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Pastimes : SI Grammar and Spelling Lab
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To: jbe who wrote (1634)12/2/1998 8:07:00 PM
From: Jack Clarke  Read Replies (1) of 4711
 
jbe:

>>Everyone should avoid the passive when they can use the active instead.

I agree it sounds awful and is theoretically incorrect because "everyone" is supposed to be singular. We must use contrived means to get around the politically incorrect and grammatically correct "he" when we use "everyone".

But we should all realize that this "rule" may also have been artificially shoved down our throats by the classical Latin and Greek scholars. There are many examples of "good" writers of English who use "their" as a singular "neuter" construction:

uts.cc.utexas.edu

So far, I haven't escaped my early drill brainwashing, so I don't use "their" as a singular. It's beginning to sound better, though.

Best,

Jack


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