Make Your Editor Cry: Basis (Awkward Plural)
BLUF: (Bottom Line Up Front)
The plural of basis is bases.
basis: the bottom of something considered as its foundation: something on which something else is established or based
The singular of basis is basis. The plural of basis is bases. Note the “-e” that replaces the “-i” in the plural form. The noun basis has a Greek root, which is the derivation of the plural bases. There is no alternative English plural form.
The plural “bases,” is pronounced “BAY-seez.” It is also, when pronounced “BAY-siz,” the plural for a singular military outpost or the little white objects in the corners of a baseball diamond, as in military bases or the runner took two bases.
In terms of the former, when there is more than one “principle component” or basis of something, it consists of bases. Say an argument hangs on one fact, that single fact is the basis for the argument. If an argument depends upon two facts, then it depends on two bases. It does not hang on two basises or two basis’. It is also incorrect to refer to the plural bases with a singular verb, article, or expression.
Examples:
Incorrect:
The candidate did not meet the criteria for education or experience and so he was rejected on this bases.
The candidate did not meet the criteria for education or experience and so he was rejected on these basis. The candidate did not meet the criteria for education or experience and so he was rejected on these basises.
The candidate did not meet the criteria for education or experience and so he was rejected on these basis'.
Correct:
The candidate did not meet the criteria for education or experience and so he was rejected on these bases.
What are the bases of promotion?
Many countries are united in their belief in freedom, democracy, and human rights. However, these same beliefs are often the bases of their division.
Gregg Bridgeman is the Editor-in-Chief at Olivia Kimbrell Press. He is husband to best-selling Christian author Hallee Bridgeman and parent to three. He continues to proudly serve in the US Armed Forces and has done so in either an active or reserve capacity for more than twenty years as an airborne and air assault qualified paratrooper, earning a Bronze Star for his service. Most importantly, he was ordained in October of 2001 after surrendering his life to Christ decades earlier.
