I'm surprised no one has mentioned the error in the thread title.
thoughts and question about grammar
- Thread starter kennyschiano
- Start date
Okay, here ya go--it's the one after "board," and then I'd put the final clause in parenthesis, though I wouldn't insist on it:
Acceptable to whom? Certainly not to me, although I wouldn't call anybody on it on the board, unless it's the actual topic of conversation, as it is now.
The singular/plural pronoun issue is a real problem. Try going back and reading something from the 50s or earlier, and the constant use of the masculine pronoun really sounds odd.
At the same time, "The voter makes their choice," sounds equally odd. Here's a trick: Most of the time you can avoid the problem by making the whole sentence plural. "The voters make their choice," solves the problem and doesn't change the sense of what you are trying to say.
At the same time, "The voter makes their choice," sounds equally odd. Here's a trick: Most of the time you can avoid the problem by making the whole sentence plural. "The voters make their choice," solves the problem and doesn't change the sense of what you are trying to say.
The use of "they" as a strictly plural pronoun may change over time, and it may become accepted as a gender-neutral singular alternative to "he" and "she".
Initially "you" was plural and "thou" was singular. Over time, "you" was also used in a singular sense to show respect (mimicking the tu-vous distinction in French). And then "thou" pretty much disappeared, leaving "you" as both singular and plural.
Over time, you may see the same shift in they/them/their. And eventually, you may even see the gender-specific forms disappear.
"Most" is the operative word. Even your example is problematic. Anyone see it?
Anyway, all of this grammatical "nit picking" can be amusing to some, but it’s likely petty to most, who really couldn't give a "flip" about grammar in general, let alone some missteps on a message board. (But who really wants "nits"?) Some posters know better. Some do not. Such is life. No biggie.
The poster stated that they were clauses. They are sentences, each with a subject & a predicate. A period & caps should be used.
Yep, should be "choices". Unless maybe he's talking all voters for a specific candidate. One solution, another problem.
Me do ,Me do: Amo,Amas,Amat,Amamus,Amatis ,Amant. Did I do it correctly? It's been 77 years since I was a high school freshman so cut me a break.:sunglasses:
Actually, there is nothing problematic about the plural and singular pronoun usage in the example. The problem that one might think is there has to do with how many choices are available, but that is independent of the plural/singular issue, and if you look at the sentence carefully, is not problematic.
My post wasn't intended for people who don't care if others think they are sloppy writers; that is their choice. It was intended for people who want to be clear in their writing, no matter the venue. We just made a hire down here and knocked out of the first round anyone whose application had errors. Can't afford it.
that's just a matter of taste. It's not some kind of great grammatical faux pas as you make out.
Respectfully disagree on that one, camden. If there is only one choice to be made, then something like, "The voters have made their choice and picked Sanders." (One could hear this line in a Clinton concession speech.) You could also say, "The voters have made their choices and picked Sanders," but that would imply (although not directly state) that they also made some other choices. Not as powerful and direct as the first option.
I agree on using the nouns as well. I try to avoid "his or her" where I can, but cannot bring myself to say "their" when the noun is singular. I have to say that reading stuff from the 50s and earlier where the masculine is always used looks terribly wrong now. Funny how our sensibilities change.
EDIT: Don't like my example now as it no longer represents using the plural when a singular sentence would be an option. This is just clearly a plural situation. Have to work on this. But still think that "choices" implies more than one choice to be made rather than multiple people making one choice.
This is a better example:
Bad: "When voting on a referendum, a voter goes to the polls and makes their choice."
Better: "When voting on a referendum, voters go to the polls and make their choice."
I agree with you so much that I deleted my post six minutes after posting it!
I don't even use "like" when not expressing a preference:My freshman English teacher in 1964 would assign students to write a composition if one failed to use the word in a proper fashion.He didn't like hearing that happen.
