I will not partake in your fora...

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Which is the plural of “forum”: “fora” or “forums”?

up vote 12 down vote favorite 1	I'm active on many discussion fora, but I see that people more often use the form forums. Are both forms correct and adequate? If so, why there are two forms for the plural of such a short word? plural word-form shareimprove this question edited Mar 7 '13 at 22:44 StoneyB 43.9k23182 asked Jan 23 '13 at 21:45 FolksLord 781415
	2   This is a near-duplicate to an earlier question, "indexes" or "indices", because the answer is virtually the same: a link to a good general reference that will tell you. –  MετάEd Jan 23 '13 at 21:55 2   I would add here more words (just for sake of searchability), statuses/stati and bonuses/boni. –  bytebuster Jan 23 '13 at 22:10 add comment

2 Answers

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up vote 11 down vote accepted

Although the proper Latin plural would be fora, forum has been adopted into the English language--and in most cases follows the rules of English pluralization. Similar changes can be seen with the adoption of other words like octupus (the proper plural would be more like octopedes, but in English we usually say either octopi or octopuses). The current entry from the Oxford Dictionary says: The plural of forum is usually spelled forums; the plural fora (as in the original Latin) is chiefly used when talking about a public square in an ancient Roman city. Since you're talking about online discussion boards, I would use forums instead of fora when you are talking about more than one. An English speaker might understand fora, but it wouldn't come as naturally. ******************************************************************** Part TWO Forums or Fora? Fora is sometimes cited as the correct plural for forum. Although it is indeed correct, there is some debate over whether it is the only correct pluralisation. Most online dictionaries provide both fora and forums as acceptable terms. You will notice that we use the plural forums here at MediaCollege.com. This is for two reasons: It appears to be acceptable English. It is the pragmatic solution. Whilst we are against most forms of language dumbing-down, we are also against unnecessary complication. Everyone knows and understands the word forums. Most people don't know what fora means. There is almost no chance of changing that situation significantly, no matter how hard the purists might want to. Like the failed Esperanto language, we believe reality wins over idealism. It's sad but inescapably true. We don't believe it makes sense to promote fora as the "correct" pluralisation because it creates confusion, offers no real benefit, and can't work anyway so it's pointless trying.