Meaning & use
information
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Meanings
noununcountable
Facts, details, or knowledge communicated or learned about something.
Grammar: Never say an information or informations; say some information or a piece of information.
Patterns
- information about something
- information on something
- a piece of information
The nurse gave us information about aftercare before we left.
For more information on refunds, visit the customer page.
One useful piece of information changed our whole plan.
noununcountablecomputing
Data processed, stored, or transmitted by computers and communications systems.
Grammar: Still uncountable; in computing it contrasts with raw data that may not yet be meaningful.
Patterns
- store information
- digital information
- access information
The backup service stores information in several locations.
Digital information can be copied without losing quality.
Employees must protect customer information from phishing attacks.
Common combinations
- provide information
- The office provides information about voter registration.
- information about
- We need more information about the delay.
- a piece of information
- Each piece of information was checked twice.
Synonyms and how they differ
- data
- Often raw numbers or records; information suggests facts made useful or meaningful.
- facts
- Individual true details; information is a broader mass noun for what is communicated.
- knowledge
- Information understood and remembered; knowledge is deeper than simple details.
- news
- Recent information about events, usually public and timely.
Opposites
Word family
- inform verb
- To give information to someone.
- informative adjective
- Providing useful information.
- informed adjective
- Having or showing relevant knowledge.
- misinformation noun
- False or misleading information.
Commonly confused: information or message? information or data?
information vs message
A message is one communication sent to someone; information is the broader content that may be contained in it.
information vs data
In everyday use data can be information, but in technical contexts data are raw items while information is organized meaning.
Practice
Choose the natural sentence.
Choose one answer.
Information is uncountable, so it takes some information and never an or a plural -s. The other options are common learner errors caused by treating information like a countable noun.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “information”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.