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COUME Posted 22 years ago
Grammar

Every + verb in singular or plural form?

Hello,

I have a sentence but I wonder if the verb should be in a singular or a plural form :/
In fact, every company, administration and even association, which has a Web site is a potential customer.

So I wonder if it should be "have" instead of "has"

Thanks in advance
Ludo

EDIT: Could a Mod move the post the appropriate General forum :/ I did not noticed that you modified the top forum in the list Emotion: sad Thanks in advance
  

Top answer

This statement is problematic to me. In fact, "every company, administration and even association" have websites for potential customers. OR In fact, "every company, administration and even association" have their own website for potential customers.

— Wai_Wai

  • This statement is problematic to me.
  • In fact, "every company, administration and even association" have websites for potential customers.
  • OR In fact, "every company, administration and even association" have their own website for potential customers.
  • Here "every company, administration and even association" is the noun which verb refers to.
  • The noun is plural here.
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19 Answers
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This statement is problematic to me.

In fact, "every company, administration and even association" have websites for potential customers.
OR
In fact, "every company, administration and even association" have their own website for potential customers.

Here "every company, administration and even association" is the noun which verb refers to. The noun is plural here.
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Hi Ludo,

Since the words company, administration and association are singular, I'd construct the sentence using "has."

"In fact, every company, administration and even association, which has a Web site is a potential customer."

Or:

"In fact, all companies, administrations and even associations, which have Web sites are pot
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Thxs matthew (and thxs for moving the threadEmotion: wink ),

I will go for "has"
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Normal situation:
X and Y are
Every X is
Every X and Y are

===

"X and Y is" is possible when "X and Y" is regarded one entity (eg The singer and dancer is very famous. [Here the singer and dancer refers to the same person who sings and dances in his job]).
The same logic should apply to "
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"Every" and "each" are always followed by singular nouns. Even when there are two or more nouns connected by "and", the verb is singular.

Every boy has a book.
Every boy and girl has a book.

Every man, woman, and child needs love.
Every person needs love.


I hope this helps.
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Sorry, but I would like to confirm if you are very sure about that:

Every X is
Every X and Y is

Thanks a lot.
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Whenever one uses the conjunction "and" to connect two subjects, a compound subject is created. It is therefore plural and must use the plural verb "have."
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That is true most of the time, Anon, but not with every and each (as Rambling Rose pointed out). And there are cases in which two nouns (joined by and) are viewed as a single entity and therefore take a singular verb.
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0"Every", the subject of your sentence, is always singular, so use "has".0-
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