Filitsa wrote:Dear Mr. Get Real!,
I've read some posts in which you engage in the unsolicted critiquing of the English language usage of certain members of this forum, particularly those for whom English is not their first language. Consequently, I've gathered that you take pride in your mastery of the language. With this in mind and with all due respect, permit me to point out a matter of incorrect pronoun-antecedent agreement in number in your sentence quoted below.
"IMHO, there is only one member that fits the description to a "T" but it's not a good idea to hurt their feelings by advertising it here."
"Member" is the antecedent noun to the plural pronoun "their." "Member" is a singular noun. Therefore, its corresponding pronoun should be singular, not plural. Correct usage would include "his," "her," or "his/her."
Additionally, a noun is a person, place, thing, idea, or event. Whereas "member" is a noun that falls into the person category, the subordinating conjunction "that," which refers to a thing, should be corrected to the interrogative pronoun "who," which refers to a person.
A comma is also required before the coordinating conjuction "but" because it joins in one sentence two complete thoughts who could otherwise stand alone as sentences.
I hope this lesson is of benefit to you. I provide it, of course, with the best of intentions.
Regards.
A very good post Filitsa. Unless a person asks to have his/her posts corrected I think its bad manners to do so. There are exceptions of course as you have just demonstrated. Can you explain the grammatical reason for a full stop after Mr. I always understood that if an abbreviation ends in the letter of the word that it abbreviates then a full stop is not used.
We all make mistakes as I have no doubt demonstrated in this post.
P.S. There is a seplling mistake in your post, can you find it?
