of/in their life/lives

[hirashin]

Hello, native English speakers, would you help me?
Which sentence would be all right?
(a) Everyone said that the tour was one of the most incredible experiences in their life.
(b) Everyone said that the tour was one of the most incredible experiences in their lives.
(c) Everyone said that the tour was one of the most incredible experiences of their life.
(d) Everyone said that the tour was one of the most incredible experiences of their lives.

Hirashin

 

[Majestic]

Hello Hirashin,

A and C are both sort of right.

The pronoun "everyone" indicates every single person in the group, and therefore every single person can only have one life. It is slightly confusing because the word implies many people, however it is singular in nature.

You have made an error in using the word "their", which is a plural possessive adjective. It should also be singular so that it is consistent with everyone. But the singular is also problematic because you are forced to choose between either his or her, and either of these may be unsatisfactory to you. Unfortunately we are stuck with a legacy of a language that has little flexibility in this regard. Historically one would have defaulted to the masculine "Everyone said that the tour was one of the most incredible experiences of his life", but this is rapidly falling out of favor. One is just as likely to see, "Everyone said that the tour was one of the most incredible experiences of his/her life" which has the benefit of being gender neutral, albeit somewhat awkwardly, but it comes at the expense of economy and a bit of lucidity. Alas I think it is the best of a lot of bad choices.

The thing to remember is that every+one is a singular pronoun, and all following verbs and nouns should accordingly take the singular form.

So, just as you have used "said" instead of the plural "says", so should you likewise use the singular "life" instead of "lives".

Regarding the use of "in" vs. "of", these are both acceptable and I can see no particular reason why one should be preferred instead of the other.

 

[WonkoTheSane]

D is the only one which sounds natural to my ears (American English).

 

[Majestic]

Here is a bit more explanation of the singular vs. plural issue with "Everyone". This actually mentions the problem with using his or her. I agree with the person who posted to the site, saying that the use of his/her is not incorrect, it is just indicative of the difficulties created by a gender-specific pronoun set in a non-gender specific setting.

http://grammar-and-composition.yoex...eral/is-everybody-singular-or-plural-188.html

 

[hirashin]

Thanks for the help, Majestic and WonkoTheSane.

D is the only one which sounds natural to my ears (American English).

To tell you the truth, D, which Wonko has selected, is from the textbook we use. It is published by a British publisher, so the sentence was written by a British person.

To Majestic
I know "everyone" is used as singular and a lot of native speakers use "their", not "his or her", as its possessive case. That's why grammar books don't tell us to avoid using "their" as the possessive case of "everyone".

According to Practical EnglishUsage by Michael Swan,
(a) Has everybody got his or her ticket? (more formal)
(b) Has everybody got their tickets? (less formal)
(c) When everybody had finished eating, the waiters took away their plates. (NOT 'his or her plate')

Hirashin

 

[WonkoTheSane]

Using 'his or her' just feels very cumbersome to me, though I've used it when I needed to due to concerns for sensitivity (not formality).

In my opinion, in the vast majority of cases it's not necessary and all but the most unrealistic of people will excuse a non-native speaker for using 'their' when 'his or her' is more appropriate.

It's less about being linguistically correct and more about being politically correct.

This is only valid, as far as I know, for the USA. Other cultures may vary.

 

[Stuntie]

Ah, the joys of not having an acceptable gender nuteral singular pronon.
We could theortetically use 'its' but people just don't like being called an 'it'.
You sometimes come across writers using 'her' instead of 'his' etc., presumably to help balance the gender bias, but it not common, and probably drives grammar pedant nuts.

 

[Majestic]

I think using his or her would be OK with the grammar pedants, because at least these words are in harmony with the singular pronoun Everyone. I can say this with confidence because I am something of a grammar pedant. I furrow my brow and wag my finger at Michael Swan, who is poisoning people's minds with the awful notion that the plural their can be used with Everyone. Yutori kyoiku at its worst! It needs to be resisted and pushed back at every occasion.

This situation reminds me of "ら抜き言葉"; that is to say it is a spoken convention that breaks the rules of grammar in a way that is generally forgiven. If I were a teacher of Japanese, and a student asked me if it's all right to drop ら, I'd be reluctant to say "yes", even though many Japanese nowadays drop ら from conversation. Likewise, if I were teaching a group of students English, I would tell them that Everyone is always singular, and that they should not use plural verbs or nouns with singular pronouns. Call me a perfectionist, but I think you need to set a high standard when teaching this stuff, so that you have a better sense of when (or if) its OK to bend or break the rules.

To be sure, nobody would think twice about your examples B and D - they both sound correct-ish. They are both used in everyday English. But, just as with ら抜き言葉, they are both incorrect. Professor Swan may use the euphemism "less formal", but they are indeed wrong. Here I think we should strive for a bit of perfection.

So, Hirashin-san, your question is a trick question: I think all of your sentences are broken. Your question then becomes one of preference. A, B, C, and D are all equally fine if you ignore the error, and they all adequately convey what you intend them to convey. But I invite you to look upon Michael Swan's advice with a bit of suspicion