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Hi guys,I doubt whether the sentences below are corret or not.If you take a look at them and drop me some comments here,it would be very greatful.Thanks a lot~pb---------------1. Each toy is a different color.(Shouldn't this be changed to "Each toy has a different color."? What differences are there bewteen them?)2. Each person is entitled to their own opinion.

Philip · Accepted Answer

Pb031. Each toy is a different color.

This is very natural and common. Some would argue for the exactness of "each toy is of a different color," but it isn't worth worrying about.

Pb032. Each person is entitled to their own opinion.

We have no neutral possessive in English, so people have to decide how to handle the situation:

each person is entitled to his own opinion (common);

each person is entitled to his or her own opinion (sounds bad to me);

each person is entitled to their own opinion (quite common and probably on its way to "correctness");

I often avoid the situation by making the subject plural: All (people) are entitled to their own opinions.

Clive · Answer

Hi,

1. Each toy is a different color.

(Shouldn't this be changed to "Each toy has a different color."? What differences are there bewteen them?) Both ways are correct, but the version with 'is' is the common way of saying it.

2. Each person is entitled to their own opinion.

'Each person' is treated as a singular. Thus, more correct would be

Each person is entitled to his or her own opinion.

However, this is generally felt to be awkward to say and overly fussy, so it is very common to use 'their', meaning 'his or her'.

Clive

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