singular or plural for a US market Tópico cartaz: Lorraine Bathurst
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I am translating a tender document which constantly refers to a company and its subsidiary. My question is - is the subsequent verb in the singular or plural?
'Company X and/or Company Y' reserves the right to begin legal action ...
'Company X and/or Company Y' reserve the right to begin legal action...
My gut feeling is the third person s - but I am not basing this on any sound linguistic knowledge.
Thanks!
Lorraine
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X and/or Y reserve(s) ....
| | | | Tina Vonhof (X)
Canadá
Local time: 23:36
holandês para inglês
+ ...
| Leave it in singular | Aug 20, 2011 |
Especially since this occurs very frequently and since it is about a company and its subsidiary, not two completely different companies, it would seem awkward to use (s) all the time.
| | | | Teresa Reinhardt 
Estados Unidos
Local time: 22:36
Membro (2002)
alemão para inglês
+ ...
| Singular for AE | Aug 20, 2011 |
plural seems to be the rule in BE (like 'the police are looking for..."). There should be online explanations galore (collective nouns)
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You have two nouns in the singular, joined by the conjunction "and"; hence, the verb should be plural (that is: X and Y reserve the right...)
[Edited at 2011-08-20 23:32 GMT]
| | | | Phil Hand
China
Local time: 13:36
chinês para inglês
| Singular for AE, plural for BE | Aug 21, 2011 |
As Teresa said. British English seems much more tolerant of understanding a singular noun as plural (e.g. BE "the team play better at home" vs AE "the team plays better at home"); but I don't think it's an absolute rule in BE. I've seen Americans correct sentences like my BE example there, so they may see it as more of a rule.
In your example, though, as there are two companies, the problem shouldn't arise.
| | | | B D Finch
França
Local time: 07:36
francês para inglês
+ ...
| Avoid if possible | Aug 21, 2011 |
Instead of "Company X and/or Company Y reserve(s) the right to begin legal action ", I suggest:
Company X and Company Y reserve the right for either or both of them to institute legal action.
In the case of the police or a team, as per the examples given by Teresa and Phil, it is not a question of using a plural verb with a singular noun, but of UK English considering both "police" and "team" as collective nouns. Dare I speculate that we still have less of a corporate culture,... See more Instead of "Company X and/or Company Y reserve(s) the right to begin legal action ", I suggest:
Company X and Company Y reserve the right for either or both of them to institute legal action.
In the case of the police or a team, as per the examples given by Teresa and Phil, it is not a question of using a plural verb with a singular noun, but of UK English considering both "police" and "team" as collective nouns. Dare I speculate that we still have less of a corporate culture, and so are more conscious of the people involved. Of course, we are not all that consistent, especially with words like "management".
[Edited at 2011-08-21 17:33 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Lorraine Bathurst
Reino Unido
Local time: 06:36
espanhol para inglês
+ ...
CRIADOR(A) DO TÓPICO | Thanks for all comments | Aug 21, 2011 |
Thank you everyone for taking the time to comment.
As this occurs so many times in a 130 page document, I cannot avoid it using it, nor can I explicitate - and - as Tina says - using (s) is clunky.
Also I don't see it as a collective noun issue either. Audience, police etc can be both seen as singular or plural nouns depending on context and perspective. Certainly in BE anyway.
'the audience was thin on the ground that evening' -
'the audience were clapping... See more Thank you everyone for taking the time to comment.
As this occurs so many times in a 130 page document, I cannot avoid it using it, nor can I explicitate - and - as Tina says - using (s) is clunky.
Also I don't see it as a collective noun issue either. Audience, police etc can be both seen as singular or plural nouns depending on context and perspective. Certainly in BE anyway.
'the audience was thin on the ground that evening' -
'the audience were clapping enthusiastically during the 4 minute finale' -
Both are perfectly acceptable - I taught English for many years and these are the accepted written formats. In spoken English we tend to use the plural form and this may influence how people think the written form should be.
But in my text the companies can act independently of each other or jointly - so I don't see it as the same as a collective noun.
For this project I am going to use Tina's suggestion of leaving it in the singular - third person s form.
Thanks for all the interesting comments.
Regards
Lorraine
[Edited at 2011-08-21 19:38 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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| collective plural in US vs. UK, and/or | Aug 22, 2011 |
Hello,
This is a good question.
In the UK, "Company X and/or Company Y" can simply be used with a plural verb (as suggested by Teresa and Phil): A plural verb would be correct in the case of both "X and Y" and "X or Y" because of the convention of treating company names as collective nouns in the UK. (A singular verb seems wrong to me: While it is acceptable for "X or Y", it is wrong for "X and Y".)
In the US, "Company X and Company Y" requires a plural verb, whil... See more Hello,
This is a good question.
In the UK, "Company X and/or Company Y" can simply be used with a plural verb (as suggested by Teresa and Phil): A plural verb would be correct in the case of both "X and Y" and "X or Y" because of the convention of treating company names as collective nouns in the UK. (A singular verb seems wrong to me: While it is acceptable for "X or Y", it is wrong for "X and Y".)
In the US, "Company X and Company Y" requires a plural verb, while "Company X or Company Y" requires a singular verb (Company names are not treated as collective nouns according to US convention. "Coca-Cola are planning a new product," sounds so unnatural to US ears that it is--for all intents and purposes--wrong.). A US author would normally avoid the construction (as suggested by B D Finch). The simplest way to do this seems to be to create a passive sentence, so that "Company X and/or Y" is no longer the subject = "The right to begin legal action is reserved by Company X and/or Y..."
In US English, "police" happens to always be a collective noun. Except in the case of fans of Gangsta Rap and Country Music, you are very unlikely to hear "The police is...". In US English, "audience" is always singuar; this is why "members of the audience" (plural) is used so often.
And my short answer: It's a contract.. I can't imagine that the client or any reader will ever notice this point of grammar. So, in practical terms, I think your answer is as good as mine.
Sincerely,
Michael ▲ Collapse
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