Skip to content

Andy Unedited

  • About Andy
  • Write Better

Andy Unedited

Exploring Books, Life, and Writing

The Singular Plural

April 6, 2021 by Andy Le Peau

Mixing singular and plural is generally a no-no.

Suppose I write, “The senator were having trouble getting re-elected after he started wearing his toupee upsidedown.” Even if you are not a grammar hound or a hairstylist, you are probably cringing. If the subject is singular, the verb must be too. If the subject is plural, so must be the verb. And no fair changing midsentence!

Yet in one situation, this is changing. It has become more acceptable to write sentences in the form: “. . . a person . . . they . . .” or “ . . . everyone . . . their . . .” This is an effort to get around “he” or “he and she” language which can be awkward or problematic. Switching from singular to plural nouns can solve many difficulties. For example:

Apparently, somebody at the golf course thought their putter would float.

This is so much better than:

Apparently, somebody at the golf course thought his or her putter would float.

Unfortunately, the “singular they” has become so common that it is often used when it is just not necessary. Consider:

Everyone must decide for themselves if kangaroos should be allowed to run for office.

Obviously, we don’t want everyone to decide for himself or herself! That’s as awkward as an elephant on stilts. But there is an alternative. Changing the singular/plural mix to pure plural is the way to go:

People must decide for themselves if kangaroos should be allowed to run for office.

By making everything plural we have the best of both possible worlds: it’s graceful and includes everyone, even kangaroos.

—

photo: As-Dew, Pixabay

Post navigation

Previous Post:

The Four Phases of Editing

Next Post:

Design Makes a Difference

One comment

  1. David says:
    April 10, 2021 at 1:58 am

    I’m no expert but what you’re saying makes sense. Thanks for the tip Andy.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

My Books

Categories

Subscribe to Andy Unedited

Loading

Archives

Recent Posts

  • We Aren’t As Reasonable As We Think
  • The Secret to Not Being Manipulated
  • Reading Among Friends
  • Being a True Patriot
  • Writing to Influence People

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org
© 2022 Andy Unedited | WordPress Theme by Superbthemes