Why would using the construct "is/their" instead of "is/its" in the following examples likely be frowned upon by some native speakers and marked as incorrect on tests?
The class is working on its assignment. (AmEng)
The class is/are working on its/their assignment. (BrEng)
The class is working on their assignment. (disputed usage)
-and-
The government is always changing its mind. (AmEng)
The government is/are always changing its/their minds. (BrEng)
The government is always changing their mind. (disputed usage)
-and-
The team is putting on its uniforms. (chiefly AmEng)
The team are putting on their uniforms. (chiefly BrEng)
The team is putting on their uniforms. (disputed usage)
-and-
The Smith family is at the beauty parlor getting its hair and nails done for the wedding. (chiefly AmEng)
The Smith family are at the beauty parlor getting their hair and nails done for the wedding. (chiefly BrEng)
The Smith family is at the beauty parlor getting their hair and nails done for the wedding. (disputed usage)
On the other hand, why might other native speakers consider this usage to be acceptable?
Answer
The disputed usage is due to how although team, government, class, etc., are singular nouns, suggesting that they should be conjugated with the singular verb "is", they are made up of many people. And so, to say that the government is always changing their mind makes sense when you think about so many people in the government changing their mind, but not if you adhere to the strict usage of singular verbs with a singular noun.
No comments:
Post a Comment