Can you spot the agreement error in each of these sentences?

1. Here’s three good reasons to buy your office supplies from us.
2. There’s many causes of school violence.
3. Here is the sales report, the market analysis, and the strategic plan.
4. There is Harry, Sue, and Michael.
5. Here’s a few boxes of old photographs from the attic.
6. There’s not even a dozen protesters at the rally today.

Each of these sentences incorrectly pairs the singular verb is with a plural subject.

Why Here and There Are Tricky

Why do these inverted constructions—when subjects appear after their verbs—cause trouble?

Since here and there can never be subjects regardless of their position in a sentence, when we use them to launch a clause, we must look ahead to determine if the subject is singular or plural. Only then can we choose the appropriate verb.

Preoccupied with composing a message, a writer may overlook the plural subject and default to a singular verb.

Here are the same sentences with the correct (plural) verbs:

1. Here ARE three good reasons to buy your office supplies from us.
2. There ARE many causes of school violence. [Note that the original sentence used the contraction “there’s,” short for “there is,” but the contracted form of “there are” is the awkward “there’re.”]
3. Here ARE the sales report, the market analysis, and the strategic plan.
4. There ARE Harry, Sue, and Michael.
5. Here ARE a few boxes of old photographs from the attic.
6. There ARE not [or There AREN’T] even a dozen protesters at the rally today.

Our Ears and Eyes Get Us in Trouble

Sentences 1 and 2 are fairly straightforward. Even before reading through to the plural nouns “reasons” and “causes,” we should know that plural verbs are necessary since the adjectives “three” and “many” invariably denote plurality.

Sentences 3 and 4 prove more challenging because in each case a singular noun (“the sales report” and “Harry”) immediately follows the plural verb, and such juxtaposition troubles our ears—until we continue reading and discover that those singular nouns form only one part of what are, in fact, plural subjects.

In sentence 3 the complete subject consists of “the sales report” AND “the market analysis” AND “the strategic plan”; in sentence 4 it comprises “Harry” AND “Sue” AND “Michael.”

Such discordant sentences could, of course, be rewritten. If we want to keep our ears happy AND be grammatically correct, we might rework them this way:

3. The sales report, the market analysis, and the strategic plan are in this folder.
4. Harry, Sue, and Michael are walking in the door.

Finally, sentences 5 and 6 can also give us pause. With the noun phrases “a few boxes” and “a dozen protesters,” we may be initially fooled by the article a that launches these expressions, and we may anticipate singular subjects. The only way to avoid agreement errors with these phrases is, once again, to look ahead and accurately identify the subjects before deciding on the appropriate verb. In these two examples, the subjects are the plural nouns boxes and protesters, respectively.

A Word of Caution

Relying solely on word-processing grammar checkers to flag agreement errors (and other language issues, for that matter) is risky. Such programs may lack the sophistication to distinguish between a discrete single-noun subject and a singular noun that is merely part of a plural subject, especially when the subject appears after (rather than before) the verb. (On the bright side, this potential software shortcoming points to the continued need for human oversight in writing-related endeavors. AI has not rendered us wordsmiths redundant—yet.)

All careful writers should, therefore, spend an extra moment scrutinizing the entire clause before deciding whether to employ a singular or plural verb after an introductory here or there. (Incidentally, sentences beginning with “where is” warrant similar scrutiny. “Where’s the beef?” is grammatically correct; “Where’s my keys?” is not.)

There’s a Related Issue 

In general, writers tend to start too many sentences with the word there. Most of those sentences could be more succinct. Consider these examples:

• Original: There is a squirrel making noise in our attic.
• Revision: A squirrel is making noise in our attic.

• Original: There are ten people serving on the zoning committee.
• Revision: Ten people serve on the zoning committee.

• Original: There is a tendency for people to lie about their age.
• Revision: People tend to lie about their age.

Test Yourself

Is the number of the verb correct in the following sentences?

1. Here’s the list of addresses you asked me to compile.
2. There is a casserole, a fruit salad, and a lemon pie in the refrigerator.
3. Here’s the top ten reasons for subscribing to the Get It Write blog on English grammar, mechanics, and usage.
4. There’s not enough hours in the day for me to complete my work.
5. Here’s some paint samples for you to take home.
6. There’s no doughnuts in the break room this morning, and there’s only a couple of drops of coffee left (so we might as well go home!).

Answers

1. HERE’S [or Here IS] . . . [The singular noun list is the subject.]
2. There ARE . . . [Three items constitute a plural subject. To be more succinct, we might instead write, “A casserole, a fruit salad, and a lemon pie are in the refrigerator.”]
3. Here ARE the top ten reasons . . . [The plural noun reasons is the subject.]
4. There ARE not [or There AREN’T] enough hours . . . [The plural noun hours is the subject.]
5. Here ARE some paint samples . . . [The plural noun samples is the subject.]
6. There ARE no doughnuts . . . and there ARE only a couple of drops . . . [Both doughnuts and drops are plural subjects.]

Elsewhere on this site we discuss the opposite problem: the use of plural verbs with singular subjects. This can occur, for instance, when either or neither is the subject of a clause. And who, which, and that can present equally tricky situations because these pronouns are sometimes singular and sometimes plural, depending on their antecedent(s). Check out those links, too!

Copyright Get It Write 2001. Revised 2024.

The post When Sentences Start with “Here” or “There” appeared first on Get It Write.

People commonly misuse myself. Sometimes they mistakenly use it as a subject, such as in the expression “Anna and myself are going home.” But if we remove “Anna and,” most of us know it would be grammatically incorrect to say “Myself is going home.”

Why? Because we need a subject for the verb “are going,” and myself can never be a subject.

So when do we use reflexive pronouns, the ones that end with –self  or –selves (myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, yourselves, ourselves, themselves)?

To use reflexive pronouns appropriately, we need to remember three facts about them:

First, Reflexive Pronouns Can Be Objects but Never Subjects

Reflexive pronouns serve as objects (indirect and direct) of verbs, verbals, or prepositions:

• Henry scared himself. [Himself is the direct object of the verb scared.]
• I gave myself a treat. [Myself is the indirect object of the verb gave; treat is the direct object, the thing being given “to myself”]
• Before the meeting, she allowed herself time to park her car. [Herself is the indirect object of the verb allowed; time is the direct object, the thing being allowed “to herself“]
• We voted to give ourselves a raise. [Ourselves is the indirect object of the verbal (infinitive) phrase “to give”; the raise is the direct object, the thing being given “to ourselves.”]
• The candidate inspired large donations, propelling herself to the top of the polls. [Herself is the object of the verbal (participial) phrase “propelling herself to the top of the polls.”]
• She bought lavish gifts for her children and herself. [Herself is one of the two objects of the prepositional phrase “for her children and herself”; herself and children are also the indirect objects of the verb bought.]

Second, Reflexive Pronouns Can Intensify Any Noun or Pronoun—Subject or Object

Reflexive pronouns can serve as intensifiers, functioning grammatically as appositives (words that rename other words):

1. I myself wrote that check.
2. I wrote that check myself.
3. Harriot assured us that she herself would lock the building.
4. Harriot assured us that she would lock the building herself.

As we can see in the second and fourth sentences, a reflexive pronoun does not have to be right next to a noun to intensify it.

So while a reflexive pronoun can never be a subject, it’s fine for a reflexive pronoun to intensify a subject, as is the case in all four of these examples.

Third, a Reflexive Pronoun Must Always Refer to the Subject of Its Own Clause

This third point is very important: Regardless of which role a reflexive pronoun fills—object or intensifier—the reflexive pronoun must refer to (think reflect) the same person or thing serving as the subject of the same clause:

• In the clause “Henry hurt himself,” Henry and himself refer to the same person.
• In the clause “I gave myself a treat,” I and myself refer to the same person.
• In the clause “she allowed herself time . . . ,” she and herself refer to the same person.
• In the clause “she bought lavish gifts for her children and herself,” she and herself refer to the same person.
• In the clause “We voted to give ourselves a raise this year,” we and ourselves refer to the same people.
• In the clause “I myself wrote that check,” I and myself refer to the same person.
• In the clause “that she would lock the building herself,” she and herself refer to the same person.

Sometimes writers and speakers think they can use myself (or any of the reflexive pronouns) to avoid having to choose between I and me (or any of the subject-object pronoun pairs, such as she/her, he/him, etc.), but as we have seen here, we should use reflexive pronouns only in certain grammatical constructions.

TEST YOURSELF

Three of these four sentences use reflexive pronouns incorrectly:

1. My boss gave the tickets to Henry and myself.
2. Audrey and myself are going to the shareholders’ meeting this afternoon.
3. Hilda herself was responsible for the fire that burned down her house.
4. Gayle asked if Paul and herself could leave work early that afternoon.

ANSWERS

• Sentence 3 correctly uses the reflexive pronoun: herself intensifies the subject Hilda.

• Sentence 1 is wrong because the subject—boss—is not the same person as myself. (It is worth pointing out, too, that the correct pronoun in sentence 1 should be me, not I, because the preposition to requires an object, not a subject.)

• Sentences 2 and 4 both use a reflexive pronoun as the subject of a clause. Although a reflexive pronoun can intensify a subject, it can never be a subject. Sentence 2, then, should use I instead of myself, and sentence 4 should use she instead of herself.

Since many people use myself when they aren’t sure whether to use I or me, readers may find it helpful to read our article on that subject.

Copyright 2002 Get It Write. Revised 2019, 2023.

The post Myself (and Other Reflexive Pronouns) appeared first on Get It Write.

• The administrative assistant filed John’s and Rob’s report.
• The administrative assistant filed John and Rob’s report.

The rule about handling possessives with joint and separate ownership is pretty straightforward: In sentences describing joint ownership, only the second (or last, if we have more than two) noun or pronoun should be possessive, whereas in cases of separate ownership, both (or all) nouns or pronouns should be possessive.

In this case, then—each person having produced a separate report—the apostrophes in the first sentence are correct.

However, if you said that neither of these sentences is correct, you’re right! If each person has generated a separate report, then the word report should be plural:

• The administrative assistant filed John’s and Rob’s reports.

In a different scenario, if John and Rob had collaborated on a single report, the correct construction would be the second one:

• The administrative assistant filed John and Rob’s report.

Sometimes punctuation serves not only to enhance readability but also to convey meaning. The writer’s decision about which names to make possessive affects the reader’s interpretation of the sentence: did the assistant file two reports—one authored by John and one authored by Rob—or only one report written by both John and Rob?

(For another example of punctuation affecting the meaning of a sentence, see the post on the Oxford comma.)

Here are two additional examples followed by explanations:

• We are planning to attend Sam and Teresa’s retirement party. (One party is being held to celebrate both people’s retirement, so the party “belongs,” so to speak, to them jointly.)
• We are planning to attend the party honoring Sam’s and Teresa’s outstanding sales records. (Each of them possesses a separate, individual sales record; we have two records, not a single record jointly owned.)

• When I went to my husband’s family reunion, I finally met Joe’s and Martha’s parents. (Joe and Martha are not siblings; they do not “own” the same set of parents.)
• When I went to my husband’s family reunion, I finally met Tim and Sally’s parents. (Tim and Sally are siblings; they do “own” the same set of parents.)

And that’s how we differentiate between joint and separate ownership.

This blog features several other posts about when and how to make words possessive, so be sure to check them out, too:

• One is about making words possessive when they end in s (or in z, x, ch, or sh).
• Another addresses the difference between possessive nouns and attributive ones (or, put another way, why we have an apostrophe in Mother’s Day and Father’s Day but not in Bankers School or Veterans Day).
• We have a post explaining why we need the possessive case before a gerund.
• And last but perhaps most important, we have a post addressing the very common mistake of making words possessive when they simply need to be plural.

Have a question? Drop it in the comment section below. I love hearing from readers.

Test Yourself

1. 1. We complained to the housekeeping service when the trash receptacles in Hal and Barb’s offices had not been emptied for three days. [They work in separate offices.]
   2. Small Town and Eden’s population increases in the last decade have been staggering, despite economic hardships endured by both counties.
   3. After the ceremony, everyone who attended Nancy’s and Tom’s wedding walked across the street to the reception.
   4. Susan and Richard’s proposals were outstanding, so the company has funded both of the projects for the next fiscal year.
   5. The seamstress had to alter both Emily and Julie’s dress before the party.

Answers

1. 1. Hal’s and Barb’s offices
   2. Small Town’s and Eden’s population increases
   3. Nancy and Tom’s wedding
   4. Susan’s and Richard’s proposals
   5. Emily’s and Judy’s dresses

Copyright 2001 Get It Write. Revised 2023.

The post Possessives: Joint or Separate Ownership appeared first on Get It Write.

This lack of awareness is not surprising given that strict use of the subjunctive is now quite rare, even in the most formal speaking and writing situations. Astute communicators, however, understand the grammatical nuances of this mood and can recognize when it is being used correctly (or not!).

A Little Background about the Subjunctive Mood

Before we go any further, bear in mind that mood is distinct from tense (past, present, future, etc.) and voice (passive or active). Those three elements, along with person and number, constitute the five properties of English verbs. 

The concept of mood in English is complex, and the indicative and subjunctive moods are at times conflated. Simply put, an indicative verb makes a factual statement, whereas a subjunctive verb denotes a hypothetical or doubtful statement. Consider these sentences:

1. If I were you, I would increase my weekly contribution to the company’s retirement fund.
2. I wish that his report were more succinct.
3. We recommend that the trip be postponed until next year.
4. The finance department requests that Marcus submit updated budget projections each month.  

When stating a fact—that is, when using the indicative mood—we would never write “I were,” “report were,” “trip be,” or “Marcus submit.” But these verbs are used appropriately in the examples above because each sentence is describing a situation that is hypothetical, conditional, or contrary to fact, and such constructions logically call for the subjunctive mood:

1. The situation is clearly hypothetical: I cannot be you.
2. His report is not, in fact, succinct, so the sentence speaks of a hypothetical situation.
3. The trip is not currently postponed, so the subjunctive mood is appropriate to suggest a possibility rather than an actuality.
4. At present, Marcus is not submitting updated budget projections each month, so we use the subjunctive mood to express the mere possibility of his doing so. 

How Do We Express the Subjunctive Mood?

For the present subjunctive mood of most verbs, we use the form of a verb that usually serves as the third-person plural—that is, the form without the s ending—regardless of whether the subject is singular or plural:

• Indicative: The man leaves home every morning for work.
• Subjunctive: The sheriff insisted that the man leave town and never return.

• Indicative: Hilda works from home most days.
• Subjunctive: Her supervisor would prefer that Hilda work in the office.

For the irregular verb to be, we use be for all present tense subjunctive mood verbs and were for all past tense forms, regardless, again, of whether the subject is singular or plural:

• Indicative: Julio was president of his class.
• Subjunctive: If Julio were president of his class, the meetings would be more orderly.

• Indicative: I am studying French in preparation for my trip next fall.
• Subjunctive: If I were to study French, I would be better prepared for my trip next fall. 

The Word If Does Not Always Signal the Subjunctive Mood

Of course, not every clause starting with if requires a verb in the subjunctive mood. Many if statements are simply expressing the conditions necessary for something to be true, and the indicative mood is usually the best fit when these conditions are more likely than not to be met. For example, when we write (or say) “If he arrives [not the subjunctive arrive] on time, we will have dinner before the show,” we are implying that our companion’s punctuality is not only possible but also quite probable.

Sometimes we must understand the context before deciding whether the subjunctive mood is the right choice—as with these two options:

• Indicative: If Smith is chosen as the corporation’s next CEO, she will likely change several controversial hiring practices.
• Subjunctive: If Smith were chosen as the corporation’s next CEO, she would likely change several controversial hiring practices.

If the odds are in Smith’s favor—say, because she is regarded as the most qualified candidate—then we would probably use the indicative If Smith is chosen. But if her chances of landing the position seem remote, we could convey this uncertain, hypothetical outcome by the subjunctive If Smith were chosen.

Knowing when to apply the subjunctive mood can be challenging. Visit Merriam-Webster’s article for more on this topic, including a helpful explanation that underscores the complexity of recognizing when an if statement is truly subjunctive or merely conditional.

TEST YOURSELF

Which of the following sentences require verbs in the subjunctive mood?

1. If I was Sam, I would hire an assistant now before the hiring freeze takes effect.
2. The committee suggested that Dr. Jones is chosen as the next chief of staff.
3. As August approaches, every school child wishes that his or her vacation was longer.
4. It is critical that every potential donor gives blood during this shortage.
5. If my playing the bagpipes yesterday before 8 a.m. was annoying, I apologize.
6. If it wasn’t for your help, I’d still be locked out of my car.

ANSWERS

1. If I WERE Sam, I would hire an assistant now before the hiring freeze takes effect.
2. The committee suggested that Dr. Jones BE chosen as the next chief of staff.
3. As August approaches, every school child wishes that his or her vacation WERE longer.
4. It is critical that every potential donor GIVE blood during this shortage.
5. In this sentence, WAS is correct because the statement is likely to be true.
6. If it WEREN’T for your help, I’d still be locked out of my car.

Copyright 2001 Get It Write. Revised 2023.

The post The Subjunctive Mood appeared first on Get It Write.

If we pause to think, we will likely remember that apostrophes make words possessive, not plural. But when we are tired or pressed for time, we might easily insert this mark of punctuation even when its placement is illogical.

So without further ado, here is Get It Write’s refresher guide to making names plural, advice that will come in handy whether you’re signing cards or letters or personalizing mailboxes or welcome mats.

Let’s See What You Already Know

Of the seven examples below, which ones are correct if the writer is sending greetings from more than one person with the same last name?

1. Happy holidays from the Smith’s
2. Happy holidays from the Williams’
3. Happy holidays from the Smiths
4. Happy holidays from the Williamses
5. Happy holidays from the Smiths’
6. Happy holidays from the Williamses’
7. Happy holidays from the Williams family

If you chose 3, 4, and 7, you can probably stop reading now. You’ve got this. But if not, read on.

Examples 1 and 2 are illogical for two reasons:

Plural Is Not the Same as Possessive

First, apostrophes make the names possessive, but when we send greetings, they are from us, not from something we own. We need no apostrophes in such cases, then, because no possession is involved.

The names Smith and Williams would need to be in the possessive case only if the greetings were, say, from Jane Smith’s hamster or John Williams’s goldfish. (And yes, the majority of style manuals advocate the use of the additional s after the apostrophe for most singular nouns in the possessive case—even names that end in s. We address this issue more fully in another post.)

Singular Is Not the Same as Plural

Second, examples 1 and 2 are wrong because the names are rendered as singular possessives. Since the writer intends the greetings to come from all family members, the name must be plural—but not (as we have already noted) possessive.

Given that examples 5 and 6 are both plural and possessive, they, too, are wrong.

But examples 3 and 4, which are both plural but not possessive, are correct (as denoted below):

Singular names: Smith, Williams
Singular possessive names: Smith’s, Williams’s
Plural but not possessive names: Smiths, Williamses
Plural and possessive names: Smiths’, Williamses’

What about example 7, which is also correct? By modifying the noun family with our own family’s name—that is, by treating our family name like any other adjective that could modify the noun family (the happy family, the large family, the Smith family, the Williams family, etc.)—we can skirt the issues of plurality and possession entirely. We simply write our name in its usual (singular, non-possessive) form.

Making Last Names Plural When They End in s (or sh, ch, x, or z)

As shown above, the name Smith becomes plural simply by adding an s to make Smiths.

Pluralizing the name Williams, however, is more challenging because it ends with s in its singular form. Names (and all other nouns, for that matter) that end in sibilants (that is, the sounds s, sh, ch, x, and z) are made plural by the addition of es.

Thus the name Williams in its plural form is Williamses.

Here are more examples of names that end in sibilants and are thus made plural by adding es:

• Happy holidays from the Joneses (plural form of the name Jones)
• Happy holidays from the Spearses (plural form of the name Spears)
• Happy holidays from the Hankses (plural form of the name Hanks)
• Happy holidays from the Dongeses (plural form of the name Donges)
• Happy holidays from the Birches (plural form of the name Birch)
• Happy holidays from the Bushes (plural form of the name Bush)
• Happy holidays from the Foxes (plural form of the name Fox)
• Happy holidays from the Gomezes (plural form of the name Gomez)

It’s Usually Easy to Make Last Names Plural When They Do Not End in Sibilants

The following names do not end in sibilants and are thus made plural simply by adding s (but not an apostrophe!):

• Happy holidays from the Benjamins (plural form of the name Benjamin)
• Happy holidays from the Kirks (plural form of the name Kirk)
• Happy holidays from the Moores (plural form of the name Moore)
• Happy Holidays from the Romanos (plural form of the name Romano)
• Happy holidays from the Berrys (plural form of the name Berry—notice that we do not drop the y and add ies to proper names to make them plural as we do with common nouns)

IMPORTANT FINAL POINT: It’s the Sound, Not the Letter(s), That We Must Consider

Our friends over at editorsmanual.com point out that we must consider the sound of a letter and not just the appearance of certain letters or letter combinations. One example used on that site is the first name Zach, which ends in ch but is pronounced with a k sound. Thus, we make Zach plural simply by adding s: “David had three Zachs in his class.” The same rule applies to last names.

(We have also addressed the more complicated issue of appropriately using apostrophes to make words possessive, including those that end with s.)

Please Share!

Using apostrophes to make last names plural is such a common mistake that it has been widely addressed by such prominent publications as Southern Living, HuffPost, and Business Insider. If you think this Get It Write explanation is clear and useful, please help improve this article’s ranking in online searches by sharing the link on social media and elsewhere. Thank you!

TEST YOURSELF

How would each of the following names be made plural but not possessive?

1. Knox
2. Hill
3. Ingalls
4. Thomas
5. Donges
6. Sawyer
7. Lewis
8. Ayres
9. Brooks
10. Riley
11. Sanchez
12. Fauci
13. Pelosi
14. Koch (pronounced like Coke)

ANSWERS

1. Knoxes
2. Hills
3. Ingallses
4. Thomases
5. Dongeses
6. Sawyers
7. Lewises
8. Ayreses
9. Brookses
10. Rileys
11. Sanchezes
12. Faucis
13. Pelosis
14. Kochs (the ch sounds like a k)

©1999 Get It Write, rev. 2022.

The post Names: Making Them Plural and NOT Possessive appeared first on Get It Write.

That is, these subscribers are convinced that the relative pronoun which is always singular.

In truth, the relative pronouns which, who, and that can be either singular or plural. To know whether a relative pronoun is singular or plural, we must look at its antecedent—the word or words to which it refers. If the antecedent is plural, the pronoun is also plural and takes a plural verb. But if the antecedent is singular, the pronoun is also singular and takes a singular verb.

If I were to write “Which of the following sentences is problematic,” I would imply that only one sentence is problematic; I would be saying, essentially, “Which one of the following sentences is problematic?” That construction works if only one sentence is problematic, but not if more than one test sentence contains an error.

Consider the following sentences:

• Which of the steering committee members is going to draft the proposal?
• Which of the steering committee members are going to draft the proposal?

The first sentence implies that only one member of the steering committee will be drafting the proposal. The second sentence, on the other hand, suggests that two or more committee members will be drafting the proposal together.

Compare these two sentences that use the relative pronoun that:

• Emily picked all the flowers that were growing in the garden.
• Emily picked the one flower that was growing in the garden.

In the first sentence, the antecedent of that is flowers. Since the noun flowers is plural, the pronoun that is plural and takes a plural verb.

In the second sentence, the antecedent of that is the singular noun flower, so the verb must be the singular was.

(I know what some of you are thinking: Yes, we could eliminate the need for that in both sentences by reducing the relative clause to a participial [adjective] phrase: “Emily picked all the flowers growing in the garden” or “Emily picked the one flower growing in the garden.” But here we are focusing on making verbs agree with relative pronouns.)

Here are more examples using the relative pronouns which, who, and that:

• This objective correlates with the central performance goals in our corporate renewal plan, which are targeted toward the realignment of our marketing strategies in Europe and Asia.
• This objective correlates with the central performance goal in our corporate renewal plan, which is targeted toward the realignment of our marketing strategies in Europe and Asia

• The employee and appropriate management must sign the telecommuting agreement form, which outlines the expectations and responsibilities of both the telecommuter and the agency.
• Employees and the appropriate management personnel must sign telecommuting agreement forms, which outline the expectations and responsibilities of both the telecommuters and the agency.

• The five faculty members who are representing the college at the conference in Russia have been invited to a luncheon at the president’s home.
• The faculty member who is representing the college at the conference in Russia has been invited to speak at the president’s luncheon.

• A wood panel that has been treated will resist rotting.
• Wood panels that have been treated will resist rotting.

TEST YOURSELF

1. Every member of the sales team who (is, are) planning to take a vacation this summer must submit a request in writing by May 10.
2. Members of the sales team who (is, are) planning to take a vacation this summer must submit requests in writing by May 10.
3. Which of the twelve verses of the holiday tune (was, were) being sung when the stage lights fell?
4. Which of the children who tried out this morning (has been, have been) selected for the three open positions on the team?

ANSWERS

1. is (The antecedent of who is member, which is singular.)
2. are (The antecedent of who is members, which is plural.)
3. was (Since the lights would have fallen during one specific verse, which is singular; thus, the verb should be singular.)
4. have been (Since three children were selected, the relative pronoun which is, in this sentence, plural.)

Copyright 2005 Get It Write. Revised 2022.

The post Which, Who, and That: Singular or Plural? appeared first on Get It Write.

The wording of the tweet itself was somewhat problematic: the pronoun they had always been nonbinary and had always been in the dictionary. But what was new (and, oddly, missing from the tweet) was the inclusion of a definition for they that sanctions its use as a singular pronoun in certain circumstances.

This pronouncement set a lot of people’s hair on fire (read, for example, the comments below the tweet) and garnered the attention of prominent media outlets, including NBC News, the Washington Post, and the New York Times. Today, it is rare to find a reputable usage guide that is not on board.

If you already understand that pronouns are supposed to agree with their antecedents, skip the following section and go on down to the next one, which focuses on the most recent aspect of the debate. But if you’re wondering what the fuss is all about, this next section is for you:

Pronouns Need to Agree with Their Antecedents

Some readers may be thinking that the use of they or their or them in reference to something singular sounds just fine. But many people (I’m looking at you, my fellow English teachers and grammar purists) would find the italicized plural pronouns in the following sentences problematic:

1. Everyone came to our office party and brought their favorite dessert.
2. Each employee has to sign their annual evaluation and return it by December 31.
3. Someone forgot to lock the front door last night when they left the building.
4. Anyone who has worked for the company for at least six months is eligible for retirement benefits, but they have to complete the appropriate forms.

All of these sentences use a plural personal pronoun (namely, they and their) to refer to a singular antecedent (everyone, employee, someone, and anyone).

Everyone, someone, and anyone are singular indefinite pronouns, so called because they do not refer to a specific person, place, or thing.  Other singular indefinite pronouns include each, neither, either, and one.

Until very recently, most English teachers insisted that pronouns referring to singular antecedents, including these indefinite pronouns, should also be singular.

The traditional way to correct the sentences above, then, would have been to replace the plural personal pronouns with their singular counterparts. For a long time, we replaced them solely with masculine pronouns and would have said “Everyone came to our office party and brought his favorite dessert.”

We eventually wised up to the notion that it is not OK to default to masculine pronouns when we intend to refer to a group that is not all male, and we began using compound constructions:

1. EVERYONE came to our office party and brought HIS OR HER favorite dessert.
2. EACH employee has to sign HER OR HIS annual evaluation and return it by December 31.
3. SOMEONE forgot to lock the front door last night when HE OR SHE left the building.
4. ANYONE who has worked for the company for at least six months is eligible for retirement benefits, but SHE OR HE has to complete the appropriate forms.

But Agreement Is Not the Only Issue

No one has ever really liked the wordy and sometimes awkward compounds “his or her” or “she or he” or the even more distasteful constructions “s/he” and “her/him.”

But the more significant issue is that all of these singular alternatives reinforce the gender binary; they assume that everyone identifies as either female or male. (Onlea.org has produced an excellent short video explanation that is helpful if you are unfamiliar with nonbinary gender identification.)

Unfortunately, in English we do not have a gender-neutral, singular, third-person pronoun. We use it in reference to inanimate objects, but we have no singular pronoun to use in reference to individual people when we don’t know their gender or when they themselves do not identify as either male or female.

As we have awakened to an understanding that gender identity is more fluid than the socially constructed male-female binary suggests, it has become increasingly more important to find a non-gendered alternative.

Through the years, linguists and others have attempted to introduce a new non-gendered singular pronoun into our language, such as ze, but those attempts failed.

If you need no further encouragement, skip down to the section on strategies. But if you still aren’t convinced, read the next two sections first.

Descriptive Dictionaries vs. Prescriptive Style Guides

Far more newsworthy than M-W‘s September 2019 tweet is the fact that several prominent style guides had already changed their prescriptions about the use of they.

While virtually all dictionaries are descriptive (they describe how people are actually using a language, while noting that some usage is considered “nonstandard” or “colloquial” or “slang,” etc.), style guides are prescriptive: each style guide tells us what we should do if we choose to adhere to that particular set of usage guidelines.

While we might expect style guides to lag behind dictionaries in changing their ruling on the use of the singular they, both the New York Times and the Associated Press began allowing the use of the singular they in 2017, as explained in this interesting article.

The widely used Chicago Manual of Style notes that the singular they is preferable to the generic he, even in formal writing, but encourages the writer to avoid it whenever possible (see suggestions below). Chicago (as well as other style guides) goes on to note that a writer should always honor a person’s preferred pronoun, and when an individual prefers they to he or she, any subsequent verb should be plural.

If a person has a roommate who prefers to be referred to as they, we should say, for example, “we hope they don’t snore,” not “we hope they doesn’t snore.”

Change Is Hard, but History Helps

For those of us who have spent decades insisting that they is plural, adjusting to a singular they isn’t easy.

It helps to know that what we perceive as a change is, in fact, not new at all. Webster’s (as well as many other sources) notes that using they to refer to singular indefinite pronouns can be traced back for centuries. Strict insistence on its being plural is a relatively recent development.

Grammar purists don’t have to like the use of the singular they, but they cannot fairly point to this change as an example of English grammar “going to hell in a handbag” (as we like to say down South when something has changed for the worse).

It’s also helpful to remember that change is inevitable with all languages. Spend five minutes perusing the Oxford English Dictionary if you don’t believe that words change as needed to reflect an ever-changing and evolving world.

Strategies for Making Pronouns Agree without Reinforcing the Binary

Let’s look again at the four sentences above: one solution, of course, is simply to stick with the italicized plural pronouns. As we have noted, prominent dictionaries and style books are in your corner.

But since that option still sounds wrong to many people, the very best solution is perhaps to avoid the pronoun completely or to change the antecedent to a plural noun or pronoun:

1. EVERYONE came to our office party and brought a favorite dessert. [This revision avoids having the plural their refer to the singular everyone.]
2. ALL employees HAVE to sign THEIR annual evaluations and return them by December 31. [This revision changes the singular each to the plural all, but it isn’t as clear as the original because it sounds as if each person is signing all the evaluations, not simply that person’s own evaluation.]
3. SOMEONE forgot to lock the front door last night when leaving the building. [This revision avoids the use of he or she.]
4. ANYONE who has worked for the company for at least six months is eligible for retirement benefits but has to complete the appropriate forms. [This revision avoids the use of she or he.]

TEST YOURSELF

How might each of these sentences be improved? Consider not only that pronouns should agree with their antecedents but also that we want to avoid reinforcing the gender binary.

1. Everybody is leaving work early to be home with their families for a long weekend.
2. Neither of the books has writing in their margins.
3. Each of the players on the softball team has to wash their uniform between games.

POSSIBLE ANSWERS

1. ALL EMPLOYEES are leaving work early to be home with their families for a long weekend. [Changed the singular everybody to the plural all employees and kept the plural their] OR: All employees are leaving work early for a long weekend of family time at home. [Removed the possessive pronoun entirely to avoid the problem.]
2. Neither of the books has writing in ITS margins. [Because book is inanimate, it works here.] OR: in THE margins. [Removes the need for a possessive pronoun.]
3. If we know the players are all female (or all male), we could write “Each of the players on the softball team has to wash HER (or HIS) uniform between games.” If we are uncertain about the gender of the players or if the team is coed, we might write “EACH of the players on the softball team has to wash HIS OR HER uniform between games,” but that option reinforces the gender binary and ignores the reality that many people do not regard themselves as either male or female. A better option, then, might be to say “ALL of the players on the softball team have to wash THEIR uniforms between games.” The latter choice, however, is not as precise as the former because it fails to present the picture of each player washing that player’s own individual uniform. The best choice, then, is probably to use the singular their, as in the original sentence above.

Copyright 2001 Get It Write. Revised 2019 and 2022.

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In the sentence “The committee plans to award an annual grant to recipients who demonstrate need,” the committee is acting in unison, as a single unit, so we treat the subject committee as a singular noun that takes the singular verb plans.

But what if the members of the committee are not acting in unison, as a single cohesive unit? Would you be comfortable writing, “The committee are unable to agree on the wording of a single proposal”?

The tricky thing about collective nouns is that they can be either singular or plural, depending on how the individuals in the sentence are behaving.

Sometimes Collective Nouns Are Plural

In cases where the members of a group are acting individually, treating the collective noun as singular would be illogical. Here are two examples:

• Illogical: The choir WAS measured for ITS new robes.
• Logical: The choir WERE measured for THEIR new robes.
  (Each member must be measured individually, not the group as a whole.)

• Illogical: The team WASHES ITS uniforms at home after each game.

• Logical: The team WASH THEIR uniforms at home after each game.
  (If each player individually washes that person’s own uniform, then the team is not acting as a single unit.)

Both Verbs and Pronouns Need to Agree with Collective Nouns

Notice in those sentences that when we needed a pronoun to refer to the collective noun, that pronoun was also either singular or plural depending on the context. Put another way, the collective noun and its pronoun should agree in number.

However, now that they, them, and their are widely accepted as nonbinary singular pronouns in reference to people, we may sometimes use them with singular collective nouns. We could correctly say, for example, “Each performer in the band was measured for their new uniform,” whereas in the past we would have had to say the more cumbersome (and exclusive) “for his or her new uniform.” Note that uniform must remain singular because it refers to each individual performer’s uniform. (Read more about the singular they elsewhere in this blog.)

American vs. British English on Collective Nouns

In the two examples above (“choir were” and “team have”), the logical choice sounds wrong to many people—in particular, those who employ American English—even though it is correct. Often, then, Americans will add a plural noun after the collective noun to ensure not only that the sentence is grammatically correct but also that it sounds correct:

• The choir MEMBERS were measured for their new robes.
• The team PLAYERS wash their uniforms at home after each game.

Those around the world who employ British English are far more comfortable using plural verbs with collective nouns and will happily—and correctly—say or write “choir were” and “team have.”

TEST YOURSELF

Which of the two options in parentheses is the more logical choice in the following sentences (despite how it might sound to American ears)?

1. The tour group (is/are) arguing among (itself/themselves) about where to eat dinner.
2. The tour group (is/are) going to spend (its/their) first night in Paris.
3. The class (has/have) been told to put down (its/their) pencils when (it has/they have) finished the exam.
4. The class (is/are) working on (its/their) project for the school science fair.

ANSWERS

1. are, themselves (or “The TOURISTS are arguing among themselves . . . ”)
2. is, its
3. have, their, they have (or “The STUDENTS have been told . . . ”)
4. is, its

Copyright 2001 Get It Write. Revised 2022.

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Consider this sentence:

• Last week, the hiring committee conducted an interview with the top three candidates.

“Conducted” is the verb in this sentence, but the meaningful and important action is interviewed.

Instead of drawing the reader’s attention to the act of interviewing, the writer has reduced the verb “to interview” to the noun phrase “an interview” (thus the term nominalization).

When we revise the sentence and make “interview” the verb, we not only put the focus on the more critical action, but we make our sentence less wordy:

• Last week, the hiring committee interviewed the top three candidates.

Here’s another illustration:

• An award-winning journalist wrote an analysis about adherence to mask-wearing policies in various parts of the country.

The verb is “wrote,” so the focus is on the act of writing instead of on the more important action of analyzing. Changing the verb to “analyzed” strengthens the sentence and makes it more succinct:

• An award-winning journalist analyzed adherence to mask-wearing policies in various parts of the country.

In a misguided attempt to sound more sophisticated, we often let nominalized verbs creep into our professional writing: for example, we may write “take into consideration” instead of “consider” or “engaged in discrimination” instead of “discriminated.”

Clarity and concision are important, so instead of “having an argument,” “making an agreement,” or “staging a protest,” see if it works just as well to say, simply, “argue,” “agree,” or “protest.”

Another helpful way to strengthen sentences and eliminate wordiness is to use more active verbs and fewer passive ones. And for more on the topic of improving sentences by focusing on verbs, read Mark Roberts’s terrific guest post on this site titled “Verbs First: Targeting the Crucial Action.”

©Get It Write 2021

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Myth Rules: Eight So-Called Rules about Writing That People Learn When Young and Continue to Believe for the Rest of Their Lives

MYTH 1: Never start a sentence with because.

Fact: A sentence that starts with because is perfectly fine. However, the conjunction because is a subordinator; that is, it creates a dependent, or subordinate, clause—a clause that is logically and grammatically dependent on a main clause to complete its meaning.

In other words, a because clause cannot stand alone in formal, professional writing, where sentence fragments are frowned upon. (In informal and/or creative writing, fragments are used frequently.)

• • Fragment: Because I left my assignment at home.
  • Perfectly fine sentence: Because I left my assignment at home, I earned an F.

I have always suspected that this “rule” originated with grade-school teachers whose students treat because clauses as if they were sentences in short-answer exercises:

• • Why did the chicken cross the road? Because he wanted to get to the other side.
  • Why is the sky blue? Because blue light travels on shorter and smaller waves.  

It’s a lot easier to say “never start a sentence with because” than it is to teach students how to distinguish independent clauses from dependent clauses.

MYTH 2: Never start a sentence with and or but. 

Fact: Professional writers do it all the time. Just be sure the introductory and or but is followed by a full clause—that is, a subject-and-verb combination—and not a phrase, or the result will be a sentence fragment. (See Myth 1 regarding the use of fragments in certain types of writing.) I address this topic in an article and in a video.

• • Fragment: But left my assignments at home.
  • Perfectly fine sentence: But we never know how our actions affect others.

MYTH 3: All essays must have five paragraphs.

Fact: Almost all essays need an introductory paragraph; most essays will need a concluding paragraph. But the number of body paragraphs depends entirely upon the number of points the writer wishes to make and the complexity of each of those points. I explore this topic in greater detail here, and if you’re a visual learner, head straight to the video version.

MYTH 4: All paragraphs must have [insert number you were taught here] sentences.

Fact: A good paragraph is unified around a controlling idea (whether overtly stated or implied). The paragraph provides enough details, examples, and support to be convincing to the reader. In an essay (as opposed to, say, a business letter), that goal can rarely be accomplished in only a few sentences, but the number of sentences in a paragraph has, per se, virtually nothing to do with adequate paragraph development. The writer who counts sentences rather than developing and/or supporting the controlling idea often ends up merely restating that idea over and over in different words, adding no depth or substance to the paragraph whatsoever.

Like many of these “myth rules,” Myth 4 has arisen out of a beginning writer’s need for linguistic training wheels. Someone who is trying to encourage inexperienced writers to write longer paragraphs might insist that each paragraph contain eight (or ten or eleven or sixteen) sentences. Similarly, a teacher trying to explain how to organize one’s ideas might well use the five-paragraph essay as one model.

But at some point in their lives, writers must take off these training wheels. Good writing is not characterized by longer paragraphs but by stronger, better developed, and more convincing ones. And not all good writing can be poured into a five-paragraph mold; instead, one’s ideas must be organized into the number of paragraphs appropriate to the writer’s purpose.

Here’s a video I made to explain the problem with assuming a paragraph has to have a specified number of sentences.

MYTH 5: The topic sentence of a paragraph must come at the beginning.

Fact: Although inexperienced writers would do well to put the topic sentence at the beginning of a paragraph, no rule says it must go there. As writers mature, they develop the skill of creating paragraph unity with the topic sentence in a variety of places; experienced writers often simply imply the main idea of a paragraph.

MYTH 6: Singular nouns ending in s are made possessive by simply adding an apostrophe but not an additional s.

Fact: Only a very small number of style guides advocate this approach. One of the more prominent ones is the Associated Press Stylebook, which should be adhered to only in journalistic contexts (e.g., news outlets, magazines, press releases) because it advocates a number of usages considered taboo in other professional contexts—such as using a colon in the middle of a clause and omitting the serial comma.

The style guide for the Modern Language Association, the Chicago Manual of Style, the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, and a host of other prominent style books—including the ones that most students will have to use in college—say to add the additional s when a singular noun ends in an s but not when a plural noun does:

• • Ms. Harris’s car (singular possessive noun ending in “s”)
  • The Harrises’ car (plural possessive noun ending in “s”)

MYTH 7: Never end a sentence with a preposition.

Fact: A preposition at the end of a sentence is a problem only when it has no object in the same clause.

• • Inappropriate construction ending in a preposition that has no object: Where are you at?
  • Correction: Where are you?

•  Most of the time, though, these so-called prepositions at the ends of sentences are really particles, which are part of phrasal verbs—“to call off,” “to rely on,” “to show up,” for example.

Consider these sentences, which, at first glance, might appear to end with prepositions:

• • After the hike, we ate an early dinner and turned in.
  • Lack of empathy was a quality she would not put up with.

In the first example, in is not acting as a preposition but as a particle—as part of the phrasal verb. The verb turned in means “retired” or “went to bed.”

In the second example, with is not a preposition but is part of the phrasal verb put up with, which means tolerate.

One way to identify a particle is that it significantly changes the meaning of the verb from what it would be without the particle: the phrasal verb turned in has a very different meaning from that of the verb turned by itself, without the particle in.  And put up with is quite different from put, without the particles up and with. (Go here for a fuller explanation.)

MYTH 8: Never use first-person pronouns (I, me, us, we, our, ours, my, mine) in professional writing.

Fact: Whether to use first-person pronouns depends entirely upon the audience and purpose of the piece of writing. Business letter and report writers who think that they must avoid first-person pronouns often end up writing awkward, vague sentences that are no fun to read (and that often use vague passive-voice verbs):

• • Adequate sentence: Your request has been denied.
  • Better sentence: We have denied your request.

• • Adequate sentence: The tickets have been mailed to you.
  • Better sentence: We have mailed the tickets to you.

Certain kinds of writing—personal reflections, for example—are always written from the first-person point of view.

* * * *

So there they are: eight myth rules that at best get in the way and at worst cause more harm than good.  But there are more! I’ll address others in upcoming articles, but in the meantime I hope you feel—as Ed Schuster would say—liberated from these rule wannabes.

Copyright 2021 Get It Write.

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