@dacdac - i would never think of using either example, as they're gramatically horrible
Something along the lines of 'The US is one of the most powerful countries on earth and it is often regarded as supreme' gets the point across much better
Re: A Question on English Grammar
@dacdac - i would never think of using either example, as they're gramatically horrible
Something along the lines of 'The US is one of the most powerful countries on earth and it is often regarded as supreme' gets the point across much better
From wise men, O Lord, protect us -anon
The death of one man is a tragedy; the death of millions, a statistic -Stalin
We can categorically state that we have not released man-eating badgers into the area -UK military spokesman Major Mike Shearer
Re: A Question on English Grammar
I believe this usage differs somewhat between US and correct English, in that we tend to use the singular form for collective nouns, whereas they use plural.
US English-The mob! They are coming!
English-The mob! It is coming!
Co-Lord of BKS and Beirut's Kingdom of Peace and Love.
"Handsome features, rugged exteriors, intellectual chick magnets, we're pretty much twins."-Beirut
"Rhy, where's your helicopter now? Where's your ******* helicopter now?"-Mephistopheles.
Re: A Question on English Grammar
That's because we're a maonarchy with no individual identity BKS.
"If it wears trousers generally I don't pay attention."
[IMG]https://img197.imageshack.us/img197/4917/logoromans23pd.jpg[/IMG]
Re: A Question on English Grammar
Well, once you know English for a while you kinda get a sixth sense on whether something is right gramatically. It just sounds wrong to me if the grammar is bad.
"I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me." - Issac Newton
Re: A Question on English Grammar
The us version just sounds wrong - you don't say (well, at least here) "help! The mob are coming!"Originally Posted by Big King Sanctaphrax
@xdeathfire - i agree
From wise men, O Lord, protect us -anon
The death of one man is a tragedy; the death of millions, a statistic -Stalin
We can categorically state that we have not released man-eating badgers into the area -UK military spokesman Major Mike Shearer
Re: A Question on English Grammar
To take it back to the country question, the United States is generally looked upon as a single entity these days, in spite of its original collective nature, but what about other nations with plural names, such as The Bahamas. Would you choose to refer to The Bahamas as 'it' or 'they'? I'm not sure the country thing is set in stone enough to say a country will always be singular.
Ajax
"I do not yet know how chivalry will fare in these calamitous times of ours." --- Don Quixote
"I have no words, my voice is in my sword." --- Shakespeare
"I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it." --- Jack Handey
Re: A Question on English Grammar
In english it is.
imho, all countries should be referred to in the singular
From wise men, O Lord, protect us -anon
The death of one man is a tragedy; the death of millions, a statistic -Stalin
We can categorically state that we have not released man-eating badgers into the area -UK military spokesman Major Mike Shearer
Re: A Question on English Grammar
This is one of those grammar maven questions where the rule is there is no rule. Just be consistent in your own usage. A company is a singular entity, and so would be an "it", but in fact so long as you are internally consistent you are correct. Even in legal drafting no one cares. After all, are you really goign to find out if a business is a company (singular) or a partnership (technically plural in England, singular IIRC in scotland)? Duke Malcolm has probably got the strict grammar right, but in practice that is not English as she is spoke.
I would agree that it sounds odd to refer to a country as opposed to its inhabitants in the plural though.
Getting its and it's wrong, on the other hand, really annoys me.
"The only thing I've gotten out of this thread is that Navaros is claiming that Satan gave Man meat. Awesome." Gorebag
Re: A Question on English Grammar
lol at the its and it's issue -itsit's a pain, isn't it?
I would argue that countries = singular though, and languages where some are not (eg. french) make this very clear.
From wise men, O Lord, protect us -anon
The death of one man is a tragedy; the death of millions, a statistic -Stalin
We can categorically state that we have not released man-eating badgers into the area -UK military spokesman Major Mike Shearer
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks