grammarword-usage
I want to say that there were two reasons for something. Which would be grammatically correct?
"The reason for this is twofold" or "The reasons for this are twofold"
Or is it that both of these are technically correct but mean separate things? Do they both mean the same thing but one is preferred over the other?
Thanks for you help
Yes, those are correct usages. Use viz. just as you would use namely. Wikipedia's examples:
- The main point of his speech, viz. that our attitude was in fact harmful, was not understood.
- "My grandfather had four sons that grew up, viz.: Thomas, John, Benjamin and Josiah."
- The noble gases, viz., helium, neon, argon, xenon, krypton, and radon, show a non-expected behaviour when exposed to this new element.
Viz. is short for the Latin videlicet, which means namely. Though I am a native English speaker, and I would not find this weird or inappropriate, it is uncommon, and most people would have to look it up in a dictionary. It would be better to use namely or that is to say instead.
Edit: I find this Ngram rather informative, too. Once, apparently, viz. was more popular than namely:
Most of the modern usages of viz. are not the abbreviation in question, but nearly all the older ones are.
The former would be preferred for more serious works of literature. Starting a sentence with or is very informal and not something you should do in an essay or a professional context.
The latter is a good example of something you would say, but not write. That being said, it is also a rule that is commonly broken and therefore accepted to be correct as well.
So, both are good! Just beware of context.
Best Answer
How about: "The reason is twofold." By saying that the reason is twofold, it means that there are two parts to the same reason, not that there are two separate reasons. If you wanted to say that there are two separate reasons for a phenomenon, then I would simply say: "There are two reasons for this occurrence," or something along those lines.