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Anonymous Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

Everybody & Everyone

0Are the sentences below correct?02br
02br
001) Everybody/Everyone is going to the show.02br
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002) Everybody/Everyone put their pencils down.02br
02br
00Thanks for the guidance0-
  

Top answer

0Both are fine. Here is what the American Heritage Dictionary has to say:02br 02br 00USAGE NOTE:00 01i 00Every02i 00 is representative of a large class of English words and expressions that are singular in form but felt to be plural in sense. 02i 00 These expressions invariably take a singular verb; we say 01i 00Every car has02i 00 (not 01i 00have02i 00) 01i 00been tested.

— Mister Micawber

  • 0Both are fine.
  • Here is what the American Heritage Dictionary has to say:02br 02br 00USAGE NOTE:00 01i 00Every02i 00 is representative of a large class of English words and expressions that are singular in form but felt to be plural in sense.
  • 02i 00 These expressions invariably take a singular verb; we say 01i 00Every car has02i 00 (not 01i 00have02i 00) 01i 00been tested.
  • 02i 00 But when a sentence contains a pronoun that refers to a previous noun phrase introduced by 01i 00every,02i 00 grammar and sense pull in different directions.
  • 02i 00 The use of plural pronouns in such cases is common in speech, but it is still widely regarded as incorrect in writing.
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10 Answers
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0Both are fine. Here is what the American Heritage Dictionary has to say:02br
02br
00USAGE NOTE:00 01i00Every02i00 is representative of a large class of English words and expressions that are singular in form but felt to be plural in sense. The class includes, for example, noun phrases introduced by 01i00every, any,02i00 a
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0 1) Everybody/Everyone is going to the show. 02br
00Unlike AmE, in BrE, 'everybody' and 'everyone' is used with a singular verb in sentences such as the above.0-
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0If everyone or everybody is used in the singular sense, shouldn't the second sentence be:02br
02br
00Everybody/Everyone puts his pencil down.02br
02br
00Explanation on this is much appreciated!0-
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0 AmE and BrE are completely the same with regard to subject-verb agreement for everybody/everyone -- always singular.02br
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00 CJ0-
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0 00Thanks, CJ. I misread. When Micawber wrote that both are fine, I was thinking that .Everybody/Everyone is/are...' fine. I should have read more carefully. I was 01b00'surprised'02b00 that both singular and plural verbs are acceptable in AmE. 02br
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00My apologies if I have misled the members who read my post.00 0-
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0Please re-read the excerpt posted by Mr. Micawber and let us know if you still have questions after that.0-
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01cite10Grammar Geek12cite10Please re-read the excerpt posted by Mr. Micawber and let us know if you still have questions after that. 12br
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12blockquote
10No, Barbara, as I said, I had misread Micawber's post. After CJ posted, I realised the mistake that I had made. However, I've to thank you for y
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Yoong Liat12cite11blockquote
11cite20Grammar Geek22cite22br
20Please re-read the excerpt posted by Mr. Micawber and let us know if you still have questions after that. 22br
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22blockquote
20No, Barbara, as I said, I had misread Micawber's post.
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0Sorry, YL, I was responding to the anonymous poster while still in the moderated section, and didn't realize that the anonymous post was going to appear above yours and mine right after yours. I should get into the habit of quoting the thing I'm responding to!02br
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01i00I thought that you were referring to me, but I should have asked you whether your post was mean
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0I would have made the same assumption, because it came right under yours! Here's a case where that new phrase "my bad" is completely appropriate - and truly, it was my bad.0-
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