Possessives: Joint or Separate Ownership

Possessives: Joint or Separate Ownership

Which of these two constructions would be correct if John and Rob each wrote a separate report and the administrative assistant filed them both? The administrative assistant filed John’s and Rob’s report. The administrative assistant filed John and Rob’s report. The...
The Subjunctive Mood

The Subjunctive Mood

Most of us use phrases such as “if I were you,” “if need be,” “be that as it may,” “God bless you,” “far be it from me,” and so on—but few of us are aware that we are employing the subjunctive mood when we do so. This lack of awareness is not surprising given...
Names: Making Them Plural and NOT Possessive

Names: Making Them Plural and NOT Possessive

Each year, as the festive season approaches and people make plans to send holiday greetings, many of us would benefit from a reminder about how to make last names plural. (Hint: Apostrophes need not apply.) If we pause to think, we will likely remember that...
Which, Who, and That: Singular or Plural?

Which, Who, and That: Singular or Plural?

Many of my posts include a quiz introduced by some form of the question “Which of the following sentences are problematic?” More than one subscriber has written to suggest that in this opening question, the plural verb are should instead be the singular verb is. That...
Collective Nouns

Collective Nouns

Collective nouns are words that refer to—you guessed it—a collection of individuals (people or animals) or things taken as a whole. Though these words appear singular, they represent a group; examples include team, jury, faculty, class, choir, family, and committee....