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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

Their life or their lives

Hi!

Given:

"The springtime of their life is far from over."

and

"The springtime of their lives is far from over."

whichever would you say is the correct sentence? I am aware that since "their" conveys a plural idea, the use of "lives" would appear more logic. But still I am not 100% convinced as "their life" could take the meaning of a group of people sharing the same experience together... Also, for me "their life" tends to sound better.

Can someone help by giving me an official grammar rule which could clear this?

I've done a lot of web search, but there was no straight answer.

Thanks!
  

Top answer

" If you were talking about persons not sharing the same life together, you would use lives. The grammatical issue is whether or not you are speaking of a single shared life or the lives of multiple people not sharing the same life. Your analysis of this is correct.

— Sam1947

  • " If you were talking about persons not sharing the same life together, you would use lives.
  • The grammatical issue is whether or not you are speaking of a single shared life or the lives of multiple people not sharing the same life.
  • Your analysis of this is correct.
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12 Answers
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If you were speaking of a married couple and their life together, you could say, "their life." If you were talking about persons not sharing the same life together, you would use lives.

The grammatical issue is whether or not you are speaking of a single shared life or the lives of multiple people not sharing the same life. Your analysis of this is correct.
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"To talk about several people each doing the same thing, English usually prefers a plural noun for the repeated idea. Plural forms are almost always used in this case if there are possessives." Practical English Usage by Michael Swan, entry #530.1 AND: "After a plural possessive we do not normally use a singular noun in the sense of 'one each'." same, entry #441.4. This called the 'distributive us
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Thank you sam1947! Your help is much appreciated! Emotion: big smile
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Hmm... thanks for that 2nd answer... so says the rule but does that mean that "their life" is absolutely wrong and cannot be used at all?
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Hello again, I've finally created an account, one thing I should have done from the start. Btw I am the author of this question.

Thanks for the 2nd reply! So the rule points towards the plural but does this mean that the use of "their life" is absolutely grammatically wrong and hence cannot be used at all?
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No, again, if you are talking about a shared life, where there is more in common than different, then "their life" could be correct. It would be in the context of "their life together". It is unusual, because there aren't many instances that it would apply, but it does happen.

For instance, you might say, "The prisoners described their life in prison as being intolerable." This usage
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Thanks again sam1947!

Got it! Unusual but acceptable, depending on context. [Y] Emotion: clap
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I'm wondering about this situation. Now it's clear. Thank you very much.
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Many years ago in my English lab I was taught that "life" is always singular because people have only 1 life and not many.
Take the sentence: "people love their life". If we said "their lives" it would entail they have more than one and they love each one of them. Just as saying "people love their marriages" would indicate they are in a plural marriage. Instead we say "people love their marri
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Thanks Mohesan. you answer is %100 correct, I much appreciate it.
Cheers.
Cyrus
Australia
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