0
Anonymous Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
Its or their
Are both 'their and its possible? Do they mean the same here?
I personally can't see a difference.
He helped his country to get their first title.
He helped his country to get its first title.
I personally can't see a difference.
He helped his country to get their first title.
He helped his country to get its first title.
Top answer
'its' would be the one to use. country (singular) and their (plural) should ideally match in number, eg He helped his countrymen to get their first title. You can at other times use 'their' for a singular to avoid focussing on gender or prescribing number, or to disperse a singular into a plural, however that's not necessary when the pronoun is going to be 'its'.
- 'its' would be the one to use.
- country (singular) and their (plural) should ideally match in number, eg He helped his countrymen to get their first title.
- You can at other times use 'their' for a singular to avoid focussing on gender or prescribing number, or to disperse a singular into a plural, however that's not necessary when the pronoun is going to be 'its'.
- Despite that, your (2) when I read it sounded better on rereading than on the first read; I think this would be because 'their' isn't needed when 'its' is available.
- But you might argue for using 'their' to avoid the 'men' of countrymen, so it's a bit of a grey area, which is why I focussed more on the impression of my first read.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
4 Answers
0
'its' would be the one to use.
country (singular) and their (plural) should ideally match in number, eg
He helped his countrymen to get their first title.
You can at other times use 'their' for a singular to avoid focussing on gender or prescribing number, or to disperse a singular into a plural, however that's not necessary when the pronoun is going to be 'its'. Despite that, you
country (singular) and their (plural) should ideally match in number, eg
He helped his countrymen to get their first title.
You can at other times use 'their' for a singular to avoid focussing on gender or prescribing number, or to disperse a singular into a plural, however that's not necessary when the pronoun is going to be 'its'. Despite that, you
00
Thanks. As you said, their is used or singular gender and that is why I used it here. I don't think that 'its' works in all singular gender sentences, 'their' sounds better.
So would the same reasons apply to the sentence I have written, where the difference in the use of 'country' instead of sentences with singular gender?
So would the same reasons apply to the sentence I have written, where the difference in the use of 'country' instead of sentences with singular gender?
00
He helped his country to get their first title.
In British English, we often treat collective nouns as plural. If England is referring to a sports team in your sentence, their is fine. In the following sentence, the speaker is referring to England as a country and its is the appropriate word:
He helped England regain its place as a major Euro
In British English, we often treat collective nouns as plural. If England is referring to a sports team in your sentence, their is fine. In the following sentence, the speaker is referring to England as a country and its is the appropriate word:
He helped England regain its place as a major Euro
00
Thank you. Yes, in the sentence you wrote 'its' sounds the right word to use. Is that what you meant by the following sentence?
For the sentence I write, 'their' sounds better to my ear. Are both 'their' and 'its' possible in my sentence? Because its sounds a bit awkward to me.
For the sentence I write, 'their' sounds better to my ear. Are both 'their' and 'its' possible in my sentence? Because its sounds a bit awkward to me.
0
Related Questions