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amother
Amethyst


 

Post Wed, Apr 11 2018, 10:01 pm
In each of the following sentences which pronoun would be the correct one in order to maintain pronoun-antecedent agreement?

* Each of us is bringing (our/his/her) own food for the trip tomorrow.

The antecedent is "each" which is singular. Keep that in mind when answering. And of course, please provide explanation.

Thanks!
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amother
Olive


 

Post Wed, Apr 11 2018, 10:06 pm
amother wrote:
In each of the following sentences which pronoun would be the correct one in order to maintain pronoun-antecedent agreement?

* Each of us is bringing (our/his/her) own food for the trip tomorrow.

The antecedent is "each" which is singular. Keep that in mind when answering. And of course, please provide explanation.

Thanks!


His or her, because, as you wrote, "each" is singular.

That being said, it's an awkward phrasing. I would just change it to We are...
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amother
Amethyst


 

Post Wed, Apr 11 2018, 10:14 pm
What about
* Each of you should bring (your/his/her) signed permission slips.
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yogabird




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 11 2018, 10:22 pm
Is this an exercise in grammar, or for an actual note?

What's wrong with, each student will bring his or her own lunch, each student should bring his/her signed permission slip
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amother
Amethyst


 

Post Wed, Apr 11 2018, 10:27 pm
yogabird wrote:
Is this an exercise in grammar, or for an actual note?

What's wrong with, each student will bring his or her own lunch, each student should bring his/her signed permission slip


This is an exercise in grammar.
*Each of the boys will bring his own lunch.

Antecedent is "each." It is singular, it's referring boys so it's masculine, and it's third person, so we use "his" which is a singular masculine third person pronoun.
But what happens when the indefinite pronoun (each, one, most, all, etc.) is referring to a noun that is not third person, for example "you" or "us". Which person (1st, 2nd, or 3rd) does the pronoun take on?
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OutATowner




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 11 2018, 10:42 pm
Just taught this to middle school.
"Each" is singular, so it would be the same as "Moshe should bring his..." Which leads me to my next point.
I would write "Each student/child (depending on scenario) should bring his or her..." or "will bring."
"Is bringing" just sounds off.
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amother
Amethyst


 

Post Wed, Apr 11 2018, 11:07 pm
OutATowner wrote:
Just taught this to middle school.
"Each" is singular, so it would be the same as "Moshe should bring his..." Which leads me to my next point.
I would write "Each student/child (depending on scenario) should bring his or her..." or "will bring."
"Is bringing" just sounds off.


Yet, Moshe is clearly third person so you're using a third person pronoun his. But is each also always third person? Is there room for each to become second or first person as in the examples "each of us" or " all of you"?
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cookiecutter




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 11 2018, 11:50 pm
amother wrote:
Yet, Moshe is clearly third person so you're using a third person pronoun his. But is each also always third person? Is there room for each to become second or first person as in the examples "each of us" or " all of you"?
I think I see what you're getting at. But if I understand it correctly "each" is the subject, not "us", and yes, each would always be third person because it is not a pronoun at all, if that makes sense - it is a type of thing, here described by "of us". So the same way the his/her is correctly a singular pronoun, it is also a third-person pronoun.
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imasinger




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 12 2018, 6:53 am
amother wrote:
Yet, Moshe is clearly third person so you're using a third person pronoun his. But is each also always third person? Is there room for each to become second or first person as in the examples "each of us" or " all of you"?


"Each of us" = "every individual in this group". It doesn't matter how big the group is; "each" in this example means "one person." Therefore it's singular.

"All of you" = "the whole group". Therefore, it's plural, and would take a plural pronoun.
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PinkFridge




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 12 2018, 8:50 am
If your school's not coed, use his, or hers. Otherwise, use his or hers.
Or, if you just want to throw in the towel (PLEASE DON'T!) use theirs. Sadly, it's becoming acceptable standard usage now.
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FranticFrummie




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 12 2018, 9:55 am
PinkFridge wrote:
If your school's not coed, use his, or hers. Otherwise, use his or hers.
Or, if you just want to throw in the towel (PLEASE DON'T!) use theirs. Sadly, it's becoming acceptable standard usage now.


Using "their" was perfectly acceptable 50 years ago, but then it fell out of use. I know that those of us from a certain generation cringe when we see them/their as singular, because it was beaten over our heads that it was not acceptable. It's taken me about 10 years to warm up to using it again - and not for PC reasons.

It is now being accepted again as a singular term, usually used regarding a mixed group of people where his/hers or him/her, reads as awkward.

Their can be especially useful if you don't know the gender of the person you are discussing. If Mr. or Mrs. is not used in a title, Dr. Professor, etc. can be confusing. Their makes a great fallback position when faced with a sentence that won't parse otherwise.
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amother
Amethyst


 

Post Thu, Apr 12 2018, 10:14 am
imasinger wrote:
"Each of us" = "every individual in this group". It doesn't matter how big the group is; "each" in this example means "one person." Therefore it's singular.

"All of you" = "the whole group". Therefore, it's plural, and would take a plural pronoun.

My question is not if it's singular or plural. My question is should the pronoun be first person, second person or third person.
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amother
Amethyst


 

Post Thu, Apr 12 2018, 10:15 am
cookiecutter wrote:
I think I see what you're getting at. But if I understand it correctly "each" is the subject, not "us", and yes, each would always be third person because it is not a pronoun at all, if that makes sense - it is a type of thing, here described by "of us". So the same way the his/her is correctly a singular pronoun, it is also a third-person pronoun.

You are right that the subject is each and of course it's a pronoun. How else can it be the subject? Each, in this sentence is a pronoun, and thus we need to determine if it's a singular or plural pronoun, a first, second, or third person pronoun, and which gender.
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amother
Amethyst


 

Post Thu, Apr 12 2018, 10:20 am
FranticFrummie wrote:
Using "their" was perfectly acceptable 50 years ago, but then it fell out of use. I know that those of us from a certain generation cringe when we see them/their as singular, because it was beaten over our heads that it was not acceptable. It's taken me about 10 years to warm up to using it again - and not for PC reasons.

It is now being accepted again as a singular term, usually used regarding a mixed group of people where his/hers or him/her, reads as awkward.

Their can be especially useful if you don't know the gender of the person you are discussing. If Mr. or Mrs. is not used in a title, Dr. Professor, etc. can be confusing. Their makes a great fallback position when faced with a sentence that won't parse otherwise.


Well, I'm with you about their for singular being cringe-worthy. I need a grammatically correct option, not an informally colloquially correct option.
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Sadie




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 12 2018, 10:37 am
amother wrote:
Well, I'm with you about their for singular being cringe-worthy. I need a grammatically correct option, not an informally colloquially correct option.


Singular they/their is grammatically correct. You don’t have to use it or like it, but that doesn’t change the facts.
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amother
Amethyst


 

Post Thu, Apr 12 2018, 11:02 am
Sadie wrote:
Singular they/their is grammatically correct. You don’t have to use it or like it, but that doesn’t change the facts.

Prove it. Source please.
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amother
Olive


 

Post Thu, Apr 12 2018, 11:09 am
amother wrote:
You are right that the subject is each and of course it's a pronoun. How else can it be the subject? Each, in this sentence is a pronoun, and thus we need to determine if it's a singular or plural pronoun, a first, second, or third person pronoun, and which gender.


Each of us = Each one of us.

Knowing this, you can drop the word "each" and test out the sentence: One of us is bringing his or her lunch.

The tense, first/second/third person, gender become clear.
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amother
Olive


 

Post Thu, Apr 12 2018, 11:11 am
amother wrote:
Prove it. Source please.


Not Sadie, but here:

https://www.merriam-webster.co.....their

Second definition. I read a discussion about this recently in a book by a merriam webster lexicographer called Word by Word: The secret life of dictionaries.
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amother
Amethyst


 

Post Thu, Apr 12 2018, 11:15 am
amother wrote:
Each of us = Each one of us.

Knowing this, you can drop the word "each" and test out the sentence: One of us is bringing his or her lunch.

The tense, first/second/third person, gender become clear.

So it's third person?
And if we say Each one of you it's also his/her?
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Sadie




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 12 2018, 11:26 am
amother wrote:
Prove it. Source please.


Look, it’s not hard to google “singular they controversy” or something similar and find many articles arguing for and against its use. You can choose to use it or not. But it’s grammatical for the same reason that split infinitives and prepositions at the ends of sentences are grammatical- it is used in both natural speech and writing by educated native speakers of English and has been used for hundreds of years.
If “you are” can be singular there’s no reason that “they are” can’t be singular as well. Grammar is a codified explanation of the way a language works- not a set of arbitrary rules made up on high and passed down to the rest of us to memorize.
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