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Sentence correcction

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ekanshgoyal
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Sentence correcction [#permalink] New post   09 Jan 2022, 14:48
Is this sentence correct : Does everyone have their book?

OR

is this correct:Does everyone have his or her book?

Please explain why?
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Re: Sentence correcction [#permalink] New post   10 Jan 2022, 00:18
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ekanshgoyal wrote:
Is this sentence correct : Does everyone have their book?

OR

is this correct:Does everyone have his or her book?

Please explain why?

The second one is correct Ekansh.

"their" does not have any valid antecedent in the first sentence. "their" can only have plural antecedents and there is nothing plural in the first sentence.
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Re: Sentence correcction [#permalink] New post   10 Jan 2022, 00:44
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Hello Ekansh!

'Everyone' is a singular pronoun and should have a singular possessive/verb-> and thereby the second sentence is correct
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Re: Sentence correcction [#permalink] New post   10 Jan 2022, 09:36
ekanshgoyal wrote:
Is this sentence correct : Does everyone have their book?

OR

is this correct:Does everyone have his or her book?

Please explain why?


you gotto identify the subject here which is book ( singular) so usage of their is incorrect with pronoun everyone..
Everyone is singular always..
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Re: Sentence correcction [#permalink] New post   10 Jan 2022, 10:12
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"Does everyone have their book" is perfectly correct in contemporary English. See entry 3 in the Merrian-Webster dictionary, with examples:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/they

Many style guides now agree that "they" is the best option when using a generic singular pronoun. You can see the relevant entry on the MLA site (an authority on modern usage), for example:

https://style.mla.org/using-singular-they/

The idea that "they" needs to refer to plural things is now considered old-fashioned. None of this should ever matter in a GMAT question, though.
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Re: Sentence correcction [#permalink] New post   28 Mar 2022, 12:44
I agree with others on the pronoun - antecedent case agreement. But I want to know how can one justify the use of 'have', a plural verb with 'everyone', a singular noun

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Re: Sentence correcction [#permalink] New post   28 Mar 2022, 13:25
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KD1995 wrote:
I agree with others on the pronoun - antecedent case agreement. But I want to know how can one justify the use of 'have', a plural verb with 'everyone', a singular noun


In the sentence "Does everyone have their book?" the verb is singular, because the verb is "does", or if you prefer, "does have", and not just "have". Here, "does" is something called an "auxiliary verb", and we conjugate it and leave "have" in the infinitive. So in the singular we'd say "she does have her book" or "everyone does have their book", and in the plural "they do have their books" or "do they have their books?"
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Re: Sentence correcction [#permalink] New post   29 Mar 2022, 04:06
The question asked above is from Manhattan Sentence correction book. The answer says : Does everyone have his / her book ?..

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Re: Sentence correcction [#permalink] New post   29 Mar 2022, 04:10
IanStewart wrote:
KD1995 wrote:
I agree with others on the pronoun - antecedent case agreement. But I want to know how can one justify the use of 'have', a plural verb with 'everyone', a singular noun


In the sentence "Does everyone have their book?" the verb is singular, because the verb is "does", or if you prefer, "does have", and not just "have". Here, "does" is something called an "auxiliary verb", and we conjugate it and leave "have" in the infinitive. So in the singular we'd say "she does have her book" or "everyone does have their book", and in the plural "they do have their books" or "do they have their books?"


What is the subject in the said sentence:
Does everyone have his / her book ?

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Re: Sentence correcction [#permalink] New post   29 Mar 2022, 06:31
IanStewart wrote:
KD1995 wrote:
I agree with others on the pronoun - antecedent case agreement. But I want to know how can one justify the use of 'have', a plural verb with 'everyone', a singular noun


In the sentence "Does everyone have their book?" the verb is singular, because the verb is "does", or if you prefer, "does have", and not just "have". Here, "does" is something called an "auxiliary verb", and we conjugate it and leave "have" in the infinitive. So in the singular we'd say "she does have her book" or "everyone does have their book", and in the plural "they do have their books" or "do they have their books?"


Thank you for the promopt reply. I got the point. I didn't know the case of subject must match the case of auxiliary verb when auxiliary verb is present. I kept on comparing the main verb. It's clear now

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Re: Sentence correcction [#permalink]
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