Dick's choices are thoughtful and probably the best. But I think you could defend the choices. Each of these people is committing a single life. They are not committing each other's lives. And the gender is mixed, so "his" won't fit and "his or her" is awkward.
"The political forces that led the three Musketeers to commit their lives..." If the choice was a team choice and a team commitment, the plural would be even more appropriate.
Is this a hard and fast "rule" or is the writer able to construct a more nuanced meaning by choosing the singular? In the publshed form,I think it emphasizes that each committed a singular life. The "their" is an alternative to "his or her."
Craig
________________________________
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Dick Veit [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Sunday, December 18, 2011 9:42 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: plural possessive with singular noun
Martha,
In both sentences "their" is clearly plural, and I would certainly change the nouns to "lives" and "minds." Perhaps the writers were confused by the increasing popularity of singular "their," as in "Anyone is free to do what they want to with their own life." The usefulness of singular "their" in avoiding an unwanted specification of gender has made it so widespread that it has become standard, although not without protest from a traditionalist rearguard.
In the two sentences you cite, however, "their" is indisputably plural.
Dick
On Sun, Dec 18, 2011 at 9:26 AM, Martha Galphin <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
ATEG listserv members:
Please comment for me on the juxtaposition of the plural “their” with the singular “life” and the singular “mind” in the following two sentences.
“the religious sources that inspired Gandhi, Albert Schweitzer, and Mother Teresa to commit their life to serving a hurting humanity. . .” from http://www.religioustolerance.org/statbelief.htm.
“A majority of Republicans in key primary states said in a poll this week that they still may change their mind.”
From the First Read Blog on December 10, 2011.
Thank you.
Martha Galphin
ESL teacher
To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list"
Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list"
Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"
Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
|
