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'Criterion' is the singular (one standard); 'criteria' is the plural (two or more standards).
Side-by-side comparison
"Criterion" is the singular: one single requirement or standard for evaluating something. Do not use it when referring to more than one.
The only criterion for joining the club is that you must be over eighteen.
Price was the most important criterion in her decision to switch providers.
What is the main criterion used to evaluate performance in this department?
"Criteria" is the plural. A very widespread mistake is using it as singular: "this criteria is" is wrong. The correct form is "these criteria are".
The selection committee will use several criteria to evaluate the candidates.
The criteria for admission to the program are listed on the university website.
All three criteria must be met before the application can move to the next stage.
Common mistake
- •"The criteria is experience" has two errors: "criteria" is plural and needs a plural verb ("criteria are"), and a single standard is "criterion".
- •The same pattern applies to: datum/data, phenomenon/phenomena, curriculum/curricula.
Trick to remember it
- •Ends in -ON = singular: one criterion, one phenomenon, one datum.
- •Ends in -A = plural: criteria, phenomena, data.
- •"Criteria are" always, just like "data are" in formal writing.
Quick rule
- •"Criterion" = singular (one standard).
- •"Criteria" = plural (two or more standards).
- •"Criteria" always takes a plural verb: "criteria are", "criteria include".
Did you know?
English words ending in "-on" with plural "-a" come from Greek: criterion/criteria, phenomenon/phenomena, automaton/automata. Words ending in "-um" with plural "-a" come from Latin: datum/data, medium/media, curriculum/curricula, memorandum/memoranda. In modern English, many of these are being replaced by anglicized "-s" plurals (curriculums, mediums), but in formal academic and professional writing the classical forms are still expected.
Practise what you learned
Exercise 1 · Pick the right one
Price was the main _____ she used when choosing which laptop to buy.
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
The judges used several _____ to select the winner: originality, technique, and presentation.
Exercise 3 · Form the word
Related word pairs
One reduces uncountable things, the other reduces countable things.
"Number" is used for things that can be counted individually; "amount" is used for things that cannot be counted (masses or quantities).
'A' is used before consonant sounds; 'an' is used before vowel sounds.
'A lot of' works for countable and uncountable; 'many' only for countable; 'much' only for uncountable.
Bryan López
Founder of SpeakUP Academy