By Pronouns, Plurals

Thank you. Why did you use 'were' here? Does the word 'unless' functionally the same as the word "if" in terms of it being part of the creation of a hypothetical sentence? Thank you.Your sentence:Personally, I'd say "his coat," unless I were strictly in...

Hi, I'm not sure why you group a "thing-word" in with all these "people-words." The plural post-reference for a singular term is only used to avoid the awkward gender issue. In English, things don't have genders (except ships) so the problem disappears. (Ships are...

This is a common mistake grammatically even among native English speakers. However, it is technically correct to use a singular pronoun, even in the case you described. Whether you want an apple or an orange, it will taste good.In your example, you juxtaposed "situation" and...

Hi,Can you help me to get a grasp of this? When is it allowed to have a post-reference of singular words like 'a situation', 'a person', 'someone' or 'anyone' with the words like 'their' or 'they'? Or when is it preferred to have one over the...

See, this the weird thing. While that last sentence doesn't sound right, this one does:Are these the pens you're looking for? Thanks, but no, those aren't the ones I'm looking for.

Of course it disagrees with are because it has nothing to do with it. The subject of makes is the relative pronoun what. According to most dictionaries, Webster's among them, fruit can be used as a collective plural. If are is wrong with it, what plural verb form of to be do you suggest?CB

Hi New2grammar I think the Americans would use 'was' despite the presence of 'they'. In fact, in BrE some grammarians prescribe 'was'. However, the majority say that it should be 'were' to be consistent with the plural pronouns. A team of soldiers was on a...

"Both" is always plural, so that's easy. "All" as a standalone pronoun can be either singular or plural. If it means "all of these individual things", then it's plural: All are present and correct. What should I use, a pencil, marker, or pen? All are...

The important plural in your sentences is "those." People often misuse "their" as a singular, and "who" may be either singular or plural.If you wanted to express the same thought in the singular, you might use the singular "whoever" in place of the plural...

Hi cute,If you use “everyone” which is singular in context, then you shouldn’t use “them” and “themselves” as pronoun. Yes, it's congested in my view. The relative clause is quite awkward and unnatural in tone and also has agreement problem with singular and plural. “Which” refers to...