We’ve previously discussed subject-verb agreement and some of the ways writers get it wrong. Today, we’ll cover a few more common, miscellaneous
errors, and then we’ll put this subject to bed for a while.
Indefinite Pronouns
An indefinite pronoun
is a pronoun that refers to a non-specific person, object, or place; examples
include anyone, everyone, someone, no
one, and nobody. Although many of
these words seem to refer to multiple people (such as everyone and anyone),
they are in fact singular nouns.
No one has arrived yet.
Somebody needs a hug.
Everyone is here.
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| Photo from My English. |
However, a difficulty
commonly arises when indefinite pronouns and other pronouns are used together:
Someone has left
his keys behind.
The trouble is that someone
has no implied gender, but English lacks an animate, non-gender-specific
pronoun. (It is not gender specific,
but it also is not generally animate—by
which I mean that it doesn’t
generally imply a sentient being.) This is a sensitive issue for many people
who feel that masculine pronouns such as he
or his should not be used by default
for an unidentified or nonspecific person. There are many suggested workarounds
for this problem. You can use the compound pronoun his or her (or her or his,
if you prefer):
Someone has left his or her keys behind.
If that feels awkward to you, then you’re not alone in that
feeling. Another suggested workaround (the most common solution that people use
in their day-to-day speech) is to use the pronoun their. While their is
technically plural, it is an increasingly acceptable practice to use it as an
indefinite singular pronoun in these sorts of situations:
Someone has left their keys behind.
Note that the sentence uses has and not have—despite the
use of the plural pronoun their, someone still remains singular.
The final (and usually best) solution is to simply rewrite
the sentence to avoid the pronoun altogether:
Someone has left
some keys behind.
Each
Like the examples above, each
is always singular. Writers are often confused because each has a tendency to be followed by a prepositional phrase ending
in a plural word:
Each of the cars comes equipped with
GPS.
The phrase “of the cars” does not change the plurality of
the subject—each is the subject, and
it is always singular.
Neither and Either
Again, neither and
either are both singular, despite the
fact that they refer to two things:
Neither of the
lawnmowers is working.
Either way works for me.
Portions
Words and expressions that indicate a portion of a greater
group or whole are sometimes singular and sometimes plural. These include half of, a part of, a percentage of, a majority
of, all, any, more, most, and some,
as well as fractional expressions like one-third.
The plurality of these phrases usually depends on the “whole” of which they
refer to a portion—if the whole is a plural word, then the portion will also be
plural, but if the whole is a singular word, then the portion will also be
singular. For example:
Most of the workers (plural) are upset.
Most of the water (singular) is tainted.
One-third of the vehicles were faulty.
Two-thirds of the estate was lost.
Note, however, that the phrase “more than one” is singular:
More than one
pilot has tried that stunt.
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