It's "I studied math in college,"
NOT "I studied maths in college."
'Mathematics' is used with a singular verb.
'Mathematics' is a mass noun.
"The mathematics of quantum physics is complicated" is CORRECT.
"The mathematics of quantum physics are complicated" is INCORRECT.
"Mathematics is used throughout the world as an essential tool in many fields" is from Wikipedia.
You can substitute 'math' for 'mathematics' in each sentence in American English. Try that with 'maths'.
Math is fun.
Maths is fun?
That's hard to say. :)
'Maths' should be taken with a grain of 'salt' — another mass noun!
Thank you for this illuminating information.You really should get out more!
ReplyDeleteWhere I come from, we say Maths... But then we spell favourite, rancour, endeavour, flavour with a 'U'... It's called English. The 'S' on the end of Math retains its plural/singular status, thus "The maths of quantum physics is complicated" = "The mathematics of quantum physics is complicated".
ReplyDeleteI would say, using the sentence from Wikipedia as an example, "Math is used throughout the world." It would be hard (not incorrect, of course) for me to say, "Maths is used throughout the world." :) Another example: 'econ' is used as a short form of 'economics'. "I majored in econ" gets a lot of Google hits compared to "I majored in econs."
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