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Motorolo - 19 Oct 2005 10:56 GMT

Hi!

Which sentence is the correct one?

Everybody sends his/her love

Everybody sends their love

Thanks in advance

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Owain - 19 Oct 2005 13:47 GMT

> Hi!
> Which sentence is the correct one?
> Everybody sends his/her love
> Everybody sends their love

Well...

His/her is correct, because 'everybody' is a singular noun, and his and
her are singular possessive pronouns.

But...

His/her sounds awkward, especially in less formal contexts, and 'their'
is now widely used as a gender-neutral singular possessive pronoun. I
dislike the use, but do it myself.

Owain

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Motorolo - 19 Oct 2005 17:44 GMT

>> Hi!
>> Which sentence is the correct one?
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>
> Owain

Thanks a lot.
The politically correct inclusive language has beaten the grammatical rule.
Or perhaps the rule has just become less sexist... Interesting!
Thank you again.

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Einde O'Callaghan - 19 Oct 2005 20:24 GMT

>>>Hi!
>>>Which sentence is the correct one?
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
> Or perhaps the rule has just become less sexist... Interesting!
> Thank you again.

Actually this structure is quite ancient and long predates feminism and
the debate abour political correctness. I believe it even appears in the
works of one William Shagspere.

Regards, Einde O'Callaghan

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Owain - 19 Oct 2005 22:55 GMT

> Actually this structure is quite ancient and long predates feminism and
> the debate abour political correctness. I believe it even appears in the
> works of one William Shagspere.

Examiners tend not to view Mr Shakespeare's spellings and constructs
with pleasure when presented with them in an examination, however
(direct quotation excepted).

Of course, my experience of examiners dates from the last century, when
students were expected to be able to write in good modern English.
Nowadays, examiners are probably delighted if presented with a text
containing vowels, ths ltrs dmd optnl b tdys txt gnrtion.

At least "everybody", although a singular noun, refers to a group of
people. I think the use of their in such instance is more acceptable
than, eg, "the candidate should write their name at the top of the paper".

Owain

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Einde O'Callaghan - 19 Oct 2005 23:55 GMT

>> Actually this structure is quite ancient and long predates feminism
>> and the debate abour political correctness. I believe it even appears
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> with pleasure when presented with them in an examination, however
> (direct quotation excepted).

I remember reading once that Will used various spellings in the
signatures that have come down to us, but in none of them does he use
the spelling "Shakespeare"!

Regards, Einde O'Callaghan

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Moritz Beller - 07 Nov 2005 14:02 GMT

Dear Einde,

> I remember reading once that Will used various spellings in the
> signatures that have come down to us, but in none of them does he use
> the spelling "Shakespeare"!

Are you saying that Shakespeare indeed never ever wrote
"Shakespeare" in the way that we are used to? How come everybody writes
it with "ke" then? Are there any known reasons for him to have signed
with different spellings of his surname?

Looking forward to your answer,
Moritz
--
web    http://www.4momo.de
mail    momo dot beller at t-online dot de
gpg    http://gpg.notlong.com

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Einde O'Callaghan - 07 Nov 2005 22:26 GMT

> Dear Einde,
>
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> it with "ke" then? Are there any known reasons for him to have signed
> with different spellings of his surname?

As far as I can remember (I'm not certain where I read it), during his
lifetime Shakespeare used quite a few different versions of his name
including Shakespere and Shakeshaft (the latter may have been a joke I
suppose based on the partial synonyms "spear" and "shaft"), but no
surviving signature is spelled "Shakespeare". Not doubt he signed many
otehr things where the signature has not surprised and no doubt
"Shakespeare" was among them, but no surviving example of this spelling
inh his own handwriting exists.

I believe it wasn#t uncommon for people to vary the spelling of their
names at that time - indeed they seem to have done it for other words
too - consistent spelling wasn't developed until much later - I believe
Dr Johnson's dictionary played a major role in that.

Regards, Einde O'Callaghan

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Discussion Groups / ESL Teaching / November 2005

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