Learn English – Whether to use the singular or plural form of basis

grammatical-number

Is it: "coming to these conclusions on the basis of this study" or "coming to these conclusions on the bases of this study"? Do we use the singular "basis" because it is just one study or the plural "bases" because there are many conclusions?

To correctly use the plural would we have to say something like: "Coming to these conclusions, on these bases, i decided…"?

Best Answer

The New Oxford American Dictionary defines basis in this way:

The underlying support or foundation for an idea, argument, or process

Since it is defined as the underlying foundation, it seems that it can only ever be singular - you can't have two foundations under your house, that would sound weird. You have one foundation.

Therefore, basis is singular no matter how many studies or conclusions there are, making coming to these conclusions on the basis of this study the correct usage.