minutes even if it met every one of his criterion.

is not correct. It would be correct, supposing David has more than one criterion, if it was

David would give it about 5 minutes even if it met every one of his criteria.

It would also be correct, no matter how many criteria are involved, if it was

David would give it about 5 minutes even if it met every criterion.

This last might be fuzzy, imprecise, if there was only one criterion involved.

Sentence 2: The second sentence,

David would give it about 5 minutes even if it met his criteria.

is correct if there are multiple criteria involved. It is also correct, although fuzzy, imprecise, if there is only one criterion involved. There may be circumstances, such as when the number of criteria involved is unknown, where it would be better to use 'criteria' even if there's a chance only one criterion is involved.

Semantic equivalence:

Strictly speaking, the sentences are not semantic equivalents unless they are identical sentences in identical contexts. This is the uninteresting case, and is hardly remarkable.

Functionally speaking, the sentences might be semantic equivalents if the first is corrected as shown in my second example and the context of each sentence is such as to encourage and support identical interpretations.

JEL
  • 32,781