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]> 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

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